Page 20 of Sweet Lies

“Is the meeting set?” I ask Pete.

“Yes. Everything’s ready.”

“Good.”

Tonight Logan Regio dies, and then the rest of them will fall.

ChapterSeven

REBECCA

I’m halfway up the stairs when Elijah stops me. “Rebecca, I know we need to talk, but I need to speak to Claire first. Can you come to the office in a few?”

I nod. “I’ll be in my room. Have Claire get me when you’re finished.”

I go to say more, but he’s already turned away, his mind on business. I don’t feel angry about this because it’s just the way it’s always been. I love my siblings, and I know they love me, but we’re just very different people who show love differently.

I step into my room and quietly shut the door behind me, leaning against it. For some reason, my large room feels constricting. The pink-and-white blanket ridicules me alongside the photos hanging on the wall. Breathing out, I try to release the tightness in my chest, but it does nothing, so I push off the door and go to lie on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

The Five Families have been more at odds than usual from the little bits I’ve been able to gather from my siblings, but we never thought it would lead to our father’s death. In the past, we all ruled our own territory with little involvement from the other families. His death will lead to a war, and I worry we may not win. It seems sides are being taken, and I wonder who will stand with us.

Adrian Regio, Daniel Ferrari, Tony Costa, GianMarino, and now my brother: the Five Families that rule New York. An agreement going back to the homeland some hundred years ago. It started as a way to protect the others while still turning a significant profit when the original men in charge moved to America. Over time, each family found their specialty and ruled their territory with blood and fear, and what was once a collective mind splintered off along family lines these last three generations.

Closing my eyes, I finally allow the crashing feeling of sleep to take over. Claire will get me when they need me. Till then, I’m just as valuable to them asleep as I am awake.

* * *

CLAIRE

“Claire, come in the study with me. We need to talk,” Elijah commands as soon as the car is parked. At least it sounds like something to get my mind off the last conversation with my father, which has been going round and round in my head for hours now.

Elijah’s steps are urgent. As if this is something he’s been thinking about all day and can finally get done.

Entering the study, I take in the scene. All three of my uncles are in the room. Antonio, Matteo, and Chris are there as well. They were my father’s finest enforcers; now, they’re my brothers. With all of them in the room, it can’t be good news.

“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to squash my rising panic.What if something’shappened to Mike?I’d been unable to get in touch with my fiancé since this morning.

“Claire, can you sit for a minute?” Elijah asks, standing over the chair that once belonged to our father. I have fond memories of coming into this room to watch him go over numbers and then playing chess, but these memories are now overshadowed.

Elijah opens the drawer to the desk and pulls out a manila folder. Never one to mince words, he cuts to the chase: “Dad and I had Mike investigated when you began dating.”

“I know. You told me. You also told me that it came back clean.” My stomach is in knots.

“Yes, it did. Too clean. We made the decision to dig deeper without your knowledge.” He pushes the folder toward me.

I open it to a picture of Mike walking with two other men; they look as if they’re in deep conversation. I flip through the pages. More photos of Mike, some with the same men, others with different men I don’t recognize. The last picture is him with Adrian Regio’s sons.

“I don’t understand.” But I’m afraid I do. I keep flipping.

“The men in the last picture are Adrian Regio’s sons.”

“I know. I don’t understand what this has to do with Mike.”

“Yes, Adrian has two sons. We’ve both met them. What we didn’t know is he has another son from a mistress. His middle son is Alexander—we know him as Mike.”

Elijah’s lips keep moving, but I can no longer hear him. What have I done? The pieces start to fall into place. The late work dinners, not coming home as often, knowing things I never told him, never questioning when I came back with ghosts in my eyes or hands stained with blood.

I’d been blind. I’d seen only what I wanted to see. The smile, the endearing eyes, the easy-going nature. How he could make me laugh and forget about a bad day. I gave a bitter laugh, causing my brother to stop talking and the rest of the men to glance at me with concern.

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