Page 102 of The Silence Lies

He stands up from his position, licking his lips. His own dick is back to full salute as he looks me in the eye, but we both seem to ignore that fact.

“How does she taste?” I repeat his question.

“You’re right. She does taste like heaven.”

Serafina

Last night feels like a dream. The kind you wake up from and want nothing more than to fall back asleep; to fall back into that world because the reality is far too surreal. That’s what I’m currently stewing in as I listen to my father cast expletives down the phone about my stupidity, lack of respect, and naivety.

“I told you to have a solid plan!” he berates, forcing me to pull the phone away from my ear. “Why am I hearing about some allegiance with The Vultures?”

My entire body freezes. The only people that know about the deal with them are my crew. Nobody outside of my circle should know that information because I haven’t told them, and definitely not my father. He always taught me to keep vital information away from anyone that could harm the integrity of it. It’s not that I don’t trust my father, but since his position is no longer to lead, he doesn’t need to know everything.

“Who told you that?” I grit my teeth, suppressing the anger bubbling beneath my skin. As a leader, I need to ensure that my crew is loyal to me and only to me. Someone is leaking information, and even though it’s only to my father right now, it’s still a problem that I need to shut down.

“Sera,” My father sighs, reluctance piercing the silence. Whoever is feeding him these details is someone he trusts, someone close enough to me that I wouldn’t pick them out of a lineup. The question is, who can’t I trust?

“Who told you?” My voice deepens, my temper rising.

“It doesn’t matter. The Vultures cannot be trusted.”

“I know.” My fists clench. Even when I’m in charge, my father is still overshadowing my authority. “I have it under control.”

“I hope so, Tesora. I just…” He doesn’t finish his sentence. He doesn’t need to.

“I know, Pa,” I sigh, running my hand through my hair. It comes as no surprise what he’s thinking, and tempting fate will only make matters worse. I lean forward on my desk, the gravity of the situation sinking in. I have to get this under control. I need to find out who the mole is. If my father won’t tell me, I’ll just figure it out myself.

A light knock sounds at the door to the den. I lift my head up to see Luca closing the door behind him, approaching me with two steaming mugs of coffee in his hands.

“I have to go, Pa.”

“Ti voglio bene,” he says softly.

“Ti voglio.”

“Your pops?” Luca asks once I hang up, handing me one of the mugs.

I nod reluctantly, placing the mug on the desk. “He knows about The Vultures.”

“You told him?”

I glare at Luca. “Someone else did.” It sounds almost accusatory, which I don’t mean it to be. I’m just so damn frustrated. I want to end the Verdis, but I need to be clever about it. I want to go back to two months ago, when Enzo was very much alive and we had a carefree life, but that’ll never happen. I want to relive last night, forgetting about everything, but I can’t.

There’s just so much to handle, so much to control and figure out. How the hell am I supposed to navigate this?

“A mole?”

I nod in response. “I don’t know how. The only people who know are the people in this house.”

“And Greco’s men,” he growls.

“Do you think they would have told my father?”

Luca sighs, leaning against the back of the couch and sipping his coffee. “Who the fuck knows? I don’t trust them not to, though.”

“Cazzo!” I rest my head in my hands. “What the hell do I do?”

“I’m afraid that’s not my job,” Luca laughs.

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