Page 146 of Jig's Last Dance

“Did he?”

“Yes, I was there,” I shout, and she moves to sit up, her thin form trembling. “Alice, whatever happened at the end, he came to me for you. He wanted you to be safe.”

“Then what changed?”

“Everything. Castinetti pulled you into his game. With Castinetti gunning for him, what could he do that would get Castinetti to back off?”

“You’re saying he orchestrated his death at my hands because it was the only way to get Sal to back off?”

Did he die for me? I don’t know, but it’s information to parse out later when I can be alone with my thoughts.

She smiles, her eyes taking on a soft glow that makes me uneasy. “He made the ultimate sacrifice for his love of you.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Who knows? Maybe he worried about Castinetti. The less you knew the better.”

“He said he had to protect Ben,” I whisper, clutching my aching chest. Could it be true?

“Maybe. But even if it were true, a parent will do anything to protect their young. Anything.”

The intensity of her gaze as she grabs my wrist burns in my sternum, and I nod to get her to let go.

“I think he thought I wasn’t his daughter,” I say, choking back a sob.

Finally, she drops her hand and says with a sigh, “Even if he did, he came to me for you. Too bad the fucker didn’t like how I did it, but Jig and those assholes, they were the only ones who could help you.”

She eyes me thoughtfully, while I process everything before saying, “Give him, Sam, a better life. Send him far away and do me a favor.”

“What?”

“Don’t tell me where he is.”

Taken aback, I search her gaze, but she’s not looking at me. She’s staring into something I can’t see, and it’s taken over her features, pulling them into the dark.

“Iris?”

“Hm?”

“How do you know all this about my dad?”

She snaps back to me, her eyes narrowed before she says, “He told me. I’m keeping my end of it.”

“Me?”

Nodding, she says almost as an afterthought, “He said it was the only way.”

I don’t have time to answer before Jig comes through the door with another guy I don’t recognize. He’s tall and slim with harsh features but strangely kind eyes. Iris stares at him blankly before nodding.

She stands on shaky legs, grabbing the wall. The guy steps forward and takes her arm, leading her to the door. At the threshold, she pauses and says without looking back, “I kept my end. Now it’s up to you to keep yours.”

∞∞∞

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