Page 101 of Dreadful

She narrows her eyes before darting her gaze around the room, as if she could map the scene out herself.

“How?”

“I hung him like theporcohe is, severed his neck, and washed his blood down that drain. Oh, and if you like justice? You’dlovewhere he’s buried,vipera.”

Her shoulders relax slightly, but her knife stays trained on me. “You know who else was killed here? My father.”

The blood drains from my face as I rack my brain for every single name and face that has arrived alive and left this room dead.

“Vinnie said Bianchi died in that crash.”

She snorts. “I ‘died’ in that crash, too, thanks to your uncle’s connections. I already know who murdered him.”

“Who?”

“Youdid.”

“Tallie, that’s not—”

“Don’t lie, Severino.”

“I’mSevto you, Tallie.”

“You’re ‘the boy’ to me! You’ve always been the fucking boy! Ever since the night you left me for dead!” she screams at the top of her lungs. The insulated walls swallow the sound, ending the confusing statement with finality even though I’m still bewildered. I want to ask what the hell she means, but she keeps going, and I don’t dare stop her now. “What is it you say?La verità è bella.Speak the truth, Severino. They could be your last words. My father nearly died in that car crash, but my information says that he was locked away down here. Once you left Claudio’s, he was your first kill. What was he? A celebration on tricking a girl into dying for you?”

One face in particular flashes through my mind, and my heart freezes. The man my father brought in as a consolation kill after I escaped Claudio’s. He was beaten beyond recognition before he even got to me…

“I don’t know your ‘intel,’ but I promise I didn’t kill your father, Talia.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying, Talia. You heard rumors. Rumors my father fabricated and perpetuated. You’re right, I was there. But I said no to him for the second time in my life, and I’ll never forget it.’”

“You were here when my father died?”

I gulp and nod. “I didn’t kill him, but I watched him die. My father ‘gave’ him to me because mob politics meant I couldn’t kill Vinnie and Claudio like I wanted to. I didn’t know his name or what he’d done…I couldn’t do it. So, I said no, and my father made me pay for my insubordination. I’ve never regretted that beating.”

She grimaces on my behalf and shakes her head slightly. “But if you didn’t kill him, who did?”

I inhale the cool air of the aging room and let it out before answering. “Claudio. He shot him. I’m so sorry, Talia. It was quick in the end.”

“Claudio killed my father, too?”

She stumbles back, and I’m up in half a second to catch her, despite the pain in my ankle. I grab one hanging chain for balance and wrap my arm around her waist to hold her close. The tension in my chest loosens when she clings to me with weak arms. Her knife begins to slip from her hand. I take it before it falls and place it on the tray table behind me. Her beautiful hazel eyes glisten with pain and hatred as she meets my gaze.

“He’s takeneverythingfrom me, Sever. I know he’s behind the drive-by, too. I just don’t know if it’s because we were late in our payment, or if I was caught, or—”

“Or he was after me. Which means it could’ve been Judge Blunt, too. He’s the one who stabbed me at dinner because I tried to attack him. I’ll check my security cams as soon as I can. Once I find out, I’ll take my blade to the men who hurt you. Let me help you do this. For years, I’ve needed justice for you.”

I nod to her tattoo and mentally count her snakes and line them up with her song.

“The butler. Three maids. The gardener. Driver. Capo. Priest. Judge. Godmother. Godfather…who’s the thirteenth snake? Who do you have left on your list?”

She holds my gaze as if she can give me the answer with her snake eyes alone. My stomach begins to churn, and unease simmers just underneath my skin. I know what she’s going to say before the accusation falls from her beautiful lips.

“The boy…you.”

“Me.” It’s a statement, not a question. Somewhere deep inside, I’ve known this all along. But words spoken have power, and my heart is sick hearing that I’ve hurt her. What she says next burns away any second thoughts I have.