Page 22 of Vows of Silence

Then Silas turned back to Rafael.

I almost sobbed with relief.

“The girl was never part of our agreement,” Rafael snapped, continuing as though death himself hadn’t just looked under the furniture and decided to let me live. “Your brother’s debt was settled three years ago. Blood for blood. That should have been the end of it.”

My uncle’s debt?

“My brother is dead,” my father said coldly.

“And whose fault is that?”

Silence followed, and my stomach churned.

The photograph in my hand suddenly felt heavier. My father shaking hands with Rafael Falcone. The night of my eighteenth birthday. My uncle dead on the dance floor. Silas standing in the shadows.

Pieces moved around in my head, but none of them fit. Not properly. If anything, I was more confused than ever.

“I have done everything asked of me,” my father said. “I moved the shipments. I transferred the properties. I opened accounts. I kept your name out of every visible ledger.”

“And then you went to Adrien.”

“I went where the protection was strongest.”

Rafael laughed again. “Protection? That boy doesn’t protect. He collects.”

My skin prickled.

“You think he wants your daughter because she’s pretty?” Rafael asked. “Pretty girls are everywhere, Vittorio. He wants her because she ties you to him. He wants her because once she’s his wife, your business is his business. Your ports are his ports. Your routes are his routes.”

My breath caught.

Ports.

Routes.

Shipments.

I fucking knew it.

This wasn’t real estate. It had never been real estate. That was his front. His “day business,” so to speak.

My father’s shoes shifted. “It is a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

“It’s a noose,” Rafael said. “And you put it around your own daughter’s neck.”

For one awful second, no one spoke.

Then Rafael continued, lower this time. “The Vescari boy will bleed you dry, and when there’s nothing left, he’ll use her to keep you obedient.”

My dad said nothing.

Nothing.

Not one defence.

Not one denial.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but that only made the tears gather faster.