“There is a punishment, the ultimate that can be given out when one betrays the family. It can be worse than death. You are thrown out of the family, declared dead. Your name is never spoken by any family member again. You are not seen by them even if you are standing in front of them, begging forgiveness. There is no forgiveness for betrayal.”
Marco raised his eyebrow. “I can’t imagine how you could have betrayed your family.”
She gave him that same enigmatic smile. “In those days, I had no knowledge of what my father’s business entailed. I was very young and female and considered, I guess, without a brain.”
“No, no, Raine, protected. He protected you. All fathers want to protect their daughters.”
“From sharks? From men who would use them to get information to ruin their families? To destroy their father? I very naively fell for the wrong man. I thought it was love. Do you have any idea how truly silly that sounds when my father is dead and my family lost to me? The thing is this though, I do have a brain. A very good one. Had my father told me, I would have watched out for sharks. Now that I’ve learned that lesson, I know men lie all the time to women. More, I made certain to gain as much knowledge and understanding as possible about the circumstances of his death.”
Stella hoped Raine wasn’t challenging Marco in some way. Surely, she didn’t think Sam’s father had anything to do with her father’s death. She felt completely lost by the conversation and she still couldn’t keep her eyes off Lucio for some reason, and his reaction. He hadn’t said a word, but he was no happier with the direction the exchange was going than Stella was.
“No, no, Raine.” Marco leaned forward. “This is very risky. You shouldn’t be looking into such things.”
Raine’s eyebrow shot up. “This is truly fascinating. Are you telling me, Mr. Rossi, that if someone murdered your father, you wouldn’t hunt the one who ordered his killing? Because we both know whoever killed him was ordered to do it. The actual hitman is beside the point, merely the weapon. Whoever is behind the killing is the real murderer. Surely you would hunt for that person.”
“That is different.” Marco waved his hand in the air expansively.
Stella groaned and covered her eyes for a moment, knowing that was like waving a red flag at Raine.
“Because I’m a woman and you’re a man? Because I shouldn’t love my father the same way you love yours? I shouldn’t feel the same loyalty toward him? Tell me why, Mr. Rossi,” Raine persisted. “I don’t quite understand.”
“Simply put, Raine,” he said gently, “even looking into it could get you killed. You need the right resources. You need to know what you’re doing. And if you were to find your answers, you’d have to be able to follow through.”
She smiled at him, that same sweet Raine smile that meant nothing and yet everything. “And who’s to say I don’t have those resources, and that when I find the answers, I don’t have resources to follow through as well? Never underestimate women, Mr. Rossi. That’s what ultimately gets men in trouble in the end.”
Marco stared at her for the space of thirty seconds and then burst out laughing. “You certainly are your father’s daughter. Sharp as a tack. I don’t think I’d want to argue with you very often.”
“No one does,” Stella agreed. “Would either of you care for coffee?”
Both men nodded. Raine immediately offered to make it. Lucio made a move as if he might get up.
Raine lifted her chin. “I don’t need any help. It will only take a minute. Anyone take cream or sugar?”
Stella got the feeling Lucio and Raine were definitely not friends. She hadn’t realized that Raine was “dead” to her family. When she spoke of them, she always talked about them so lovingly. She’d described her childhood as happy. Stella wanted to weep for her. How could she be blamed for falling for someone and talking about her family when she had no idea what her father did? She couldn’t know she was giving away information she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. To permanently disown her seemed horribly harsh. How could her mother and brothers do that? Stella didn’t understand, but then her own mother had left her to face life on her own after it came to light that her father was killing people.
“Your friend is an interesting woman,” Marco said.
“She’s brilliant,” Stella said. “IQ off the charts.”
“What do people do up here?” Marco looked around her living room. The windows all had views. “I’ve seen for myself how beautiful it is, but you’re all young. Is there really work up here to support everyone? Do you all make enough money to live?”