Page 78 of Clash of Sin and Secret

I’m sitting in the living room, processing everything, as Scottie finishes recounting her harrowing ordeal. When Tucker called us to say he found her alone and sitting in that café crying, I had never felt so powerless.

That he got to her while the sun was shining is just another reason for him to be part of our relationship.

He can protect her in times and places we can’t.

Thankfully, this time, it all turned out. She’s brought my father home, and she was unharmed.

Physically, at least.

“I’ve never heard of Agostino Vasari.” My voice is steady, but inside, a storm rages. I can’t shake the dread creeping up my spine.

Scottie shifts in her seat next to me, her eyes red-rimmed and glistening with tears. She looks shattered, the kind of broken that may never mend.

I hate it. “Whoever the fuck this man is, family or not, he will pay for hurting you like this.”

She meets my gaze. “What if all of this might be my fault? What if our fathers are dead because of what happened in New York and Russ targeted Toronto to get revenge?”

Jack sits forward in the chair opposite us, his expression grave. “I don’t think so, kid.”

She looks at him, hope igniting in her gaze. “No? Why not?”

“Because whether he was Russ Fusco in New York or Lazarus Kaza in Toronto or Agostino Vasari in Italy, that man wouldn’t have been building his ventures here in the new world if he wasn’t intending to make a play for Toronto. No. He was in North America because claiming the Vasari seat of power has been his play all along.”

Tucker is sitting on her other side and sets his massive palm on her thigh. “If he was already circling, learning about Francesco’s life, he may have targeted you from the moment you left the compound.”

She swallows. “Do you think?”

He dips his chin. “And if he carries the Vasari family gift, perhaps that’s why Francesco wasn’t able to ease your mind afterward.”

Her eyes widen. “Do you think that’s why I couldn’t fight him, and I couldn’t break free of his influence?”

“I’d bet on it,” Jack says, frowning. “After we got you back, Francesco spent hours sitting at your bedside, fighting to unravel the turmoil in your mind. I’d never seen him so frustrated. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t access your trauma and take it from you.”

Scottie lets out a sob. “I thought it was me. The flashes of the twisted things I remember…the pain I caused…I thought he unleashed something dark and evil in me.”

Tucker growls. “No, beautiful. There is nothing dark or evil in you. That was all him.”

That makes me sick.“If that’s true, then everything you went through in New York and ever since is because of your connection to my father and, by extension, me.”

I rub a hand over my face, struggling against the weight of that reality. This is just another example of how loving me has hurt her. That truth gnaws at me—it claws at my insides like a ravenous beast hungry for flesh. “I’m so fucking sorry, Scots.”

She leans to the side and rests her head on my shoulder while lacing our fingers. “Don’t be. If it’s not my fault, it’s not your fault either. Whether he’s Lazarus or Russ or Agostino, this is on him. What we need to know now is how to stop him. Because I don’t care what he says, he’ll never be the Vasari king, and I’ll never be bound to him.”

“No, you won’t.” Huntley turns from where he’s been standing rigid, staring into the fire burning in the hearth. He runs a hand through his tousled hair. “He’ll die before that ever happens.”

I study them—my people—my family forged through blood and loyalty in this chaotic world. “And as long as he doesn’t have the dagger, there’s no way for him to stake his claim.”

“And you’re sure the dagger is secure?” Jack asks.

“I was. But with the new information that the man behind the coup is a Vasari true-blood that has been watching us for years, I’m not as sure.”

“He doesn’t have it,” Scottie assures me. “While he was bragging, he mentioned he still needs the dagger.”

“Well, that’s good,” Tucker says.

“If we can believe anything that comes out of his mouth,” Huntley says.

“We should get it,” Scottie says.

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