Page 130 of Mine Again
I blink.
My knees buckle, and I drop onto the bench behind me.
Luca doesn’t move. Wise choice. He just stands there, watching me with that hawk-like focus.
My mind races as puzzle pieces rearrange themselves into a clear new picture.
“This is why Mari was getting married first,” I murmur. “Despite my being the oldest.”
Luca says nothing, but the silence is answer enough.
“And that’s why he was arranging Mia’s marriage next.”
It all makes sense now.
The parts of my father’s behavior that never quite added up. The things he didn’t explain. The things we didn’t question, because obedience was what he expected.
He was playing the game with pieces we couldn’t see.
I press a palm to my temple, sick with the realization.
“Then why make me believe I was next?” I ask. “Why parade me around like some prize?”
“I guess he had to keep up the ruse,” Luca says, his voice sour.
I narrow my eyes at him. Yeah, he doesn’t like the idea of other men looking at me.
Good. I hope he was green with jealousy.
Luca’s silence sharpens again.
And it hits me. Like a second betrayal layered under the first.
“Wait a second.” I look up at him, the pieces clicking into place too fast. Jumping to my feet, I point a finger at him.
“If you had an agreement with Father, that means youtalkedto him? But not to me?”
I’m shaking now. I don’t know if it’s the cold or the fury or the way the world keeps shifting beneath my feet.
“No, Isa,” Luca says quickly. “All communication went through myfather.”
He’s trying to calm me, to soften the blow. But it’s too late.
How many more revelations is he holding back?
“My father was still in touch with Antonio,” Luca adds, quieter now. “Through convoluted channels. Always encrypted, indirect, discreet.”
“But you said you’re no longer speaking to your father,” I snap. “So how do you even know all this?”
“I haven’t spoken to him since the agreement was made with your father,” Luca says evenly. “But I monitored their exchanges.”
I frown. “You just said they were encrypted and convoluted.”
He exhales through his nose and gives me a look. “I set the system up for them, Isa. Of course I could read them.”
He pauses, and something in his voice shifts. It’s less defensive now, more resigned.
“My father never told Antonio that he and I were at odds. He didn’t want to risk their alliance because he needed it intact. He was still working behind the scenes to bring down the De Marcos. Your father…”
