Page 63 of Vicious Little Princess

“Well, you do play things close to the vest.”

“Pot. Kettle.”

“You mean Joe? I told you when we got back here that it wasn’t something I was actively and intentionally keeping from you. It wasn’t my secret to tell, to expose him. And I certainly didn’t see him being pulled into what we’re doing.”

“Otherwise youwouldhave mentioned him?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

I reached out and took his hand, tracing my fingers over his dragon’s head ink. “We’re in this together. We’re a team. I have your back, just like the three of you have mine.”

“What if this mission wasn’t a factor?”

“What?”

“What if you essentially weren’t forced into being here at my place, forced into this marriage?”

“It doesn’t feelforcedwhen I’m here. Especially with everything the three of you have done to make me feel comfortable here, all the special items you brought in for me, the things you set up in my room. It’s meant a lot to me.”

“That’s something.” He murmured. “I guess.”

“Nico, what—”

He spun the laptop around, a photo of Joe in full dress uniform on the screen. “This guy is ex-military, a decorated vet, in fact, and a distinguished sniper. Following that, he went on to work for a private security firm, then disappeared for several years. Your research cites that he spent that time working for a black ops team.”

“All correct. Your point?”

“Why did he suddenly drop off the grid? Why is he registered as dead, in fact?”

“Because of my father. Joe was with my mom beforehand. They were high school sweethearts. Then they went off to college together and to medical school. They were engaged at one point. And then he enlisted.”

“Enlisted? Just like that? With him on a medical school track alongside your mom?”

“His best friend was murdered. It impacted him in a major way. It set him on a different path. And it drove him and my mom apart. She ended up meeting Santino. Apparently, Joe came back for her at one point, but she was already too entangled in my father’s world. The only way for them to be together was for Joe to pull her out. She would have had to give up the career she loved and had worked so hard for. So she stayed with my father. Little did she know he would become the monster that he is now. He wasn’t always like that with her. He cherished her in the beginning. But I guess all that power and fighting to hold on to it, playing god over people’s lives… it corrupted him. And it just got worse and worse.”

“And how didyoumeet this guy?”

“When I left the Family and went off to college, my mom reached out to Joe for the first time in years. She knew that what I was doing would endanger me, but she also understood that I couldn’t stand being suffocated any longer, that I needed to be free. So, he discreetly trained me. Intensely. For months and months on end. Hence, my combat know-how.”

“He protected you.”

“He taught me how to channel all that rage and pain inside me.”

“He made you into a killer.”

“That’s one way of looking at it. Either way, it was necessary. And that training has saved me several times over.” I sank back against the chair. “How he’s connected with Carlo Benzino, I really don’t know. The more pertinent question there, though, iswhy.”

“I need you to reach out to him.”

“I will.”

He eyed me across the table, curiosity sparking. “You said Santino cherished your mom in the beginning, that he wasn’t initially the twisted psychopath that he ended up becoming with her.”

“Yeah. And?”

“Andis that something you worry about?”

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