Page 48 of Fierce Secrets

I squeezed her hand as she looked down at our joined hands. "Leo's family... they're not just CEOs and businessmen. His father, Canzio Donati, he heads one of the most powerful crime families in the city. They're just excellent at staying hidden." She chewed her cheek for a second before continuing. "From what I know, through my family's... connections, Gray isn't someone who gets his hands dirty. He's the face man, all charm and legitimate business. But yes, being involved with the Donati family means he's learned to handle ugly situations."

"And Leo?" The question made my heart flutter, a part of me scared of what the answer would be. But I needed to know. "What do you know about him?"

Sofia's expression grew serious, her brows furrowing. "I know who he really is. It's why I was never his biggest fan. In our world – the world beneath the city's surface, the one I turned my back on – Leo Donati is not someone you want to cross. He's earned his reputation."

"Is he..." I swallowed hard, remembering his split knuckles, the way he moved with lethal grace when we were shot at, and the way he'd gone after Logan."Is he really a killer? Was my father just a one off?"

She met my eyes steadily, giving me a sad, knowing smile. "I think you already know the answer to that."

The worst part was, I did. I'd known it that night when he'd touched me so gently with hands that had dealt death. Known it when he'd promised to protect me, no matter the cost. When he'd said he'd handled it.

Known it since I was seventeen, watching him help Gray beat my father to an early grave.

I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the island. I gripped her hand tight, using it as an anchor as my world continued to shift and reshape itself around these revelations.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" I finally asked. "You clearly know so much."

Sofia's laugh was soft, almost sad as she shook her head. "Our friendship was pure chance at first. Just two college freshmen assigned to the same dorm room." She smiled at the memory. "I met you that day, when you asked me if I knew anything about plants as soon as I stepped into our shared room, since your brother had gotten you one and challenged you to keep it alive while you finished your schooling." She chuckled, and I softened as I remembered how we'd met. I'd been so panicked over that wretched plant he'd given me. "And then I told you it was likely going to die, since it was an orchid, and a difficult one at that."

"Yeah, Gray was being a dick with that one. We tried so hard too," I said, managing a weak, dry laugh. We'd struggled for a good year with that plant. Knocked it out the second story window once, and managed to keep it alive. Then it had the audacity to die on us when we gave it a touch too much water apparently.

"He was, but it gave us good memories," Sofia said with a smile as she shook her head. Her expression turned serious before she continued. "It wasn't until I ran into Leo at that christmas dinner with you and Gray that everything connected. Both he and Gray cornered me afterward, because Leo had realized who I was."

"What do you mean, who you were?" I frowned at her, and she chewed her lip for a moment.

She sighed, drawing her knees up to her chest. "They told me to keep quiet about what I knew, and they wouldn't care about my family name or origins. It was a fair deal."

"Your family?" The question came out harder than I'd intended it.

"The Savocas," she said quietly, resignation evident in her face. "We were... are... a crime family too. I left that life behind when a rival family killed my father. Mama went back to Italy to start fresh, and my cousin Marco took over, moved operations to another city." Her lips twisted in a bitter smile. "It's actually what allowed the Donati family to expand their territory here."

The perfectly put-together woman I'd known for years suddenly appeared in a new light – the designer clothes, the massive house, the easy way she'd handled the police and everything else. It all made sense now.

Sofia, my best friend, was not at all who I thought she was.

"Mer, I'm still me. I didn't want you to know about my family, I didn't want you to…" She swallowed, her eyes hardening. "I didn't want you to look at me the way you're looking at me right now."

"It's a big thing to hide," I hissed, still reeling from everything else. Of course Sofia was part of it all.

"I turned my back on that part of who I am, made my own life," Sofia tried to defend herself. "But it doesn't mean I didn't still know things. I didn't turn my back on our friendship when I learned who your brother was tangled with. We'd been such good friends for too long."

"But our friendship was not worthy of the truth?" I snapped.

"The truth? Look at how you're reacting to me telling you the truth, Mer," Sofia said softly.

"Because it's only coming out now, after I've begged, after I've been shot at, after I've…" I glanced down at my phone, my throat tightening. "After someone else pulled the wool from my eyes."

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, we all just wanted to keep you safe. You have to understand that."

The betrayal hit hard and deep, making my chest tight. "All of you? So you've all just been... what? Conspiring around me? Keeping me in this perfect little bubble of ignorance? My whole life is built on lies!"

"It's not like that?—"

"Then what is it like?" My voice cracked. "My best friend is from a crime family. My brother's involved in God knows what and murdered my father. And Leo..." I choked on his name, remembering how safe I'd felt in his arms, how close we'd been. "And you all know things, things you keep from me. That envelope this morning, what was it? Why did it seem like you recognized that photo I got sent?" I demanded.

"Same photos you got, Mer. They know who I am as well. That I'm your best friend, a family friend in their eyes, someone with money as well," she said quietly, and my chest fluttered with hurt.

"Did you know they killed him?" I whispered, my heart skipping a few terrifying beats as she frowned at me.

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