He disappeared through a door I hadn’t been through before and returned with the polygraph test printout. “What is this?” He pointed to a high line that was circled. “What do I not know about my family but you do?”
“What?” I snatched the paper and read the questions next to it.Is there something you know that the Capri family should know?
I opened my mouth to be honest, to tell him the truth, but something stopped me. Maybe because I knew it wasn’t my secret, but I also knew it wasn’t that bad of a situation. Suddenly, something came over me. I folded my arms and popped out my hip, feeling a new sense of confidence.
“It’s not fun, is it?” I waited to watch his eyebrows draw up. “Not knowing something about your family when others do.”
“This is different.”
“I see.” I sighed, hating that he couldn’t see the hurt he was causing me. “I’ve been honest from day one. Have you?”
“Of course.”
“Really?” I reached inside my purse and handed him the photo of Piero, Francesco, and Elenora. “Have your parents been?” He studied the picture and shook his head in confusion. “I’m going to ask you again. Have you and your parents been honest with me?”
“I won’t repeat myself.” His tone told me that dicky Elio had returned. I then handed him the photo he was in. “I don’t remember this.”
“But I’m supposed to take your word on that? That you didn’t know my mother at sixteen?”
“Yes.”
“Right.” I turned my back to him as I moved closer to the window. “So, when were you going to tell me you were supposed to marry Anna, before I arrived and messed it up?”
“There’s a difference between being told to marry someone and loving that person enough to marry them. I didn’t love her, so it didn’t happen.” He rubbed his head in frustration, and I turned back to face him.
“And you claim to love me, but you suddenly don’t trust me.” I tossed my hands in the air. “You want me to take your word, but you won’t take mine.”
“I have more to lose than you do,” he snapped, and I felt a fire ignite inside me. “I mean,” he paused, “I have many lives that I have to protect and many plates spinning that can’t fall. You showed up, and suddenly the Coppolas are on my territory sniffing around, meddling in my business. My closest friend turned out to be playing my family, and then your long-lost mother surfaces, tilting my entire life on its axis. So, yeah, Sienna, I have to look at the common dominator right now, because that’s all I’ve got.” My mouth dropped open at the thought that he might think I had anything at all to do with any of it.
“And yet, after all of you have assured me that you never knew my mother, I have photos of you and your parents with her, and yourconsigliere, your right-hand man, knows my life story, but I’m the villain here.” I shook my head, unbelievably hurt. “We’re not getting anywhere. It’s pointless for me to be here.”
“What happened with Abramo?” he barked behind me.
“What happened?” I repeated as I grabbed my purse and dumped it upside down on the table, sending my stuff everywhere. Once I found the little piece of paper, I tossed it at him. “Unlike the first guy, your professional driver decided to take a detour after my visit with Cara. He broke the number one rule, leaving me alone. That’s the address of where he took me. He gives me the creeps, and I will not be driven by him anymore.”
Elio’s face fell, and he went silent.
“Where did you get this paper?”
“What?” I huffed. “I needed paper to write on, it was tucked down in the cubby on the back of the seat. Why?” He lowered onto a chair and studied it, then turned it over a couple times. He looked at the address I had written.
“Was this the reason your heartrate spiked on the polygraph test?”
“What? No.” I wasn’t following him.
“What spiked it?” His voice was eerie.
“It’s nothing bad. It’s just not my secret to share.”
“I’ve killed people for withholding information from me.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek a moment then let his words wash over me. He had no idea the damage he was creating inside me. Again, that dangerous web began to form inside my head as it spun its sticky darkness around all of our happy moments and drew them deep within its hold. I headed to the bar, pulled his handgun from behind the stacked glasses, and knelt in front of him. I placed it in his hand, wrapped his fingers around the handle, and pointed it at my heart.
“Rules are rules, right?” I barely recognized my own voice.
He jolted his hand away and set the gun on the table with a curse. His hands went to his head like there was a lot going on inside.
“I can’t do this.” He abruptly stood and stepped away from me like I might have stung him. “I need to figure some things out.”