Page 122 of Righteous Deceit

Sia killed Edoardo.

Not Salvatore.

“You took something from me, so I made sure I took something from you. I watched that girl’s soul die day by day, and it was all your fault, Alessia.Youdid that.You’reresponsible for Lucy’s decline into madness. She was your punishment for what you stole from me.”

I stand still, frozen with a complete collapse of conscious thought because mywifeis the one responsible for her father’s death. She’s not wrong. Her secret would be diabolical for Chicago. If the underworld knew the truth, Salvatore would be seen as a fraud. They’d gut him for his lies, fortheirlies. One thing our world hates more than a rat is an impostor.

When she stormed into my home all those months ago, she thought I knew. She thought I’d discovered their secret.

It still doesn’t answer why.What do I have to do with all of this?Howis she protecting me?

A gun fires, and I grab at Sia, yanking her behind me and shielding her from harm. But I needn’t have worried. Sia wasn’t in danger.

Gun held tightly in her hand, she wrestles free of my grasp and watches her mother fall to her knees, holding her stomach with both hands as blood pools around her midsection.

“I’m glad my face is the last one you’ll see before you die. You’ll dive headfirst into hell knowing I was the one who put you there.” A smile sits on Sia’s face that doesn’t look entirely sane or composed. “Just like that evil husband you dedicated your life to. Even if they kill me for this, it’ll be worth it.” She lifts her gun again and fires three more shots. “Tell Dad I said hi.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

ALESSIA

Ican’t hide it anymore.

He heard my mother out me as a murderer, and if that wasn’t enough, she had to spell it out in capital fucking letters with an exclamation point.

You killed him and got away with it.

Standing over Giuliana’s dying body, I clear my throat. “Lucy was involved with my father. He was having sex with my seventeen-year-old best friend, and he got her pregnant.”

I keep my back to him, unable to look him in the eyes.

“I knew about their affair, and I tried to stop it. I tried to warn her of the kind of man he was, but she couldn’t see it.”

I sniff, clicking the safety back into place on my gun and tucking it back into my handbag.

“Then she told me about the pregnancy. I knew it would end badly. I told her that. I tried to warn her. We fought. She was upset that I couldn’t be happy for her.”

“The doll.”

I nod. “I assume so. She must have miscarried, or they took the actual baby from her and replaced her with the doll.”

My mind wanders, the horrors of the past two decades flashing before me. What hell she must have endured at the hands of my mother and that doctor.

“I asked her to meet me the next morning to discuss everything. I begged her to wait until we had spoken before she shared the news with my father. She never showed.”

Rummaging through my handbag, I pull out my cell phone and dial my brother. He answers on the first ring.

“Giuliana is dead. You need to send in a clean-up crew. I would organize it, but I’m not thinking clearly.”

I hang up without waiting for his response.

“I looked for her, and when I couldn’t locate her, I confronted Edoardo.”

“You were alone?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “We argued. He told me to forget about mywhorishfriend. He said that I would never see her again. I assumed he’d killed her.”

Looking in the direction of my father’s study, I step over my mother’s lifeless body and the pool of blood surrounding her like a halo of hell and move toward the office. Diego follows.

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