Chapter 80

Frankie reaches forward across the table to grab the half-drunk bottle of whiskey, breaking my eyeline for a second, breaking the connection between Christian and I. I inhale a deep breath as I blink, realizing suddenly that I’d stopped breathing in that moment.

But despite what passed between Christian and I, Frankie and Nico appear not to have noticed. Or, at least, that’s what they pretend.

“This deeply fucks us,” Nico snaps, shaking his head and studying the table. “And not just us, but the whole family –“

“I know, Nico,” Christian growls, glaring at his cousin like he’s starting to cross the line. Because obviously if Nico understands it, Christian – the son of a don himself – definitely understands.

“You might know,” Nico says, pointing to Christian and then whipping his finger around to me. “But she fucking doesn’t. Or else she wouldn’t have pulled any of this bullshit –“

“I didn’t do anything!” I protest, aghast. I open my mouth to shout further that I am not the one who decided to get rough with their date in the parking lot, and I didn’t hit anyone with a tire iron, but Frankie intercedes.

“Lay off Iris, Nico,” he says with a sigh, holding a hand out in Nico’s direction. “It’s a dead end. Trying to blame her isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

I snap my mouth shut, and so does Nico, both of us recognizing that what Frankie says is true.

“Still,” Christian says after a second, nodding thoughtfully, his face grim. “She should know the stakes. Iris, it’s –“

“Or!” Nico interrupts, clearly still pissed. “You could send her to her room! Because actually does not need to know anything! She is not part of this, Christian! She doesn’t need to know anything – send her to bed, or to fucking Oregan, actually – that would be better –“

“She is part of this,” Christian says through gritted teeth. He locks eyes with me now. “Her only choice now is to be a part of this…this cover-up, if that’s what we’re going to do. Or…to completely disappear.”

“Disappear?” I ask, my eyes going wide. Does he…does he mean like, from the earth? Does he mean like, death?

“Oregon is very nice this time of year,” Frankie says, consideringly.

I look around at the three of them for a second, shocked – but then my eyes fall on Christian, and then move to his lips. And I stare, and stare.

And I know that…that even if disappearing would be the safest choice…

That I actually don’t want to go anywhere. Not at all. Not after what happened tonight – no, I need to know. I need to know what’s here.

Besides…

“Wait,” I say, frowning and blinking back to myself and snapping my head back to Nico. “If I disappeared, wouldn’t that just make the Marino family blame me for the murder!?”

“Yes!” Nico says, spreading his hands out like it’s obvious. “And that would be very convenient, Iris, for all of us! Edward got handsy, his date fought back – mistakes happened. She ran away, never to be seen again! The Romano family would take some heat, since you were Romano’s employee, but we could handle it – blame it on a lover’s spat!”

“No way!” I shout, livid. Then I lean forward towards Nico, baring my teeth a little bit. “I didn’t kill anyone, Nico! You are not blaming this on me!”

“So, you want Christian to take the heat!?” he shouts back, throwing a hand out in Christian’s direction.

“Don’t try that shit with me,” I say, pointing a finger directly at his face, my voice low and slow. “That is not what I said, and I am not letting you put any god damn words in my mouth –“

“Enough!” Christian shouts, shooting out a hand between us and clapping Nico on his chest, pushing him back a little. “Everyone take a god damn breath.”

“And a drink,” Frankie murmurs, reaching for his whiskey and taking a sip.

I seethe, but I do as I’m told, looking down at the table and collecting myself as I take a sip of whiskey, letting it slide down my throat, pretending that it’s a calming balm to my emotions. When my breathing eases, I look back up, ready to continue.

“Iris isn’t going anywhere,” Christian murmurs, sitting back on the couch and shaking his head, clearly thinking this through. “I want the Romano family out of this scott free – no blame touching us, even through a bartender. Marino’s enough on the edge right now that any bad blood with the Romano’s – even through a mistake – is enough to send him to the other side in this war. And we can’t afford that.”

I gulp as I listen, my eyes going wide at the stakes. I’m not sure I knew it was that tenuous.

“So what,” Nico snaps, though his voice is softer now than it was. “I mean, people are still going to draw the lines, Christian. It’s not a secret that Edward went out with Bambi from Luca tonight – Marino’s going to ask around, they’re gonna have questions for her.”

“Is it too late?” Frankie asks, looking up and towards the door. “Can we go get the body? Just…dispose of it, let Edward be missing instead of dead? He and Bambi could have run off together –“

“It’s too late,” Christian murmurs, shaking his head and dismissing the idea. “Too high of a risk that someone would have seen a body from the street. The gas station parking lot was dark – no power, no lights, no cameras. But…going back now is tantamount to an admission. It’s not going to work.”

Frankie asks more questions, asking clever things about the car Christian took – a stolen vehicle procured through illicit means, not connected to the family – and the routes he drove, whether or not he’d been seen by police or recorded by any stop lights. They talk swiftly, their words low and precise.

I have to admit, I’m a little fascinated to see these three minds at work – to see them spinning out possible stories like it’s something they spitball about every day. Which, actually…it kind of might be.

As Christian and Frankie spin out the details, trying to decide what the chances are of Christian himself being tied to Edward’s death, Nico sits quietly, staring into his drink, slowly shaking his head.

Finally, Christian and Frankie come to a lull, nothing left to sort through. And Christian turns to Nico, a little bit of dread in his expression.

“Come on, Nic,” he says on a sigh, exhausted. “Tell me what you’re thinking. I know you’ve got a lot going on in there.” He taps his own head, indicating where Nico’s own thoughts are roiling.

Nico takes a deep breath and then raises his eyes, looking around at us. “It’s a shit option, but I think it’s our only one,” he says.

Frankie begins to nod like he already knows what Nico’s going to stay. Christian remains stone-faced.

“But it all depends,” Nico continues, sliding his eyes to mine now. “On how good an actress our Bambi here really is.”

“Wh-what?” I ask, completely baffled, my spine straightening in surprise. How on earth did this come down to my acting skills!?

“The only way out of this,” Nico says, even, his gaze still locked on my face. “Is if we pretend that we have absolutely no idea what happened, Iris. And you in particular go about your life as if everything is…absolutely fine.”

I go pale at the words, at Nico’s implication. Because I realize all in a rush what he’s asking me to do – to go back into Lupa tomorrow like I don’t know Edward’s dead. And then to face the barrage of questioning that’s surely coming for me as soon as Romano and Marino realize that I was probably the last person to see him alive.

“Can you do it?” Frankie asks, and I turn my head to see him staring at me, worried. My lips part, wanting to answer, to assure him that I can.

But I…I just don’t know.

Can I?