Page 54 of Lie to Me

I’m doing this for the sake of my damn sanity, and watching him drop to his knees with his hand on his neck while he coughs and splutters is the most goddamn freeing feeling in the world.

And I’m sure it’ll feel so much better once I’m finally done with him, and he’s out of our lives for good.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sloane

Present

To say I was confused three days ago when Finn turned up at my apartment to whisk me away for a meeting with the Romano men is an understatement.

He explained that they would normally meet at a warehouse owned by the Romanos, but since the meeting included me, they decided to hold the meeting at the Romano estate.

It was the first time in history a member of another New York organization had been invited inside the home of Salvatore Romano, which is apparently a very big deal.

I had expected some sort of formal talk about what had happened between me and Marco all those years ago.

That isn’t what happened. At all.

Instead, Salvatore had personally prepared dinner for me, Finn, Marco, and Luca.

Apparently, Robyn had an appointment with her obstetrician which Enzo and Izzy had joined her for, so they couldn’t make it.

And rather than me and Marco be reprimanded for what we did like I expected, the meeting was actually to make a plan about whoever has been targeting me and the Romanos lately, as well as Salvatore himself personally pulling me aside to give me his blessing.

I was standing there, stunned into silence as he patted me on the shoulder with a wide grin before Marco joined us, rescuing me from having to explain that me and his son were not actually together.

Because we’re not.

Yet Salvatore, Luca, and even my own goddamn twin brother kept talking like we were, or that it was just inevitable, so they had to plan ahead.

Needless to say, I left the Romano estate confused as fuck and dreading tonight.

See, the plan is to show whoever has been targeting us that the Romanos areaware of what Marco and I have been through. That both families are in alliance together and will not, under any circumstances, turn on each other like that asshole wants them to.

A united front, if you will.

Which is why I’m here, heading through the doors to The Plaza, wearing an elegant, navy-blue dress, filled with nerves and trepidation with Marco’s hand on the small of my back, guiding me into the gala that’s being held here tonight.

The thing about these Mafia and criminal organization types? They spend their weekdays dealing drugs, selling weapons, and killing each other, then when it gets to the weekend, they’redressed in their best tuxes and supporting different charities around the city.

Talk about contradicting themselves.

Izzy had hacked into the database that kept track of the RSVPs and decided that tonight’s gala was the best place for our little show, since both the heads of the Cartel and the Bratva will be here, along with a lot of other heads of organizations from different cities and plenty of paparazzi to spread the word.

“Everything will be fine,” Marco murmurs as we step inside, clearly feeling my confliction about attending tonight.

I haven’t been to one of these events in years, the last one being the one where I met Marco. I didn’t like attending them then, and I fucking hate attending them now. The fact that we have to do this at all is ridiculous.

I manage to hold in my sigh as I glance around the room, taking in the horde of rich assholes who only attend these things to flaunt their wealth and not actually help the people these events are for.

When I found out what we would be doing here tonight, I put my foot down and said that if we’re to use this charity gala as a place to get the upper hand, then we’re damn well going to give them a sizable donation. Both Salvatore and my brother agreed, so the charity in question will be receiving ten million dollars combined from their contributions.

People look up as we enter the room. We purposely decided to arrive an hour after the event started so that we could make an impression. Unlike me, Marco has continued to attend these things every couple of months for the past ten years, so he’s well known in these circles, and apparently, he’s never brought a date. So for him to walk in with me on his arm is already a statement within itself.

Of course, many of these people here tonight probably won’t recognize me, so we planned to change that.

Right on cue, my eyes meet my brother’s across the room, and he sends me a short nod before striding towards us. There’s a hush around the room as people stop chatting amongst themselves as they realize that not only does Marco Romano have a woman with him, but he’s also about to be approached by the head of the Irish Mob. My eyes flick over to the side of the room in time to also see Marco’s father heading towards us.

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