Page 30 of Sin & Secrets

No, she wouldn’t have lied to me…would she? Yet she knew about Rocco and warned me to stay away from him.

Which means, at the very least, she knows about all of this. She knows who Criag is, too, and said nothing to me.

How many more lies will I have to endure from people who were supposed to love me back?

A hand gently grabs my neck, and I realize I must have been spiraling for at least a minute.

Claudio hunches over the desk, signing some kind of paperwork, and Rocco…Rocco is standing behind me. His thumb gently strokes at the parting gift he left me the last time we were together.

“Don’t be upset,Angioletta.You’re in safe hands now.”

I want to laugh loudly and bitterly. What does safe even look like to a mafia don?

“Come,” he says simply as he leads me to his seat behind the desk. “You must be tired of standing.”

It’s only when I’ve sat down that I realize my legs are shaking.

All of this is really happening.

“It’s done,” Claudio announces, slamming the pen on the desk.

“Excellent.”

“What shall I do with her things?”

Rocco nods toward Teo. “Someone will swing by to pick them up.”

Claudio nods back as he just stands there awkwardly. “So that’s it?”

“That’s it.”

The asshole has the nerve to look relieved.

“So I’ll see you in a few months, Cas?”

I gape up at him. The reality of what he’s just done is setting in hard and fast. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say to me?”

“Cas…”

“You just sold me to the fucking mafia, you dick!”

“You wanted this.”

“I wanted YOU,” I scream. “I wanted YOU to fight for me. To even just pretend that you loved me as much as you claimed to.”

I launch myself over the desk at him, only for Rocco to catch me by the waist. “I think that’s your cue to leave, Lazzaro.”

“I’M NOT FINISHED!”

But Claudio turns his back on me anyway, stepping out the door without even a glance over his shoulder.

“GET BACK HERE YOU COWARD!”

“Cas. It’s okay, it’s over.” Rocco’s voice is so gentle that he barely sounds like the same person he was a moment ago.

“He…he just left me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

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