Page 59 of The Silence Lies

Levi

I want to be pissed at Alfredo Bianchi. To some degree, I am. The fact he accused me of not taking care of his daughter has me festering in a bad mood. If only he knew how much I care about his daughter, how much I’m prepared to take a bullet for her, and more. He doesn’t know the first thing about what we went through last night. All he saw was his daughter injured. And I get it. I understand why he would be scared of losing her, but she’s in this position because of him. I’m not saying the Verdi’s attack was his fault, but of all people, he should have known she would be a target to someone.

“It’s done,” Sera sighs exasperatedly, slumping onto the couch beside me. We’ve been waiting all day for Greco’s son, Tomas, to get in touch with us. For a moment, I didn’t think he would, but he surprised us all at the last second.

Since Greco finally agreed to help Sera, we’re relying heavily on the fact he has the biggest security crew behind him—he can definitely spare us some men. This isn’t about manpower, though. Having Greco’s men with us means everyone will see it as an alliance, and Sera needs all the allies she can get.

Luciano is a loose cannon. He might have had this planned from the day Sera’s position was announced, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stick to his plans. It’s both a good and bad thing, and I’ll be keeping my ear close to the ground in case he tries to get one over us again.

“So he’s sending men over?” I ask, turning to take in her profile.

She looks tired, like the day has gradually worn her down. She got rid of the suit as soon as we returned, and she’s now back in her oversized tee and shorts. I won’t lie, she looks hot as fuck, and the fact she is sitting merely inches away from me does embarrassing things to my dick.

Keep it in your pants, Marchese.

“Tomorrow,” Sera confirms.

“Good, the twins can brief them up and get them running patrols.”

Sera nods. Though it’s subtle, I notice her brows furrowing. She’s pensive; a look I’m more than familiar with.

“Tell me what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours, Bianchi.”

She sighs, leaning her head back against the couch as she stares up at the ceiling with resignation. “It’s Mancini.”

“What about him?” I understand why she’s so reluctant to trust the guy. The situation they both fell into wasn’t exactly conducive to a healthy friendship. The guy pretty much ignored her cries for help. It wasn’t until my cousin got involved that things finally started to take a turn, but by then, the damage was already done to Sera.

“Do you think it’s suspicious that he’s helping us?” She turns to look at me, her beautiful brown eyes widening with uncertainty.

“You don’t trust him?” It’s a redundant question. I already know the answer, but I need Sera to be open with me. It’s my job to advise, after all. I can’t advise if I don’t know what I’m dealing with.

“I have no reason to.”

“True,” I say, leaning my own head back to mirror hers. “I guess if he still had ties to Luciano, I would definitely be questioning his motives. But they haven’t been friends for a long time.”

“I just don’t know what to do,” she murmurs. “Between the Verdis, the Vultures and Mancini, I feel like I’m out of my depth.”

I hate the sound of doubt lacing her words. This is the vulnerability that she tries so hard to hide from me. I reach for her hand, tangling my fingers between hers. “One step at a time, Bianchi.”

She smiles weakly.

“You can’t control everything,” I remind her. “And you don’t have to do this alone. You’re not alone. You have me, Fontana, the twins, even—”

“Do you trust him?” she quizzes, brows furrowing sharply.

“I don’t know,” I shrug. It’s the honest truth, something she deserves to hear. As much as I want to hate Mancini, his words earlier today were sincere. We have all seen how manipulative Luciano and his family can be. Sera was a victim of it herself.

Raf deserves forgiveness. He was never the one who hurt Sera, he was just too young to know better.

“Luca trusts him.”

“That’s not what I asked.” She snatches her hand away from me, pushing off the couch to glare down at me.

“I know he fucked up, Sera. I get why you don’t want him around but he wants to help. Luca wouldn’t have brought him into this if he didn’t think he could be useful.” I grab her hand and tug her down onto my lap.

She doesn’t fight me, something that surprises me. “Trust me, Sera. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“You can’t control everything,” she snarks.

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