‘You surprise me,’ I told him candidly. ‘I never thought we would get to talk like this.’
Valentino pitched forward again, closing the distance between us. I mirrored him unconsciously. ‘Here is another surprise, Sophie,’ he said, his voice low. ‘I know you didn’t kill Libero Marino at The Sicilian Kiss.’
Abort. Abort. Abort. Every drop of colour drained from my skin as I sat beneath that icy gaze, struggling for a way to respond.
Valentino’s grin turned wolfish. ‘Don’t try and lie,’ he said, raising his finger as if to wag it. ‘I find it personally offensive when people lie to me. It insults my intelligence.’
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
I forced myself to say something. The longer the silence, the deeper his thoughts. ‘How?’ I asked. ‘How did you find out?’
‘I know you, Sophie. I also know what my brother, Luca, sees in you. Does that surprise you?’
He was speaking in facts. The emotion was gone.
‘I don’t know,’ I said.
‘If you had put a bullet in Libero Marino’s head that night, it would have changed you. And despite a slightly increased desire for bloodshed and, evidently, romance, I find you decidedly unchanged.’
‘Oh.’
He smiled, and it made his eyes look … kind. It made him look like Luca. Not just on the outside, but on the inside, too. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Oh.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said hastily. ‘I was going to. I really wanted to, but I stalled at the last second and I couldn’t make myself do it. I froze.’
‘It happens.’ He waved away my response. ‘I can only assume Luca deigned to dispose of Libero on your behalf.’
‘I don’t know. I can’t remember.’
Valentino’s laugh caught me off guard. ‘That’s good,’ he said, still chuckling. ‘I was hoping you’d lie for him. Luca deserves someone who would lie for him. Even to her boss.’
I squeezed my eyes shut. If only I could make myself disappear.
‘Just as he lied to me that night,’ Valentino continued. God, he had the whole thing figured out, and I had been skipping around like a regular Houdini, thinking how fortunate I was for getting away with my cowardice.
‘Please don’t be mad.’ I looked up at him imploringly. ‘It was such a crazy situation, and everyone got their wires crossed …’
Valentino’s laugh reignited. ‘Still lying!’ he said, mock-accusingly. ‘You can stop now, OK?’
I decided to shut my mouth. I was probably just adding insult to injury at this point.
He sat back in his chair with a sigh, the smile still fixed on his face. ‘You know what I felt tonight when Luca told Nic that he loved you?’
‘Abject horror?’
‘I felt relief,’ he said. ‘I’m relieved that my brother is in love with you, because it makes the lie he told me easier to stomach. I can understand it. He was protecting you. He wasn’t putting distance between us, but placing himself in front of you. That, I can understand. That, I can forgive.’
‘Why didn’t you say anything? If you knew all along?’
‘I didn’t want to tip Felice off.’ Valentino scrubbed a hand across his buzz cut. ‘If he knew Luca had lied to me, he would see it as a weakness in the family, and he would find a way to exploit it.’
‘Ah,’ I said, nodding in agreement.
‘It’s a full-time job keeping things from him.’
‘I can imagine.’ Evelina’s ruby ring flashed through my head. I blinked the image away, replaced it with the image of Felice’s face inches from mine, his hands around my neck as he slammed me into that alcove, whisky on his breath, hatred in his eyes. All the things I had overheard, all the lies inside him. And in that moment, I knew I had to say something to Valentino. If I could throw myself in the firing line for Luca, for loyalty, I could do this too. I could be a good Falcone, even if it meant standing against another member of the family.
‘I want to tell you about something that’s been troubling me,’ I said.
Valentino went very still, his eyes narrowing. ‘Oh?’
‘I don’t like Felice, Valentino. And I definitely don’t trust him. I thought it was because I was an outsider, but ever since I came to live at Evelina, I’ve realized it’s not me, it’s him …’
Valentino raised his eyebrows, as if to say, Continue.
I knitted my hands in my lap, took a breath, and said, ‘I heard him talking to Paulie early one morning a little while ago. He didn’t know I was there. I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t walk away. Not when the things he was saying were so troubling.’ I paused, studying Valentino’s face for a reaction. It was perfectly impassive, which I had come to realize meant there was a whirlpool of thoughts going on inside him. ‘When Felice noticed me listening, he followed me into the hallway and threatened me with his gun …’
‘I remember,’ Valentino said. ‘Luca told me about this.’
‘I think Felice had been drinking …’
‘Yes,’ he confirmed. ‘He always loses himself around the anniversary of Evelina’s disappearance.’
‘Well the stuff he was saying to Paulie …’ A flicker in Valentino’s jaw betrayed his mounting interest. ‘He was complaining. At the time, I didn’t think to mention it because Luca was already so angry with him. I guess I thought it might stir up more trouble, but seeing the way he reacts to the others when they fight at home, or how he never seems to interfere in the name of peace, has got me thinking that maybe there’s more to it than that …’ I trailed off.