Page 67 of Code Name: Dante

“What are you talking about?”

“Dad wasn’t exactly pleased when he figured out you weren’t his.”

“How long after my mother left did he figure it out?”

“Ourmother and, within hours. She signed both your death warrants that day.”

“What does that mean?”

“It took considerable effort to convince him you were more valuable alive than dead. Now, of course, I regret that move.”

“Are you saying you protected me?” I asked, chuckling.

“Someone had to.” His chains rattled as he shifted position.

“Where is she, Vincent? Where’s our mother?”

“Safe.” His eyes narrowed. “Which is more than I can say for Summer Gregory if you lead the Mazzeos to her.”

“What do the Mazzeos want with her?”

His smile was knowing. He’d already figured out that the news he was imparting wasn’t a revelation. “You know exactly what they’d do to a woman responsible for the death of one of their own.”

“Are you suggesting she killed the father of her child?”

He studied me for a long moment. “Summer and I weren’t the only ones who witnessed what happened.” His voice took on an almost philosophical tone. “It’s interesting how one choice can alter so many lives. Like dominoes. Except in this instance, it wasn’t a choice. Not if she wanted to protect herself and her kid.”

“What happened that night?”

He scoffed. “As if I’d tell you.”

“What aboutourmother?” I emphasized the word like he had. “What happened to her?”

“I kept her safe. Alive.”

“Why does she have to remain in hiding? Is it because of Summer? Or because of our sister?”

Vincent smirked and shook his head. “Still so naive, Sandro, and to think I traded her life for yours. At least, that’s what my father thought.”

“There was an unidentified deceased woman found not long after Joseph Rossetti’s corpse turned up. Who was she?”

Vincent shrugged like it—she—didn’t matter.

“You killed her and somehow made it appear that our mother died instead.” I shook my head in disgust.

“Would you have preferred I let you and her die?”

“What about Rossetti? Did you arrange for his death too? Or did you kill him yourself?”

“The old man wanted that pleasure.”

“She was pregnant again when she disappeared. Who’s the baby’s father?”

His eyes scrunched. “What difference does it make?”

My eyes flared. “None.” In the same way it didn’t matter that Vincent and I were sired by different men. No matter how much I might argue otherwise, he and I werebrothers. “Lay it out for me. You helped Mom disappear, figured out a way to convince your father she was dead, and somehow convinced him to let me live? The last part doesn’t sound like you or him.”

“As it turned out, it was the stupidest decision I ever made.”

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