Page 123 of The Silence Lies

“Tell him,” Giovanni encourages.

I admire his strength. While there’s clearly something blossoming between us, he’s urging me to fix things with Luca instead. It’s selfless and only makes me want him more. After days of being by Giovanni’s bedside, not knowing whether he would make it or not, I’ve answered a question that lingered in my mind not that long ago.

The truth is, I don’t think I could live with myself if anything happened to Giovanni, and that’s only the first layer of my guilt.

Finally, I nod in agreement, sliding down the bed to resume my earlier position. This time, Giovanni leaves a gap between his arm and chest for me to slip into. The gesture is sweet, the moment feels natural, and together, our strength becomes exhaustion as we fall back to sleep in each other’s arms.

Levi

Raf, Luca and I all sit in the den, awaiting our leader’s impending arrival. Raf has news. Luca already told us the good news about Giovanni waking up, now it’s just up to Sera to decide what we do next.

The last few days have been rocky. Luca and Sera have barely said a word to one another. Luca and I are still talking, but there’s the elephant in the room that keeps blowing its trunk at me to speak to Luca about what happened between us.

How do you even address something like that?

It came out of nowhere, like a storm never picked up on a radar. Luca and I have shared Sera, and that was all it was ever meant to be. I don’t know when things changed, but it’s dangerous new territory. Kissing Luca is dangerous territory.

Sera wants us both, and we’ve been working hard to give her that. Somewhere along the way, though, we’ve blurred the lines. I’m not saying I hate it, because I don’t. Then again, I can keep telling myself I don’t like guys, but my actions remain a contradiction to my words. Even now, I find myself drawn to Luca in his gray suit, the shirt open at the top to reveal a couple of inches of his tanned chest. He’s sporting a black eye from Sera’s fist that’s only just starting to fade, but he isn’t bothered by it. I think deep down he knows he deserved it. He wasn’t exactly taking it easy on Sera the night Giovanni was shot.

Footsteps echo on the wooden stairs before they enter the room. We all turn to see Sera approaching us, her hips swaying with every intentional movement. She looks fresh, like the last few days haven’t been hell for her. With her hair pulled back into a low ponytail and her makeup near non-existent, she looks fiercely beautiful. Even the cut on her forehead that has faded into the tiniest scar makes her look badass.

“Hey,” she breathes out, her eyes landing on us.

There’s a different reaction on her face for each of us. For me, I see the fondness we’ve always shared. For Raf, she’s battling between gratefulness and irritation. But the worst is held for Luca, because for some reason, she’s harboring guilt. I’ve seen that look so many times by now that it’s odd not to see her looking like that. The fact it’s held for Luca over something that happened between them a few days ago sits heavier than any other time, though.

Luca locks his blue-eyed gaze with mine, and I have to avert my attention, hoping he doesn’t notice that I’m reluctantly attracted to the fucker.

After our visit to Zeke down at the marina, we’ve gathered a hell of a lot more information. But with Sera refusing to leave her bodyguard’s side, we’ve had to sit on it and wait. We’re all itching to share what we’ve found, but Sera takes her time, getting comfortable at her desk.

“Okay,” she huffs. “What do you have?”

Raf is the first to speak. By the way he stands so quickly, I’d say he’s more than aware of the sickening tension suffocating the room.

“I couldn’t find anything on our mole, everyone is clean.”

Sera gives him a pointed look.

“Okay,” Raf chuckles. “As clean as any man under your leadership can be.”

“What about the guy at the compound?” Luca asks.

Raf shakes his head. “I went through the footage from the drones that night. Nothing. Whoever it was doesn’t want to be found, and right now, I’m happy to keep it that way if you are?”

Sera nods. “It’s not my first priority, but the mole situation is still concerning. We need to close ranks on this.”

“We’ve already gotten rid of Greco’s men,” I say. “After the shooting, we found out The Vultures had a leak. We didn’t want to take any chances with men that weren’t our own.”

“It has been taken care of,” Luca assures. He still doesn’t make eye contact, though.

“Okay…” Sera glances at Luca for more, but she’s just staring at the side of his head. After a beat, she turns to Mancini. “What’s next then?”

“The twins have planned their attack on the second warehouse,” Raf answers, adding to the already long list of things we need to address today. “We put it off after recent events, but if you’re happy to give us the go ahead, they’re ready to get their boots on the ground.”

“Numbers?” Sera asks, instantly fitting into the role she was designed for.

“Less than before,” Raf answers with unbridled certainty.

Sera doesn’t question him on that either, she just nods. “I want the same message sent, Mancini. Destroy what’s theirs.”

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