Shattered Loyalty, A New Beginning Blooms novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Cellar

Carlo folded his hands on the desk.

"Lucio came to me a year ago," he said. "He was crying. The government had caught him with his hand in the accounts, and they offered him a bargain."

Santino didn't move.

"The agent wanted names," Carlo said. "I told my son to give her trucks. Only the trucks I chose. Empty ones, half-empty ones, old cargo I was glad to lose."

"Nine trucks," I said.

"Nine trucks was cheap." His voice was gentle, almost proud. "It bought a year of peace. But she wanted a face inside the family, a person she could point at when the case was filed. A face the families would believe."

My mouth was dry.

"And you gave her mine."

"I gave her the one who would be missed least," Carlo said. "Forgive me, Livia. A girl with no brothers. No sons. No blood at this table, only a debt."

The fire popped.

Nobody breathed.

"My father died on the steps for you," I said.

"Your father took a bullet for me. I took you in for it. I paid that debt." He looked at me kindly. "But Lucio is my blood. A man will always choose his blood. Your father understood that. You will too."

Santino spoke for the first time.

"You told me she was a rat."

"I told you what you needed to hear."

"Twenty years," Santino said.

"And you did everything I asked," Carlo said. "Right until Monday. That's what hurts, Santino. You lied to me about the pier."

He pressed a small button under the lip of the desk.

The study door opened behind us.

Two men came in with pistols, and a third stayed in the hall.

Santino stepped in front of me with his fists clenched.

"Don't," Carlo said wearily. "You'll only get her hurt."

He had to.

One of the men took Santino's gun from his holster and the knife from his boot.

Another patted down his coat pockets and took the flip phone.

Carlo watched with a tired face and did not look at me.

"Take them downstairs," he said. "We'll talk when I'm calmer. In the morning, my girl, you will tell me where the books are."

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