Page 59 of Kings & Chaos

I hated a lot of things about Neo Alinari, but one of the things I hated the most was the way he seemed to be able to peek into my fucking soul. My mom’s safety kept me up at night, but I hadn’t asked about it until now because I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer, and I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer because I knew there was nothing I could do about it if the answer was yes.

I drew in a breath, let it out slowly, trying to calm the fear that felt like a lead blanket on my chest. “Yes.”

He was back to focusing on the road, the nerve in his jaw jumping like it did when he was angry. He seemed to consider his words. “Your mom is selfish. She’ll be fine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

It took so long for him to answer I’d started to think he was going to leave me hanging.

“My mom was young when she married my dad.” His voice sounded hoarse, like he had something in his throat. “She didn’t know what she was getting into. She didn’t know what marrying him meant. For her. For me.”

“Is that why she left?” I asked softly. I’d been way too young to remember Neo’s mom, but I’d heard the whispers.

“She didn’t leave,” Neo said.

“Oh… I thought…” Now I was really confused. “I don’t understand.”

He briefly looked at me again. “I think you do.”

Dread seeped through my body like an oil slick. “Are you saying…” I had to take a deep breath just to finish the thought, “Are you saying your dad…did somethingto her?”

“She didn’t leave,” he said stubbornly. “She wouldn’t have left me with him.”

I didn’t know what to say. Because on the one hand, what he was suggesting was my worst fucking nightmare — my mom, married to a killer. And on the other hand, it was too crazy to be true right? The idea that Roberto would have murdered his first wife?

You are a child and a guest in my home. You will do as you’re told or you will be—

“But that’s… that’s…” I couldn’t get the words out, not because I was afraid to say them, but because they wouldn’t be true.

What was I going to say? That it was crazy to believe a mobster would murder someone? That it was crazy to believe he would murder his own wife?

“Think about it,” Neo said. “Think about the stories you’ve heard. Remember Martina Conti?”

Martina Conti had been the fiancée of one of Roberto’s highest-ranking soldiers. She’d disappeared before the wedding, and there had been rumors that she’d been an informant for the Feds and had been murdered to keep her quiet.

“That was just a rumor,” I said.

He glanced at me again, and this time his expression was a mix of sadness anddon’t be stupid.

I swallowed the lump that had lodged in my throat.

“Just stay away from him this weekend,” Neo said. “Play the part of good stepdaughter. Don’t make waves. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

He was back to looking at the road, and he turned the music up, making it clear the conversation was over.

I’m not going to let anything happen to you.

There was a promise in his voice I didn’t understand, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t turn me on. The realization made me vaguely sick, because clearly I was fucked up if I could be both terrified and desperate for Neo’s dick.

Then again, with Neo, lust and fear always seemed to be intertwined.

And I fucking hated what that said about me, about who I really was.

Chapter21

Willa

"Really Willa, you couldn't find something more appropriate to wear?" my mother asked, staring me down from one end of the elaborately set table.

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