Page 128 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
Vale’s gaze drops a few inches lower, and I become aware of the pendant Giorgio gave me—the one still hanging around my neck. My anger morphs into a prickling sense of doubt.
He never wanted Dem to find out, butwhy? What does he think my brother would do? Threaten to kill him for deflowering his sister? That’s absurd. If I tell Dem I like Giorgio and want to keep seeing him, he wouldn’t stop me. I’m sure of it.
So what if this was just a convenient excuse? What if Giorgio never saw me as anything but a temporary fling, and this is the end that he envisioned for us?
Was our connection really so one-sided?
“Mari?”
I glance at Vale, meeting her expectant gaze. “I’m sorry. What?”
“Are you going to tell me what happened?”
I open my mouth, but I can’t get the words out. I know I don’t owe Giorgio loyalty after he just completely blew me off, but something about spilling his business just feels wrong.
“I’m tired,” I say by way of an excuse. “Dem can catch you up on the details when they’re done in there.”
She sighs and leans back into the couch before taking a sip of her tea. Her eyes volley to the clock before swinging back to me. “Who knows when that may be. It’s nearly ten already. Good thing we ate before Giorgio arrived.”
My shoulders relax. I know Vale must be dying from curiosity, so I appreciate her not pressing me any harder. “Do you think he’ll stay here?”
She scrunches her nose. “Unless it’s in a body bag, I don’t see him leaving.”
“What?”
Her eyes flash with amusement. “It’s a joke. Trust me, if they were going to kill each other, they would have done it by now.”
“I told Damiano that what happened with Polo wasn’t Giorgio’s fault.”
“And I’m sure your words will count for something, but at the end of the day, the only one who can make that judgment is your brother,” she says, her tone growing soft. “Don’t worry, Mari. Everything will work out.”
I peer down at my tea. “It’s always going to be me, isn’t it? I’m the weakest link in the De Rossi empire. Will there ever be a day when someone isn’t trying to capture me or kill me?”
Vale makes a tight line with her lips, like she knows the answer won’t please me.
I chuckle. “I need something stronger than this.”
Taking the nearly finished tea out of my hands, she rises and makes her way to the bar in the corner of the room. She comes back a few moments later with two glasses of red wine. “Look, Mari, I respect you too much to treat you with kid gloves.”
A jolt of surprise runs through me at her blunt tone.
Vale hands me one glass and keeps the second for herself. “Yes, you’ve been a target, and I’d be a liar if I said that’s going to change when your brother becomes don of the Casalesi, but you’re not the weakest link. Far from it. I grew up in this world, and I know from watching my own father rule his empire that a don’s strength lies in the people he can trust unconditionally. Dem’s circle is small, and he’ll have to grow it if he wants his rule to last. You are an important part of that circle, and even though Dem still treats you like his little sister, I know he’s starting to understand that you’re no longer a child. You’re smart, resilient, and brave.”
When I knit my brows, she shakes her head.
“Don’t even try to argue. Look around, Mari.” She tips her head to the side. “You’re in this room because you managed to fight off the man who attacked you. All. On. Your. Own. That fact won’t be lost on your brother.”
In the chaos of the day, I haven’t really paused to process what had happened.
She’s right. I stood up for myself, didn’t I? Yes, I was terrified, but that didn’t stop me from doingsomethingthis time around. The lessons Giorgio taught me paid off.
“As the don’s sister, you’ll have a lot of influence,” she continues. “People will vie to be in your good graces. If you want to be a key asset in the organization, it’s yours for the taking, but to start on that journey, you will need to stop thinking of yourself as the weakest link.”
I chew on my lip. Is that what I want for myself? For a long time, I thought I wanted to escape this world.
What Vale is proposing would be doing the opposite.
I wanted to leave, didn’t I? Go somewhere far away and throw myself into cooking? Do I still want that?
