Page 83 of Blood and Lies (A Twisted Duet 1)

“He gambled away our entire fortune on the stock market. He gained a new informant, a supposed insider, and because enough was never enough for him, he placed everything on the line because of the word of a liar, leaving us with nothing.” Tears rolled down her cheeks in angry waves. “Carlo and I had to act. We had no choice.”

Castello pulled his hands through his hair while I struggled to breathe, trying to make sense of everything I was hearing. It was all too much—the lies being exposed, the truths being revealed—I couldn’t wrap my head around any of it.

“It’s true,” Uncle Gino said. “Finally, she speaks the truth.”

Vico stepped up, placing his hand on his mother’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. None of this matters. The only thing that matters is that this man”—he pointed at my father—“is still responsible for Carlo’s death.”

“Because he was trying to protect his daughter!” Castello yelled, his voice booming like furious thunder.

“And I was trying to protect you,” his mother countered. “All of you. Your father didn’t give a shit while he gambled away our lives. I was the one who stood up and tried to make it right. And this is what I get? This is what I get for trying to protect our family?”

Castello’s face was red and dark, his eyes burning. “You were only trying to protect yourself.”

And then another gunshot.

Giovanni pressed his body against mine, pushing me against the wall, and I could hardly breathe. But it wasn’t the gunshot that frightened me…it was the deadly silence that followed.

My instincts told me I didn’t want to know; I didn’t want to see who received that bullet. Unfortunately for me, I peered from behind Giovanni’s huge body only to see my father’s head hanging down, blood leaking from his mouth as if his life was draining out of him.

“No!” With strength I didn’t know I had, I pushed past Giovanni and ran toward my father. There was nothing but silence—or I just didn’t hear anything besides my heart breaking. My eyes focused on nothing but my father, tunnel vision steering me in his direction. I needed to get to him, to save him.

And then she was there. The face of the devil appeared between me and my father, the glint of a gun shining from the sun beaming in through the windows, bringing me to a halt.

I froze. She aimed. My life was no more.

I closed my eyes, and visions of my father and me when I was little bombarded my mind. Laughter, happiness, and so much love. Stuck in that moment in time, I allowed myself to be swept away in all the emotions, to be there with my father for one more second. Nothing else mattered. This war, Castello, Carlo, my life…nothing mattered but that one moment.

Then through the haze of silence, another shot caused my ears to ring, but it didn’t tear away the memory, the moment, the bliss of just not caring anymore.

I waited for impact, but it never came. The vision in my head slowly disappeared, and the deadly silence around me was the heaviest I ever felt.

When I opened my eyes, I sucked in a breath, and I couldn’t even hear my heartbeat anymore.

Castello stood with a gun in his hand, his finger still holding the trigger…while his mother’s body collapsed to the ground. In shock, I looked down, a pool of blood forming around her within seconds.

And then all hell broke loose.

Someone grabbed me around my waist, lifting my feet off the ground and carrying me away from Castello instead oftohim. I wanted to gotohim.

I screamed, I kicked, I punched, but it was no use. It was a riot, chaos, complete mayhem as shots filled the silence like the thunder of a storm colliding with the winds of a hurricane.

“Castello!” I yelled, trying to get loose.

His eyes met mine, dark beautiful eyes, but then he shouted, “Get her the fuck out of here, Giovanni! Now!”

“No! Please, put me down.”

It was no use. I was carried out the door and down halls I didn’t recognize. Giovanni carried me like I weighed nothing. I felt like nothing. My insides felt like nothing. Images of my father with his head hanging down, red leaking from his body, consumed me, and I stopped fighting. While Giovanni ran, carrying me with him, I just did nothing.

Lies. My life had been nothing but lies.

Carlo never loved me. My father killed Carlo. Vico killed my father. Castello killed his mother. So many lies and deaths surrounded me, and I soaked it all up. Hate, revenge, death, lies—it was all inside me now, infecting me. I could feel it spread through every bone, consuming my mind, my soul…my heart. After fighting for so long, I gave in and embraced it all.

And then…nothing.

Chapter 26

CASTELLO

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