Page 328 of Rosetti Family New York
My heart races. The room feels like it's spinning. "There has to be an explanation."
"There is." His hands shake as he turns another screen toward me, clearly affected by what he's about to show. "You need to see this."
The screen shows an internal message between Chase and one of his lieutenants. But it's not just about logistics. It's worse.
The Voss girl is dead, like you requested. Car 'accident' last night. What do we do about her sister?
Nothing changes. M doesn't need to know. Keep sending the usual threats. Dead leverage works just as well as live leverage if the asset believes the lie.
How long do we maintain the deception?
As long as it's useful. M is our best asset inside Rosetti operations. Her guilt and love make her predictable, manageable. Why break a system that's working?
What if she gets suspicious?
She won't. The girl's so desperate to believe her sister is alive, she'll accept any evidence we feed her. It's almost pathetic how easy she is to manipulate. Amazing what people will believe.
The words rewrite everything I thought I knew about the last eight months. The room tilts violently, and I have to grab the desk harder to keep from falling. Bile rises in my throat, acidic and burning.
"No," I gasp, but the sound comes out strangled. "That's not… she's been texting me. Sending photos. She was supposed to message me tomorrow for—"
My knees buckle. The concrete floor rushes up to meet me, but Emilio's arms catch me before I hit, pulling me against his chest as everything inside me collapses at once.
"She's gone," I whisper, the words barely audible against his shirt. "She's really gone. My sister is dead, and I've been—"
The truth hits like physical violence. My stomach heaves, and for a moment I think I might be sick right here on his expensive floor. The grief that crashes over me doesn't feel like sadness, itfeels like drowning, like being crushed under the weight of eight months of lies.
"I've been serving her killer," I choke out, each word torn from my throat over the broken glass lodged there. "All this time, while she was dead, I was working for the man who—"
Emilio holds me tighter as sobs rack my body, his expensive shirt growing damp with tears.
But worse than the grief is the realization that Chaseenjoyedthis. The casual cruelty in those messages, the way he laughed about how easy I was to manipulate. He didn't just use Sarah's death as leverage, he took pleasure in my suffering.
"He thought it was funny," I whisper, horror and rage warring in my chest. "The way he controlled me. He thought it was pathetic how much I loved her."
"Shhh." Emilio's voice is strained as he holds me tighter, one hand stroking my hair while the other rubs soothing circles against my back. "I've got you. I've got you, sweetheart."
But he doesn't have me. Nobody does. Because Sarah is dead, has been dead for eight months, and I've been protecting a lie while serving the monster who found my grief amusing.
"I could have come back to you," I sob against his chest. "Eight months ago, I could have walked away from Chase and come home. We could have had eight months together instead of me serving our enemies while she was already—"
Eight months of freedom I didn't know I had. Eight months of love and healing instead of this elaborate torture.
"Look at me." Emilio holds my face, wiping away my endless tears. "Mara, look at me."
I make myself focus on his face, seeing my own pain mirrored in his gray eyes. But there's something else there. Cold, controlled fury that makes my heart skip a beat.
"You didn't know," he says with firm certainty. "You couldn't have known. Chase is a dead man who was too stupid to see that using grief as a weapon would seal his fate."
"But I should have—"
"No." He holds my face tighter, making me see the truth he's offering. "You did what love demanded. You gave up everything to keep someone safe. The fact that was already unreachable doesn't lessen what you were willing to do for her."
"She died thinking I'd left her." The guilt tastes bitter. "I hadn't called in months because Chase said it was too dangerous, forced me not to. She must have thought I chose you over family and left without a word."
"No." Emilio's voice is firm and certain. "Sarah knew you loved her. Sisters remember that bond, even with some missed calls. She knew."
"He used her memory against me." My words are thick with anger slicing through my grief. "For eight months, Chase used my love for my sister to manipulate me. And he enjoyed it."
