Page 139 of The Hitman's Secret Baby

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I take a step back, suddenly certain of something I cannot yet name.

I turn toward the house, toward the shadowed path that leads to the main hall. Luca needs to hear everything, because I can't get the truth out of Giovanni any other way.

And I can't kill him until I know where Aria is.

"You know where she is," I say, not turning back.

"And if I did?" His voice is closer, just behind me.

The night is quiet except for the wind stirring through the grass. Then?—

Something cracks against the back of my leg.

I fall forward, the ground slamming into my ribs as I twist to catch myself.

I'm up in a second, spinning toward the noise, my hand already reaching for the pistol tucked beneath my coat?—

But I freeze.

Giovanni is standing there, his hands raised.

And behind him?—

Aria, her eyes are wild, her hair loose and tangled, blood trailing down one arm in a thin ribbon.

She is barefoot.

Filthy.

Alive.

And holding a shard of glass the length of a carving knife to the soft place beneath Giovanni's jaw.

His lips tremble. He does not move.

Aria's voice is hoarse. "Do not turn around. Do not speak."

I do not move.

I only watch her, the tremor in her arms, the way her shoulder blades lift with every breath.

The glass is pressed tight to his skin, a single heartbeat away from cutting.

She meets my eyes. "He took me. He locked me in a room. And he's planning with Cesare Gotti to bring down Luca."

Giovanni swallows hard. His pulse flutters visibly.

"You don't understand, Enzo," he says, his voice rising. "She's lying. She's confused. The hit to her head—she's?—"

"I read everything," she hisses. "Every note. Every name. I know what you are. I know what you're doing."

He tries to turn, just slightly.

She cuts him.

Not deeply.

Just enough to bleed.

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