Page 104 of Sin & Secrets

“Claudio.”

Mia goes deathly still. “I will kill him.”

“I might have beaten you to it.”

She blinks at me, taking me in. No doubt she’s already noticed the blood splattered over my body.

“Explain.”

So I do. I tell her everything. About coming to Brooklyn, realizing that Claudio was an abusive asshole, how I had gone tohimfor help. The words keep pouring out as I tell her about thebrownstone and how I’d been trying to help the Guild unearth the rat.

By the time I reach the events of the night before, Mia is clutching her own pillow. Her eyes are wide, but she refuses to interrupt as I tell her about being thrown in a trunk. I tell her about what Claudio had revealed about my father and how I shot him.

When I finish, I’m met with her silence. The light of the afternoon slowly fades in the window behind her.

It’s a tiny apartment. The bed faces the only window and the TV stand. Behind the headboard is a compact kitchen without a freezer, and next to the front door is a small, half-concealed bathroom that somehow crams in both a shower and toilet.

But despite the size, it’s the only place in Brooklyn I want to be right now.

“I’m so sorry, Cas.”

I look over at my friend and shake my head. “It’s not your fault. You tried to warn me, for God’s sake.”

“I should have told you the truth from the very beginning.”

The sadness and pity in her eyes make me swallow down any biting response. Instead I merely ask, “Could you tell me the truth now?”

She sighs, repositioning herself so she can lean back against the wall. “My dad…your dad…they were part of Giuliano Moretti’s inner circle. They were accountants, really. Carmine had a way with numbers, and my father appreciates that kind of thing.”

You could hear a pin drop as Mia draws her next breath.

“I didn’t know about it officially until I was sixteen. But by that point, I’d already guessed. I thought about writing to you about it a hundred times over, but…” she pauses before continuing. “They told me what your mom went through to get you out, and I just couldn’t.”

“No one leaves,” I whisper back.

Mia nods. “Your mom went to Giuliano herself a week after Teo Vitale’s family was murdered. I didn’t know until much later how dark things were at that point. That my own father had considered leaving as well.”

“Someone killed Teo’s parents?”

“And his sister.” Mia stares out the window. “She was our age, Cas. She used to play with us sometimes.”

I literally shudder at the hazy memory that resurfaces. I suddenly remember a dark-haired girl with a bright smile running around the park with us tailing behind her. Squeals of delight escaped her lips as Mia tackled her to the floor in my mind’s eye.

“I don’t know how your mom convinced him,” Mia continues. “But with the Vitale family gone, Giuliano told her if she wanted to leave, she had to disappear for good. Neither of you were ever meant to come back to Brooklyn again.”

Then why did my father have me brought back?The question bubbles to the surface, but I choke it back down.

“But you and your family stayed?” I ask instead.

“Things started to change when Roccowhen Giuliano started losing power. I was eighteen and ready to prove myself, so I started helping my dad out here and there.” Her cheeks flush a little, and she looks away.

I narrow my eyes at her. “What else?”

“I tend the bar.”

“Mia.”

“Cassandra.”

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