Page 22 of The Silence Lies

Her body goes rigid as her eyes flicker over me. “You know?”

I tilt my head. She really thought that was a secret? “Everyone knows.”

She shudders at my revelation. That steely confidence she exuded before slowly diminishes, leaving a timid girl in its wake. But she doesn’t need to be like that. She’s fucking fierce. She just held a gun to a man’s head and gave the fucker a second chance. Weak people don’t give anyone second chances. It’s the strongest of people that consider another’s life. It takes a leader to do what she did. It’s not a weakness—at least not in my eyes.

“I wish I could’ve pulled the trigger,” she mutters, reaching for another paper towel. She presses it to my lip, dabbing at the cut I can feel there.

“We both know that wouldn’t have brought you any satisfaction.”

“Maybe not,” she shrugs. “But you got a couple of hits in.”

I flex my fingers, feeling the faint pain in my knuckles. I won’t deny that it felt good to feel the crunch of his cheekbone beneath my fist. The fact that he’ll be sporting a shiner for the next week has a faint smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

“You can always take out some of that rage on whoever let him in here, if Levi finds them.”

She nods. “He will.”

“So confident in your second in command.”

“As I should be.” She pins me beneath a hard stare, her eyes not betraying whatever I saw pass between her and Levi before Luciano showed up. It’s still eating at me, though—the notion that there’s something going on there, and the sick twist of jealousy I feel churning in my gut at the thought of it.

“It must be strange, adjusting to having someone new by your side,” I say casually, watching her every move, searching for her tells. “Someone other than Enzo.”

She flinches at my mention of him. “It wasn’t by choice.”

I see the pain swimming in her eyes, recognizing it because I feel the same thing every day. We both lost someone when the Verdis attacked. I’ve been so focused on my own grief over my father, choosing to blame her when I haven’t really considered the fact that she’s grieving, too.

“Levi’s a good man,” Sera breathes, pressing the ice to my cheek again. “He’s already proven that he’s more than capable of being my second.”

I study her eyes while she avoids mine, focusing instead on the bag of ice pressed to my face. I don’t miss the concealed meaning. There’s more to it than she’s actually saying and while a part of me wants to know what has happened between them, I don’t think I can bring myself to ask. I need to let this layer of jealousy subside before I go down that route.

“You two seem… comfortable,” I mutter, unable to stop myself from voicing the reason I was agitated before Luciano even showed his face.

“We have known each other since we were children. He’s Enzo’s cousin,” she shrugs like that’s the answer I was searching for.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Her eyes narrow on me. For just a second, I think she’s going to slap me. Instead, she huffs, and mutters, “Whatever you’re insinuating isn’t any of your business, Luca.”

“Isn’t it?”

Sera frowns, causing that knot of jealousy in the pit of my stomach to twist.

“If we’re working together, I think I should know whether Levi’s going to jump in front of a bullet for you like that lovesick fool, Enzo.”

Sera jolts to her feet, slamming the soggy napkin full of ice to the floor. It smashes on impact, shards of ice scattering on the floor tiles around her shiny Louboutin heels. “Don’t you dare talk about him like that!” she shouts, her eyes ablaze with fury. “Enzo was my best friend. He was the best man I’ve ever known! An honorable man, a loyal man, and it was because of that loyalty that he…” she trails off, her eyes becoming glassy with unshed tears. “He…”

She shakes her head, turning away from me.

“He died, Sera. Say it.”

Her shoulders shake with a sob, and I’m beginning to feel like the biggest jackass.

“Fuck you, Luca.”

I blow out a breath, rising to my feet slowly. “You have to accept it,” I say gently, stepping toward Sera and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Giovanni edges closer, a look of precise warning directed at me.

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