Page 93 of Vicious Vows

“You’re awake,” my father said.

“Why are you calling?”

“I see you want to skip the pleasantries and get right to the point.” He laughed. “I like that.”

Was every interaction I had with my father going forward going to be a lesson in how to run his business?

“I may have something that might be of interest to your roommate.”

“Already?” How could that be? Nico had been searching for months and had come up empty.

“Don’t be surprised,” he said. “I’m resourceful when I’m motivated.”

I dashed over to the steps and looked up into the hall. “What did you find out?”

“I don’t think we’re done negotiating.”

“What do you want?” I didn’t have time for this.

“I have some information that might be useful to the Accetti family, but it’s not free.”

Nothing ever is.

“In exchange for the information,” he said, “I want your word that you’ll leave Marchello and come back home.”

“What?” I shook my head. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

“You should want to help me because you’re my father and I asked you for this.”

“What you’re asking of me is more complicated than getting you shoes or a bag that hasn’t been released yet. I’m going to have to call in a few favors from people who I don’t like dealing with.”

“Maybe you could work with Nico and form an alliance?”

“Ha!” He laughed harder than before. “You have a lot to learn.”

“I don’t want to learn from you.”

“But yet, you asked for my help.”

I was desperate. But now that I had gone to him and there was a possibility that he could get the information needed to assist Marchello, wasn’t I obligated to get it?

“Lissia, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Will you bring Nico home and come back to your own family, or will you deny Marchello the reunion with his father and stay with him to spite me?”

TWENTY-ONE

Marchello

There were toomany problems and not enough solutions.

The Gian catastrophe should have been solved, but fate—or Lissia—intervened, and now I had to come up with another way to handle him.

She asked me for peace, but I couldn’t promise her that. The only vows I saw in our future were bloodshed, death, and destruction. But maybe I could offer her solitude on the other side of all of that if she would let me.

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