Page 102 of With This Kiss
While we weren’t normally talkative with each other, I had never felt like my brother was a stranger I couldn’t trust.
I felt that way now, but it was because he was working with Kingston and Reign.
I didn’t know Kingston, and a part of me—a huge part of me—hated the man as much as I feared him, but Reign… I trusted Reign, didn’t I?
And Caine was working with him, so I should trust him, right?
I didn’t fucking know anymore.
“When did you start working with the Mahankovs?” I asked.
“About six months ago.”
I hadn’t expected him to answer me at all, so his response surprised me. I looked up and saw his eyes once more. “Why? Have you thought this through? Are you really going to betray the Caparelli Famiglia? Betray Dad?”
“When have I ever done anything without thinking it through?” he asked. I shrugged. I hadn’t thought he was the kind of man to do reckless things without thinking of every possible outcome so he could plan accordingly. But then again, I never thought he would betray Dad either, so perhaps I didn’t really know him all that well.
“And you’re one to talk. A Caparelli in the same bed with the Mahankov spare.”
I hadn’t really thought of Reign as that, but I supposed it was true. Should something happen to Kingston, Reign would be the one to inherit the position of pakhan from his father.
“It’s different. I’m not a made man,” I said.
“But you are the daughter of acapo dei capi.”
I looked off to the side, not saying anything about that.
“Are you going to run off to Dad, then?” he asked.
I let out a dry, humorless laugh. “Tell him you’re working with Kingston so you can tell him I’m sleeping with Reign?”
Something in his expression shifted when he said, “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
And there was just something about the tone of his voice that convinced me he was telling the truth.
I brought my thumb up to my mouth and gnawed on the hangnail there, not saying anything.
He sighed and reached over, pulling my hand away from my mouth. “Tell me he’s treating you right.”
I frowned. “What would you do if he isn’t?”
“I’d kill the bastard.”
I gasped, unable to hide my response. “He’s treating me well. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“You can always come home with me,” he said.
“I don’t even know if I know you anymore,” I whispered, and for the first time, I thought I saw a small crack in his always-cold expression.
Did I hurt him?
The thought was too ridiculous to contemplate. How could I have hurt someone as strong as my brother?
“You know me,” he said tonelessly. Did I, though? We were never close. I didn’t think I had ever known the kind of person my brother was. I didn’t think there was anyone in this world who did.
I blinked and looked away from him. “You still haven’t told me why you are betraying the Caparelli Famiglia.”
“I’m not,” he said. “The Caparelli Famiglia belongs to me. And one of these days, I’ll take over.”
