Perhaps he would vouch for Father.

But Father blanched at the sight of my future husband and I knew my hope was in vain. Father looked like he wanted to say something but he remained silent.

I tried to catch Cosimo’s eyes, but his gaze didn’t once seek me out. Why was he ignoring me? We were practically engaged; our engagement party was set for the New Year. Shouldn’t he take care of me?

He was looking at father with an expression that made my stomach turn. This was going to end badly.

“Why don’t you tell me again what you told me a few days ago?” Falcone said to Cosimo, never taking his eyes off Father.

“After we’d come to an agreement about the engagement to his daughter, Brando came to me and asked me if I wanted to earn some extra money. He told me about the deal he had with the Bratva, and that he was taking money from you.”

Father didn’t say anything. I wanted to shake him, wanted to make him deny Cosimo’s outrageous claims. With every second that he didn’t, my hopes for a merciful ending to this evening disappeared. I tried to catch Cosimo’s gaze again, still hoping, and when he finally looked my way, my heart sank. There was no emotion in his eyes. He would not be my knight in shining armor today.

Falcone turned toward my mother with a shark-like expression. Mother stiffened but she kept her head high. She was a proud woman; one of the things I admired most about her. I worried Falcone might enjoy breaking her. He was that type.

He advanced on Mother, and finally Father sprang into action. “She doesn’t know anything. My family wasn’t involved in any of this. They are innocent.” His voice rang with fear and alarm. Seeing his terror, hearing it, terrified me to no end. This wasn’t a game.

Talia looked at me for help again. God, and how I wished I knew how to help her, how to help my family, but I was useless.

Falcone stopped right in front of my mother, closer than was socially acceptable. Mother didn’t flinch back, though most people would have done that under his stare, and I hoped for the same strength if Falcone confronted me. He reached for her throat and for a crazy moment I thought he was going to strangle her. Father made a move to get up but Falcone’s man pushed him back down.

Falcone curled his fingers around Mother’s necklace. “But they’re reaping the rewards of your betrayal, don’t they?”

Father shook his head. “I didn’t buy that necklace from that money…”He trailed off, a pained expression on his face. That was a guilty plea if I’d ever heard one. I wanted to cry. Father had really stolen from the mob. That meant his death, and maybe ours as well. Falcone wasn’t known for his kindness.

“No?” Falcone said with fake curiosity. He ripped the necklace off Mother’s throat. She gasped and flinched, one hand flying up to touch her skin. When she pulled her fingers away, they were bloody. The gold chain had cut her.

Then he pointed at Talia’s earrings. Talia took a step back. “And those?” He reached for one earring.

“Leave her alone,” I said before I could stop myself. Father and Mother stared at me as if I’d lost my mind. Falcone slowly turned to me, eyes narrowing. He stepped back from Talia and came toward me. It took everything to stand my ground when everything I wanted to do was to run as fast as my feet could carry me.

I wasn’t wearing any flashy jewelry he could hold against me, or my father, but I knew that wouldn’t protect me.

His cruel eyes seemed to pierce me to the very core. I tried not to show my revulsion and fear. I wasn’t sure I was succeeding. I had no experience in facing true evil.

“You are a brave one, aren’t you?” Falcone said. I had a feeling it wasn’t meant as a compliment. I waited for him to do something to me, to punish me for my insolence, but he merely eyed me before he turned on his heel and walked back to Father. Somehow his leniency worried me. It made me think that maybe he had something worse in mind for me later. This wasn’t over.

“I wonder if you actually believed you’d get away with this, Brando?” Falcone asked. He touched Father’s shoulder in a mock friendly gesture.

“I always made more money than any of your other managers. I’ll work for free for as long as you want me to. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”

“You’ll make it up to me?” Falcone repeated. “You betrayed me. You stole from me and gave my money to the filthy Russians. My enemies. How are you going to make it up to me?”

“I’ll do anything,” Father said.

Falcone touched his chin in contemplation. It looked as if he’d practiced the move countless times in front of the mirror. “There is something you can do for me.”

Father nodded eagerly but I wasn’t as optimistic. The look in Falcone’s eyes promised nothing good. Falcone pulled a gun out of a holster under his jacket and held it against Father’s head. “You can die.”

He pulled the trigger.

I cried out, taking a step forward to help my father, so did Mother, but our guards held us back. Talia screamed, a high-pitched sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. But Father didn’t topple over. He was unharmed. There hadn’t been a bullet in the gun. I shook, my emotions changing from shock to relief.

Father closed his eyes for a moment. Then he peered up at Falcone. There was definitely relief in his gaze but also trepidation.

Falcone smirked. “But first we need to know everything you know about the Russians and everything else that might harm my business, don’t you agree?”