“All right,” she said. This was the perfect time to ask her for help but I realized I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t ask her .
Obviously Aria, being Aria, didn’t need to ask her.
“You can’t do it alone. If you want to have any chance of success you will need my help.”
I stared at my sister, my beautiful and brave sister. I had often thought that we were twins born apart by some cruel twist of fate. She was the only person I would die for.
And if she had asked me to stay, told me she couldn’t live without me, I wouldn’t have even hesitated. I would have stayed, I would have married Matteo. For her. But Aria would never ask me. Aria was the only thing that reminded me that there was good in our world too, and I hoped she would never be corrupted by the darkness around us. “No,” I said firmly. “I can do this on my own.”
But Aria ignored my comment.
“If I help you escape I will betray Cosa Nostra and in doing so my husband as well,” she said with a distant look .
I shake my head. “You are right. And I can’t let you take that risk. I won’t let you risk it.”
He joined his fingers with mine. “No, I will help you.
I’m your only choice. And if anyone can do it, it’s you. You never wanted to be a part of this.
“Aria, you said it yourself, what I’m doing is betrayal, and the crowd treats people who betray them harshly.
Luca is not the forgiving type.”
“Luca will not hurt me.” There was not the slightest trace of doubt in his voice. Unfortunately, I did not share his conviction. I opened my mouth to object but she raised her hand.
“He won’t. If Salvatore Vitiello were still alive, things would be different. I would have been under his jurisdiction, but Luca is Chief and he won’t punish me.”
How could he trust that cruel bastard like that? What must it be like to love someone so much that you put your life in his hands without hesitation? “Maybe his men will leave him no choice. He is a new Chief, and if he looks weak, his men might rebel. Luca will not risk his power, even for you. Familia comes before Made Men.
I was talking to a wall about the impact I was having on Aria. “Trust me,” he said simply.
“I trust you. It’s Luca I don’t trust.”
“And if you think about it, I wouldn’t really betray the Familia. You are still part of the Outfit until you marry Matteo. That means what I’m doing is at most a betrayal to the Outfit, but I’m not bound to them, so I can’t betray them.
“In any case. Luca may not see it that way.
Even if you are not betraying the Familia, you are still going behind Luca’s back. Not to mention that Matteo will probably move heaven and earth to find me.”
“True,” Aria said slowly. “He will hunt you down.”
“Eventually he will lose interest.”
Aria looked doubtful. “Maybe. But I wouldn’t count on it . We have to make sure he can’t find you.” Above us the sky was turning dark gray, the first signs of an impending storm. If I were superstitious, I would probably see this as a bad omen. “Aria, I shouldn’t have come to you with this. You can’t let it get to you.”
Aria rolled her eyes. It was such a personal thing to do that I couldn’t help but smile despite the gravity of our conversation.
“Don’t try to talk me out of it. I’ll feel guilty if I don’t help you and you get caught,” she said firmly.
“And I will feel guilty if you get in trouble for helping me .”
“I am helping you. End of story.”
“How will I ever make it up to you?”
“Be happy, Gianna. Live the life you want, that’s all I want.
This was typical of Aria. If anyone deserved a life outside this screwed-up world, it would be her. I clenched my lips, fighting back tears. “Shit.”
Aria smiled. “Come on. We have to figure out when and how to get you out.” “I suppose it’s a little too late to make an attempt during this visit?” I forced a smile, wanting to get rid of the heavy feeling in my chest.
“Yes. But you will definitely have to escape when you get to New York. You’ll never escape Dad’s men.”
Unfortunately, he was right. Father did not let me out of his sight for a second. He didn’t trust me. The only thing missing in my prison were leg irons. “But Romero is always around.”
Aria and I both cast a glance toward the living room where Lily was laughing at something Romero must have said. She looked so happy. “I think we can get him off our backs,” Aria said.
“Next time Lily won’t be there to distract him. I don’t want her to know.”
Aria nodded, “I’ll figure something out. I tricked him once already. I can do it again. Luca trusts me. Romero doesn’t follow me as much as he did in the beginning.”
Guilt twisted my insides again but I ignored it. “I have to get a passport to be able to leave the country. I will never be safe in the United States.
“You should go to Europe.”
“I’ve always wanted to visit Sicily,” I joked.
Aria burst out laughing. “Yes, that sounds like a foolproof plan.”
“I need the money. Maybe I can find out where Dad keeps his pile of cash.
“No, he would notice. We’ll have to get Luca’s money. If we wait until the last minute before taking it, he won’t notice until it’s too late.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
Aria nodded but there was a flash of hesitation in her eyes.
“Maybe we can get money from somewhere else. I could borrow from one of the loan sharks. It’s not like I’ll be here to make them take it back,” I said quickly.
Aria immediately shook her head. “All the loan sharks belong to Familia or Bratva. That would be the fastest way to get caught.”
“I know I can’t ask the Familia, but what about the Russian loan sharks? I don’t have to announce to them who I am. I could just pretend to be any girl with financial problems.
Aria seemed to think about it, but then shook her head. “It’s too risky. Those guys are dangerous.
The memories I had tried to bury resurfaced like a tidal wave.
I had been terrified when the Russians had attacked the villa. I was sure we would die horribly, sure we would be raped and tortured. I really didn’t want anything more to do with the Bratva but Aria didn’t need to know how much the images of that day still disturbed me. Most of the time I could lock them away, and once in Europe, away from the world, I hoped they would disappear forever. “Aria, you are married to the man all those dangerous boys are afraid of.”
“And you are engaged to the man who tears those dangerous boys apart,” she said. “But the Russians are worse than our men. They have no honor.”
I wasn’t sure that was possible, but I wasn’t in the mood for that discussion. “All right, so no loan sharks, but how about a fake passport? I’ll have to get it from somewhere. Is there anyone we could bribe?”
Another gust of wind hit us, giving me goose bumps all over my body. Aria moved closer to me until we were huddled together. “No one will go against Luke.”
“Except us,” I said with a snort. “Tell me that’s not crazy.”
“It’s crazy, but we’ll figure it out.” He paused, examining me.
I raised my eyebrows. “What?”
She smiled. “I have an idea. You know how people always say we look alike?”
“No, if you look closely. I’m a few inches taller than you, and then there’s this.” I lifted a lock of hair.
“Yes, but if we dye your hair blond, no one will doubt that you are me. Luca has some fake passports with different names in the same place where he hides the money, if we ever need to leave the country quickly. You could use one of them.”
“Luca will be able to track them down.”
“Yes, but by then you will have landed in Europe.
You can throw away your passport once you’re there and travel without a passport until you find a way to get a new one. They don’t have border controls in the EU, so you should be allowed to cross into other European countries.”
Hope lit up in my body. “It might actually work.”
“It will.”
We stared at each other. “So I’m really running,” I whispered.
“Yes,” Aria said quietly.
“When?”
“The next time you come to visit, we’ll have time to really think through every detail of our plan.”
I couldn’t believe I was really going to do it, but now I wasn’t going to back down, even if part of me wondered if that was really what I wanted.