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I hold onto my anger. It’s the only thing that keeps me standing as Anthony confirms what I’ve suspected all these years.
My spine stiffens and the tension spreads through my back and up my shoulders. My lungs quit sucking in air. My heart stops.
“It was the hardest decision our father has ever had to make,” Lorenzo pipes in.
I turn to face him, and his expression is nearly unreadable, back to his usual state. His eyes hold the same pity as Anthony’s though.
They killed him. Right here, right now, they’re admitting it to me. I knew they did. As soon as the police called me to identify the body, as soon as they said he was shot. I knew. But deep inside of me, in a place I never would admit existed, I hoped it wasn’t true.
They never offered me any explanation. They showed up at my father’s funeral with fake solemn eyes, and I didn’t have the courage to ask them what happened at the time. The last image I have of my father is his corpse with a bullet hole in his forehead. Execution style. TheGrucos’style.
I hated the man and am glad he’s dead. My deepest regret is never getting the chance to burn his world to the ground.
But I hadn’t felt the same about my other family. Even being criminals, I saw them apart from him. I saw them as more.
Part of me wants to puke. Like I’m a little boy being given the news.
The other part is relieved because at least now I know for sure. Now it’s over.
“You’ll need to get yourself a new candidate,” I say, my voice strong. “If I get elected, I won’t be working for you.”
Anthony shifts, his shoes crunching on concrete. “Don’t be stupid.”
I don’t respond to Anthony and instead am sure Lorenzo is meeting my gaze. I try to read him, but it’s useless.
“You can kill me if you want. I don’t care. But Abi stays out of this.”
“Are you falling for your fake fiancée, or are you a martyr?”
His lips lift on one side when I don’t speak. “If you’re planning on staying with her, you should teach her to hide her emotions better. It’s unfitting for a politician’s wife.”
“No one is hurting anyone,” Anthony says, misplaced certainty in his voice. He isn’t the shot caller of the family. His father, or possibly Settimo now, is. And they’ve already proven what they’re capable of.
“Somehow I doubt that’s true,” I say, meeting Anthony’s gaze for a moment. I turn back to Lorenzo. “Next time you decide to threaten me, be a man and do it to my face. And stop following Abi. She isn’t going to the police. She couldn’t even if she wanted to, she’s—”
“I know.”
I eye Lorenzo questioningly.
“She’s got kidnapping charges filed against her. I’m aware she won’t be going to the police… That’s the only reason I haven’t chosen to call you on your absolute garbage of a charade.”
Lorenzo waves a hand as if to dismiss it. “The girl is fine.”
“Then why would you fuck with me like this?”
Lorenzo tilts his head. “How am I fucking with you, Colter? It seems to me, you’re the one seeking me out.”
“The text.”
“Text?”
Lorenzo’s text swirls in my brain.Enjoy her while you can.
“Don’t play stupid,” I say, my chest puffing in annoyance.
He doesn’t say anything, and Anthony looks at him questioningly.
I pull out my phone and open the text thread. “Here.” I toss it to Anthony, and he catches it with one hand, bringing it in front of him and squinting.