Page 94 of Corrupted Deception

“Char, don’t say that,” Aiden replied, shaking his head.

“Not my dad; Daniel Marín.” I looked at Cielo. “The only man who could lead me to whoever the hell was after my father, and you killed him, didn’t you?”

Cielo’s gaze swung to Aiden, then back to me.

I laughed without humor. “What? You’re worried Aiden might learn a Luciano family secret or two?” I scoffed. “If Aiden wanted your family’s secrets, he’d have every one of them.”

I think I wanted him to get angry; I wanted him to argue with me, fight me, lose his god damned cool for once.

Instead, he looked back at me, his ice blue eyes devoid of the angry spark I needed.

“I didn’t kill him; he had a heart attack,” he said, his voice cool and calm.

“You know three thousand different ways to take a life but never figured out how to administer CPR?” I shot back, knowing it was foolish. Pointless.

But there it was—the tiniest frosty spark. And then it was gone.

“I gave him a round of epinephrine and fifteen minutes of CPR.”

I could feel Aiden watching on. He was probably amused, though he’d be doing his best not to show it. That was the effect my ‘antics’ and meltdowns typically had, like my whole life was some amateur improv skit.

I looked around before I ended up giving him any more entertainment. The shiny black leather of the sofa. The blue and green brush strokes of the painting/hidden gun cabinet on the wall. The brushed nickel sconces on either side of the sofa. The bamboo shoots in the vase in the corner, and the sleek, mahogany wood coffee table, covered in a dozen rings—I forgot about coasters a lot.

I breathed in deep and let it out slowly. Harping on what had happened to Marín was useless.

“It doesn’t matter now,” I said aloud. “All we can do is move forward.”

I could envision Dr. Steele’s approving nod. Yup, that was me; calm, cool, and collected here.

Aiden nodded. “Nacio’s working on a lead. I told him I’d check in with him once the Lucianos were finished with Mendoza’s men,” he said as he gathered up his laptop.

Cielo’s gaze turned to Aiden, eyeing him coldly.

Aiden shrugged, unperturbed—not a wise move, in my opinion. “If Charlotte’s involved, you can bet your ass we know about it, Cielo,” he said, then turned his gaze on me, eyes searching.

I stared back, not fond of his overprotectiveness but not exactly angry about it either. Aiden was complicated like that. Nacio and Julio were simple, like honorary uncles, so to speak. But Aiden and I had crossed the line that tended to blur and complicate any relationship. It was a mistake, and we’d been struggling to set it right ever since.

“For future reference, Icantake care of myself,” I said, leaving out the scathing tone a lesser man would deserve.

He chuckled. “No doubt, Char.” The smile fell away. “When we know more, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, no bringing any more cartels down on your ass. You’re running out of safehouses.”

I decided not to dignify that with a response, probably because he wasn’t entirely wrong.

Aiden had just started toward the hallway that led to the front door when Cielo stepped into his path.

Oh shit.

“Do Morales and Julio know about this?” he asked, nodding to the laptop beneath Aiden’s arm.

He shook his head. “I just finished with the video when you two walked in. Why?”

Cielo stepped aside as he looked to me, then back to Aiden. “Perhaps it would be best if what you found stayed in this room… for the time being.”

Aiden’s eyebrows raised while my jaw just about hit the floor.

“You’re not serious?” I said, the words falling out of their own volition.

Cielo nodded, looking very serious, indeed. “Marín shared intel on both my family and your father with Miguel Silva. If we assume there is one puppet master blackmailing Marín into handing over that intel, then it’s also reasonable to assume that whoever is pulling the strings knew about your father as well as my family’s… venture in Colombia. There are very few points where those lines cross: Morales. Julio. Val Rojas—”

---