Page 206 of The One
The tears are streaming freely now.
“Mari,” he winds his arms around me to pull me against his body, and I throw mine around him, holding on tight as if my life depends on it.
These are the last moments of us being okay.
Sobs rake my body.
“Dolce mia, talk to me.”
Dolce mia. Never again will he call me that.
“I… I…” I stutter.
“I know who shot your brother,” I whisper into his shoulder, unable to look at him.
“What?” Teo pulls away to look at me, and I miss the warmth of his body immediately.
I keep my face down. “I know who the mole is. I overheard a phone call today.”
Mateo doesn’t say anything, but the tension radiating off his body increases by the second. I dare a glance up. His face has lost all color, all the warmth and love there seconds ago gone.
His image blurs with all the tears streaming freely.
“Who?”
I try to swallow the lump in my throat, but it won’t budge.
“Who, Mari?” His tone is more demanding now, more like the Mafia boss he just had to become.
I squeeze my eyes shut. The words taste like poison, burning my throat on the way out.
“My father. My father shot your brother.”
I force out the words, my voice almost inaudible.
But he heard.
Mateo heard loud and clear.
He rears back and jumps up as if burned, putting me on my feet to stand alone.
“How do you know?”
“My father ordered me into his office today. He was on the phone when I got there, and he was talking about…” I hesitate, not wanting to relive that moment that changed everything in my life.
“About what?”
“Your brother’s demise, and about a deal he’s made.”
“Who was he talking to?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me. But he admitted to shooting your brother himself and to conspiring with Molinaro for years. He gloated about how he did all of this right under your and Tiero’s noses.”
He doesn’t say anything, but the silent fury erupting from him is burning hotter than the lava in Mount Etna.
His chest is heaving, and he runs his hand furiously through his hair, as if tearing on it will pull the answers from his head.
“Fuck.” He yells from the top of his lungs. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
