Page 120 of Righteous Deceit

“Why Dino, though? Was it believed that he was party to her suspected murder?”

She’s quiet for long enough that I consider she’ll ignore me again, but then her voice haunts the silence of the car, the emotionless lilt of her tone wanting me to reach out and touch her. “Dino saw an opportunity for power.Hewas the one obsessed with control and dominance. When Edoardo died, Salvatore was too young to step into the boss’s shoes. He was only seventeen. No one in their right mind would’ve blindly accepted his authority.”

She’s not wrong. He would’ve been killed within days.

“Dino offered to protect us,him,” she corrects. “We saw it for what it was, but what choice did we have? At seventeen, our,his,” she amends, “sins were a death sentence. Dino saved our lives for the promise of power. He assured Salvatore that he’d onlywarmthe throne until he was ready to take over, but he wasn’t so eager to give it away when Salvatore was ready.”

Understanding settles through me, but she keeps on going.

“Then Dino demanded our union.”

“Whose union?”

“Me and him. He wanted me as his wife, and he was willing to blackmail us to make it happen. It tipped my brother over the edge. He killed him to save us.”

“The family accepted that without issue?”

She shrugs. “By this time, he’d killed two heads of the family. He’d earned his nickname as the Joker, slicing smiles into the faces of everyone he killed. I also think the family was relieved by Dino’s death. He was a terrible leader. They wanted someone fearless, someone who would kill their own father to ascend to the top.”

Her words trail off as she finishes that last sentence, and I leave her with her thoughts, choosing to settle into the silence as she drives.

Within thirty minutes, we pull up to a house I don’t recognize.

“Where are we?”

“You might want to stay in the car.” She climbs out of the vehicle, her handbag in her grasp, and moves purposefully toward the front door.

I follow her.

She doesn’t knock, walking straight through.

“Mother!”

“I didn’t invite you here.” The woman steps into the entryway, mouth twisted with distaste. “Leave.”

It’s hard to see the resemblance between the mother and daughter when Giuliana is such a vile piece of shit. Her eyes are the same color, but hers don’t shine like Sia’s. Instead, they squint with hate, the lines of disdain permanently etched around them aging her unnecessarily. Sia’s full lips smile and laugh while hers frown and spit fiery insults at the world. Hate has eaten away at the woman’s beauty, and the radiating allure of her daughter only exacerbates her loathing.

“For the past eighteen years, I’ve believed you froze me out because you despise me.” Giuliana opens her mouth to speak, but Sia continues. “But it’s not that. You thrive on throwing libel my way. I get it now.” She steps closer. “You knew I’d figure it out, didn’t you? You knew I’d eventually see through the veil of betrayal you insisted on portraying and see the evil that sat inside you.”

“I saidleave.”

Her mother had ignored my presence up until now. She looks down her nose at me.

“How dare you bring your scum from New York into my home! Marrying him was embarrassing enough, Alessia. Parading him around is just desperate. You couldn’t find a man to love you, so you trapped aboyinto pretending he cares for you.”

I open my mouth to speak, but Sia slaps her across the face, shocking us all.

“You can treat me like shit all you want, Mother. I’ve learned to live with your contempt long enough that it means nothing to me. But when you speak of or tomy husband, when you eventhinkabout his existence, you do so with fucking respect. He is a motherfucking capo. More importantly, he is the man I am married to, and I am agoddamn consigliera.”

Giuliana’s eyes widen in shock, telling me that her daughter hasneverchosen to stand up for herself against this god-awful woman before this moment.

“You will never be worth a damn in my eyes, girl. You’re not a leader. You’re a murderer.”

Sia freezes, and I step close enough to place my hand on her lower back. “My wife may have learned to cope with your hostility, but I have not and will not. If you so much as glower in Sia’s direction again, I know a man who will replace that cross you’re clutching at your neck with a section of barbed wire. I won’t ask you if you understand because I don’t care. That’s your only warning.”

“Did you just threaten to kill me?” she screeches.

“Yes.” I turn to Sia. “Do I need to call Lorenzo for damage control?”

---