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“What a twisted fate we were handed, Angelina,” I whispered to my room as if my imaginary friend could somehow hear me.

A thought hit me that I hadn’t pondered in all these years: if Angelina had died due to an association with Giano, was I now a target, as well? Had I been living in a false sense of security this entire time?

After a night of tossing and turning, I woke up and readied myself for another day of torture at school.

I had just made it to second period when the intercom buzzed, asking me to come to the office to be checked out for the day. Anxiety filled me. Giano never picked me up early unless I had some sort of appointment.

What is going on?
I wondered as I passed by locker after locker, making my way to the front of the school.

Giano greeted me instantly with his public smile in place. The charisma oozed off him as he winked at the secretary before wrapping his arm around my shoulder and guiding me outside.

“Did I forget about an appointment?” I asked once we reached his vehicle.

“No,” he replied sharply.

Fear seized me. What in the world had him so on edge?

“Do you plan to share with me why I am out of school today?”

“Not until we are home.”

What had I done? What was wrong? Had we been found out? Were our secrets revealed?

Without another word, he opened the car door for me to enter and then shut it once I was in. As he rounded the car, I buckled my seatbelt and tried to keep my nerves at bay.

The car ride was silent, only allowing questions to fill my mind, one after another, as the miles to home passed by. If we had been found out, what would Giano do to me? If he really was a contract killer, would I live to see another day? In all this time, I had grown to trust him, care for him, and not fear him. His current temperament was unlike any before, and I was indeed afraid.

Arriving home, I was shaking from head to toe in anticipation of what had Giano so on edge.

He tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter then leaned into the island. “If you had questions, Angel, why not ask me? You seem to have enjoyed the internet some yesterday afternoon.”

“Umm …” I stumbled to find words. I hadn’t thought about the history or me searching anything on the computer. I had simply wanted information.

“What do you remember of your grandfather?”

“He was kind. He was the happiness in my life. Then he was gone. I was told he died and nothing more. I was young.”

“Searching the web leaves a trail, angel. Every name you entered yesterday is watched on an
FBI
file and then most likely traced back to find the ISP address.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t. More than that, there are people who are paid to intercept those
FBI
searches so the feds don’t dig where they shouldn’t. In return, those same people do their own tracing, which then leads me to ask you … What do you remember of your father and his business dealings?”

I swallowed hard, in over my head. I hadn’t thought of any of this when I had searched. My only focus had been getting the answers to questions I’d had for years.

“You don’t share anything!” I screeched like a crazed animal. “How was I supposed to know the
FBI
would want to lock down any computer that dug into my family? We were as normal as I could picture anyone else being.”

“Nothing about your father was normal,” Giano calmly stated as I began to pace the room.

“You don’t answer my questions directly. I know nothing of my past. Nothing of my family. Nothing about you.”

“Sit down,” he commanded sharply, and I immediately obeyed.

Picking up a napkin from our dining table, I twisted the paper in my hands, trying to stop myself from needing to pace.

“Are you going to tell me what happened to my family?”

“Like everything else between us, angel, nothing leaves this house,” he reminded me as if I needed it.

“We have made it this long together. Please give me something.”

He sighed, sitting down across from me. “Your grandfather was a good man. He didn’t want to be another Italian-American statistic. He wanted more for his family name. He worked hard and dedicated his life to his company.

“In my line of work, usually one finds himself loyal to one side. I don’t agree with this tactic, and I have always handled my business one contract at a time. I have no loyalties to anyone but myself and my family. With my skill-set, there is no one better than me; however, I pick and choose my jobs, so I have no commitments beyond one job to the next.

“A file was given to me and a contract presented. The file was on your grandfather. Your father wanted to tie the company to the Castillo family as a place to filter funds and import drugs. Your grandfather wanted none of it. Greed and power do things to people.”

Tears filled my eyes as I thought about how hard my grandfather had probably worked to have it all lost in the end, anyway.

“I refused the job, so Castillo gave your father a new contact. Time passed by. The job was done. However, I was a loose end. Once the case was closed for lack of evidence on your grandfather’s murder, the target became me. I knew who was hired and who did the hiring for the job on your grandfather. A year after your grandfather was killed, your father had the hit put out on me. He thought the space between the two incidences wouldn’t draw attention. Only, they messed up.”

I gasped. “They didn’t get you. They got your wife and daughter.”

He simply looked at me and nodded.

Tears fell down my face. My father’s need for power and money had cost the man in front of me everything.

“I don’t live in a world of good men. I know that. They took what good I had away … until you.”

Everything hit me like a ton of bricks crashing over my head. He was in the disposal business. My grandfather hadn’t wanted this life. A torn family ripped even more lives apart.

“These are not things I wished to share with you. However, if Castillo feels I am still a threat to him, then you are a target. If Castillo figures out my daughter was in the car that day and you are who you are, you are a bigger threat since you are the heir to the company in which he now runs. You are entitled to that business and all its profits. And it is profitable.

“Given his son’s inability to shut his mouth, I am sure they have scoped us out. With the year you homeschooled, it is easy for them to believe you are Angelina, which is still a dangerous person to be, but Fallyn is a greater risk. I have been following you everywhere to ensure your safety. If one of his goons is watching the computer, your little investigation yesterday may have tipped them off. Stay aware when I am not with you, angel.”

I was in danger, and I had just made everything worse. Be careful what you ask if you weren’t prepared for the answers—that was today’s life lesson, learned the hard way.

Chapter Sixteen

One Year Later

Graduation

It took some time, but eventually the rumors stopped. Paul had sex with Mandy and then dumped her last year before prom. Apparently, she didn’t give good head. I didn’t really care. She had tried to talk to me, but I blew her off. With friends like her, who needed enemies? I preferred to be alone. Randi still came over, but she had a new boyfriend, and they spent a lot of time together.

Today was high school graduation, a milestone I had counted down for. I had recently cut my long hair into a bob style, feeling like I needed a change. Truth be told, I kept looking at the picture of young Angelina on the wall with her long hair much like mine and wishing she was here instead of me. Some days, the lines blurred between remembering Fallyn and existing as Angelina. However, my hair was my own, so I took a leap and made the change.

After putting on my little black dress with an empire waist and spaghetti straps, I quickly straightened my hair and donned light makeup. Then I stared out of my window solemnly, the lace curtain in my hand.

The sky was overcast, only adding to the gray feelings I had. What had been my safe haven for so many years now had me on edge. Giano and I hadn’t yet discussed my future with him … or without him. What would the future hold for me? Would I have to be Fallyn or forever be Angelina?

Thinking of her, I felt the loss once again. She should be here—she would be here—but the decisions of others had taken it all away.

“Today is your day, Angelina,” I whispered to my friend. “We did it.” I laughed to myself. Without being real, she had been with me every day since I was ten years old.

I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. I was technically only sixteen as Fallyn. As Angelina, however, I was a seventeen-year-old high school graduate. I had taken the SATs and even filled out a few collage applications, and I had been accepted to all except one. Well, Angelina Diamante had been. However, I had not yet made a decision on what would come next.

If I were to continue the charade, I would truly be killing myself. My existence could never be. Although, given the time and the fact that the world thought I was dead, anyways, did it matter? Really, what it all boiled down to was I wanted to stay. More than that, I wanted Giano to
want
me to stay.

I heard my bedroom door open, and in walked Giano, looking stellar in a charcoal gray, pinstripe suit with a black, button-up shirt underneath, his dark hair combed back. The years had been good to him. He didn’t look a day over the thirty-four-year-old man he was when I had gotten here almost six years ago. Maybe forty was the new twenty after all.

“You look beautiful, angel.”

“Thank you.”

He extended his hand, holding a box to me. With shaking fingers, I took the turquoise package. Opening the box, I found diamond-studded earrings. Tears filled my eyes. I had never been given such a beautiful gift before. Over time, Giano had given me gifts here and there for birthdays and for Christmas, but nothing this elegant outside of the diamond tennis bracelet a few years ago, a bracelet I wore today.

Taking the box from my hand, he removed the jewelry. One at a time, he took out my old hoops and inserted the sparkling diamonds. With each touch, my body lit up. What was it about this man? I felt like he reached my soul.

I wished I could turn it all off. I wished I could walk away and never look back like I had planned when I first arrived. Who was I kidding? No matter what happened, no matter how many people he had killed, he had saved me. He. Saved. Me. He gave me hope in a hopeless situation. He gave me life when I was surrounded by death. He gave me an escape from a living hell. He saved me. I wanted nothing more than to stay in the safety of his life, of the life he had given me, forever.

I bit my bottom lip to suppress a moan just from him touching my ears. I couldn’t help breathing heavier, making my C cup breasts rise and fall dramatically.

Giano trailed his finger down my neck then traced my collarbone. I closed my eyes as my body broke out in a blush. Silently, I begged for his finger to go lower, to trace the swell of my breasts and tease the line of my cleavage.

All too soon, his touch disappeared, and I was left wanting more.

“You should be careful what you wish for, angel,” Giano stated before brushing a quick kiss to my cheek.

Helpless to stop myself, I reached up and touched where his lips just were as the confusion showed in my eyes.

“You whispered, asking for more. Be careful what you wish for, especially when you aren’t ready.”

“There are plenty of boys at school who are more than ready to give me anything I want.” Only, what I wanted was the man in front of me.

He smirked at me. “How many times must we go over this? It’s not a boy you need or desire.” Without giving me a chance to respond, he turned and left the room.

He was right; it wasn’t a boy I desired.

Calming my body, I finished putting on my strappy sandals and added my cap and gown before making my way to the kitchen.

Giano and I made the drive to school with him holding my hand in the car. This simple act calmed me. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze before exiting the car and coming around to open my door.

“I’m proud of you, angel. You’ve come a long way.”

My chest swelled with pride as I got out of the car and made my way inside.

I had done it.

I looked up to the ceiling and thought about Angelina. No, we had done it.

The auditorium was crowded. Friends and family had all come together to celebrate the milestone. Randi and I hugged as Amanda stood by with a snarky look on her face, refusing to talk to me. It was what it was. I would move on, and I didn’t need her to like me, anyway. Randi had been a solid friend through the years, one I hoped to remain semi-close with. Being real with myself, I knew I could never be close with anyone since, every second of every day, I existed as one big lie.

One by one, names were called, and my breath caught when it was my turn. I crossed the stage one step at a time and collected the rolled up paper that symbolized my diploma without the first clue what the future held for me. Looking out into the crowd, I spotted Giano and gave him a soft smile. None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for him. Sure, I would have most likely graduated, but I wouldn’t have done it in a safe home. It haunted me how far things might have gone with my father in and out of our home.

Not only would my father have been a problem with my body, but he had taken the business into darker territory. He had put my mother and me at risk. Look at what had happened to Giano’s family just from him turning down a job. In more ways than just my father touching me, Giancarlo Diamante had saved me and given me a brand new life.

I had a future that didn’t require me to look over my shoulder. I could go to college. I could get a job. I had recently learned to drive and gotten my license. Giano had bought me a little, two-door Lexus that I absolutely loved. For the outsider, everything in my life was perfect except the absence of my mother. The truth was, mother or no mother, my world wasn’t lacking when you knew where I had come from. Giano had been everything and anything I had ever needed in my life.