Page 29 of Curse

And if Vin gets caught up in this anymore than he already is and Aurelio finds out, his blood is on me, too. Though Aurelio didn’t object when Vin and Tommy took me in after my parents died when I was a kid, that’s about the full extent of his kindness to any of us.

Even though Vin is his successor, Aurelio views everything he does as a threat—good, bad, or indifferent. A threat to the family if he fucks up. A threat to him personally if he does well, like Vin might steal the throne out from under him.

I wish he would. I’d back him all the way. Vin is ready, that much I’m sure of, but he needs the right reason to pull the trigger, metaphorically and literally.

I watch Siena’s pale face in sleep, her chest gently rising and falling beneath the blanket. She’s innocent. She doesn’t belong in this world, doesn’t belong in this room. But it’s the only safe place I can think of. That’s the joke of it—the safest place in our universe is a prison.

A knock interrupts my thoughts. Olivia leans against the doorframe, smirking. “Vin’s here. Didn’t tell him about your little guest.” Her tone is teasing, but her gaze flickers toward Siena, sharp and questioning.

“Tell him to meet me in the conference room back here,” I say, my voice flat. I wait for her to do as she’s told, but she doesn’t move. “What?”

“Doc says she’s clean. No sign of… sexual assault. No pregnancy. No STDs. Apparently, she has a birth control implant, in case, that’s of interest to you,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

I’m relieved Siena’s okay, but I don’t like Olivia’s insinuation with that last comment and turn away, expecting her to leave. When she doesn’t, I sigh, barely able to contain my impatience. “Jesus Christ, Olivia. What do you want?”

She waves a hand toward Siena. “Are you going to explain? Maybe illuminate the mystery of why you look like someone ripped out your heart and stomped on it when you carried her in here?”

I narrow my eyes, blocking her view into the room. “Bye, Olivia.”

She presses her hand against the door, stopping me as I try to close it. Her tone shifts, her expression turning serious. “Ifyou care about this one, keep her away from him.”

We both know who she means. Aurelio. I’ve often wondered how it is that Olivia has managed to live near him all these years and survived. She’s the only woman who has, as far as I can tell. Even Aurelio’s wife, Vin’s mother, disappeared under mysterious circumstances when the boys were younger.

“Olivia. Go away.”

She studies me for another moment, then makes a face at me and turns on her heel, her footsteps echoing down the hall as I shut the door behind her.

I check on Siena one more time, then flip open the security app, double checking that the cameras in this room are on and working. She’s sleeping peacefully now, but if she wakes up, I want to be here. I watch her for a few minutes more, then step out the door, leaving it open a crack so I can hear her.

The conference room is one door down, but Vin isn’t the only one waiting for me when I walk in. Franco, that fuck, is with him, bouncing on the balls of his feet like an overeager kid. Vin sits back on the worn leather couch, arms crossed, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

I address Vin. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

Vin holds up a hand and nods like he expected that response. “Hear him out.”

Franco jumps in before I can protest. “So, I talked to Aurelio,” he says, pounding his fist into his palm with every other word. “He wants that flash drive. Bad.”

I glance at Vin, who stares back, his jaw clenched. If Aurelio sent Franco after the flash drive, he’s decided I’m not moving fast enough. Worse, it confirms he knows about Siena. And that Siena is Franco’s sister, which means Vin probably—

“And since it’s my sister who has it,” Franco continues,puffing out his chest, “I figured I could help. Your guys didn’t find it on her or in the car, so—”

Fuck. Vin is glaring at me. I wonder how long he’s known I lied to him about Siena’s identity. Fucking Franco.

I step toward Franco, my fists clenched. “The fuck are you thinking, running your mouth about what I may or may not be doing?”

He holds up his hands, backing off quickly. “No offense, no offense,” he stammers. “Just saying. The flash drive wasn’t there, and it wasn’t found at the law office.”

“Why were you even at the law office, Franco?” Vin asks, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees.

“Aurelio told me to go. He said in case someone called the cops, I should run interference.”

Vin curses under his breath. He fucking hates when Aurelio calls on Franco for anything, and in this case, we take it personally since I was the one originally put on extracting the flash drive.

Tension-fueled silence hangs in the air, and finally I break it. “Franco. Why are you here?”

He lights up, remembering what he wanted to say. “Well, I figured since it’s my sister who has the flash drive, I could help speed things up. So I did.”

“What did you do, Franco?” My voice is low, and the color drains from his face.

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