Page 49 of The Hitman's Secret Baby
She folds her arms across her chest, lips tight in a way that means her mind is already moving ten steps ahead.
"Does anyone know?" she asks.
"No. Not yet. We were careful."
"Then let's stay that way."
She turns on her heel and walks toward Papa's study, her voice trailing behind her like a command.
"I'll speak to him. You sit."
But I do not sit.
I stand in the cold entryway with the portraits watching me, feeling the storm I've brought to our threshold gathering force with every second.
I wonder what it will cost.
I wonder how long I can keep playing both sides without being crushed between them.
The doors to the study open half an hour later.
Papa steps out in his robe, cigarette in hand, hair slightly mussed from sleep, but his eyes clear and already full of fire.
"Well, well," he murmurs as he approaches. "You've brought home quite the prize."
I lift my chin.
"She needed help."
He laughs once.
"Help. Yes, of course. And here I thought you had no instinct for strategy."
He walks past me, still speaking.
"She's not just any bride. She is the jewel Luca paraded through every ballroom this past year. And now she is asleep under our roof."
He exhales a long breath of smoke.
Then he stops, and his voice drops.
"If no one saw you leave with her, this could be beautiful. No one will suspect us. Not if we manage it well."
"But if someone did?"
I ask, already knowing the answer.
His expression sharpens.
"Then we're complicit. And the wrath of a Salvatore is not something I intend to invite. Especially not Luca's." He says my name, quietly this time. "Aria."
I meet his gaze, waiting.
"We will help her disappear. But you,figlia mia, must do the same. Until the flames settle. Until someone else takes the fall."
I do not react.
I expected this.
