Page 30 of Divine Obsession

Just be careful, okay? And call me anytime, anywhere if you ever needanything.

I now knew everything about the reality of her and her family. Gìo had told me.

Technology empire my ass.

They were weapon dealers and hackers.

Were all the elites just criminals?

Even Zach was involved. He was the heir to a Latin Cartel, currently in charge of handling operations in North America at just twenty.

Honestly.What. The. Fuck.

Oh, and of course, my family was in the Mob.

It wasn’t until twelve that I managed to drag myself out of bed. I didn’t want to. If I could, I would’ve hibernated for the rest of the week.

But I couldn’t pretend like I didn’t know anything.

So after freshening up, I joined my family in the loungeroom, each doing their own thing on a Saturday afternoon.

They gave me their attention when they saw me standing on the side.

I looked straight at my father when I spoke. “I know.”

Silence followed as he put the pieces together, his emotions a dilemma to me.

“Oh,grazie, Dio,” Ines exhaled in relief. “I didn’t think I could hold out any longer.”

“Was about time, Lia.” Nico had come to stand by me, offering a piece of his chocolate bar. I brushed his messy, black hair back, but didn’t take the offer.

“You all knew?” My voice was smaller than intended when I looked back up.

“Alright. Family meeting.” The moment Salvatore said that, Nico left my side and joined everyone else on the sofa in the conversation pit. When I didn’t move, dad spoke again. “Come sit,cara.Per favore.”

So I did.

It was awkward at first.

I didn’t know what to feel.

The topic of the Italian-American Mafiaitselfwas a serious subject, let alone the complexities of the criminal underworld, but they just seemed excited to finally share that part of their life with me.

“Don’t be mad at us, Lia. Please.” Carmen took a seat next to me, pulling at the sleeves of the cashmere sweater I gifted her for Christmas, while our younger sister sat on my other side.

“We wanted to tell you,” Kim had explained apologetically. “We just didn’t want to scare you off.”

“We completely understand if you want nothing to do with it,” Ines assured me.

“We won’t speak of it,” Dad agreed.

Salvatore Moretti,my father, was a mobster. His wife,my stepmother, was his consigliere. And their children,my half-siblings, were their futuresoldati.

There it was.

The family secret.

In the end, the terrifying part was I didn’t care.

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