Page 106 of Mafiosa
I gaped at him. ‘So you did it to punish me? You did it because I couldn’t love you back – the way you love me?’
‘I did it because Luca couldn’t,’ he said simply.
I stepped backwards, away from his smell, his face, his eyes. It would take a long time to conquer this feeling of betrayal – no matter what logic dictated, no matter any of it.
‘We’re not at war, Sophie, you and I,’ Nic added. ‘I’m on your side, but you’re a Falcone now, remember?’
He turned and thudded back downstairs, taking the cold, hard truth of the matter with him.
My phone buzzed against my hip. It was a text from Millie.
I’m at Evelina. Come outside.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVEOUT OF THE DARKNESS
Millie was leaning against the door of her car, arms folded across her chest.
I jogged towards her. ‘What is it?’
She slammed into me, and wrapped her arms around me so tightly I could barely breathe. ‘Oh my God oh my God oh my God, Soph, oh my God.’
I held on tight, breathing in her Flowerbomb perfume. ‘I’m sorry, Mil.’
She pulled back from me, a steadying hand on each shoulder. ‘It’s all over the papers.’
‘My dad—’ My voice broke off.
She pulled me into another hug. ‘I know. I’m so sorry.’
I didn’t realize how much I needed Millie until she was there, holding me up. All the pain and confusion andemptiness fissured, and the tears came freely.
‘Did you see it?’ she asked, pulling back from me. ‘Did you see who killed your father?’
‘Nic.’
‘God,’ Millie sighed. ‘Oh God, Soph, I’m so sorry.’
‘I’ll never forgive him. I can’t even look at him.’
Her frown deepened, crinkling her nose and pulling her brows together. Her freckles were darker in the harsh winter light. It was so early still, and yet she must have been driving for hours…
‘How did you get here so fast?’ I asked her. ‘How did the paper come so early at the cottage? I thought you were in the middle of nowhere.’
She frowned at me. ‘Don’t you know?’
‘Know what?’
‘Soph, Luca called me.’
‘L-Luca?’ I couldn’t grasp that sentence. ‘What? Why? When?’
‘Late last night,’ she said. ‘He told me everything.’
‘Why?’ I repeated. I had been busy trying to keep Millie in the dark and now she knew everything – and Luca had been the one to tell her. He had shatteredomertà.
Millie was looking at me with equal confusion. ‘Why?’ she repeated. ‘Because he wants me to take you away from here, Soph. He wants you out of the family.’
He wants you out.
