Page 51 of Luca

"She's not dead." I cut him off before he can spiral further. "Lower your voice. Sofia is smart. She's capable. She's probably sitting in a café in Paris or anywhere else in the world, finally breathing freely for the first time in her life."

"You don't know that."

"No, I don't. But I know she was dying here. Slowly, quietly, perfectly, but dying all the same."

My father runs his hands through his hair, the careful styling forgotten. "The art gallery depends on this alliance. The Romano connection brings legitimacy and protection. Without it..."

"You’ll find another way."

"There is no other way!" His voice cracks with desperation. "Do you understand what you've cost us? What you've cost me?"

And there it is.

The truth as I knew it.

Not concern for Sofia's safety, not worry about the family's wellbeing. Concern for his carefully constructed empire built on making deals with dangerous men.

"I've cost you nothing," I say coldly. "The alliance still exists. The marriage still happened. The only thing that's changed is which daughter you sacrificed to make it work."

"Sofia was willing to do her part."

"Sofia was terrified and thought she didn’t have a choice. There's a difference."

He stares at me for a long moment, while he wrestles with the reality of what I've done. The impossibility of undoing it, the danger of exposing it.

"You have to fix this," he says finally. "Contact Sofia. Bring her back. Find a way to make this right. The two of you have to switch back before he kills us all."

"I can't contact her. I honestly don’t know where she is."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"We continue on as we are. I stay married to Luca, you keep your alliance, Sofia stays free. Everyone gets what they need."

"And when he finds out you're not Sofia?"

"He won't."

But even as I say it, I hear the lie in the words. Luca is already suspicious. Already asking questions I can't answer. How long before his investigation leads him to the truth?

"You're playing with fire," my father warns. "And when you get burned, you'll take all of us straight to hell with you."

Before I can respond, the terrace door opens behind us.

"Is everything all right?" Luca's voice is calm, but when I turn to look at him, his eyes are sharp with suspicion. "You both look upset."

"Just family business," my father says quickly, but his voice is strained. "Nothing that concerns you."

"Everything about my wife concerns me."

The way he says 'my wife' makes me wonder if it’s a challenge. As if he's testing whether my father will contradict him.

"Of course," my father says. "I was expressing my concerns about Sofia adjusting to married life. She's always been my little girl."

"She's not a little girl anymore. She’s married now."

The two men stare at each other across the terrace. My father's desperation, Luca's suspicion, and me caught in the middle with a secret.

"We should get back to dinner," I say, trying to break the moment. "Elena will think we've abandoned her."