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“Probably not,” she murmurs. “But it explains why I was so foggy and confused every time I took them. And you know who was always nagging me to take them?” she sneers.
“Marco,” I say softly.
“My husband. The man who promised, before God and my family, to love and cherish till death do us part.”
For the first time, I hear the wobble in her voice.
“Okay.” She takes the seat beside my desk. “Now that you know everything, help me make a plan.”
A plan? Does she want to kill him? I know I do. But that’s probably unwise.
“What kind of plan, sweetheart?”
“I want to figure out the best way to confront him. I haven’t slept in a couple days, and I can’t think clearly. I need your help.”
No. No. No. “You can’t confront him.”
“Can and will. Then, after he admits to drugging me, and selling information about Saint Phil’s alumni, I’m going to call the authorities, and he can rot behind bars for the rest of his miserable life.”
Selling information? He could be—to the traffickers. Maybe that’s his connection to Paolo. “Valentina, stop.”
She glares at me.
“For a minute.”
“I won’t stop until the bastard is behind bars.”
“What makes you think he’s selling information?”
“Because he’s always trying to come up with money-making schemes. Money is all he cares about. I used to blame myself, because my family is so much more well off than his. But fuck that. I’m done making excuses for that monster.”
“I understand why you want to confront him. I would too. But he’s dangerous. Too dangerous for you to take on yourself. You need to talk to Rafael, or your father.”
“No,” she barks. “I’ll take care of this, Lexie. And don’t you dare breathe a word of it to Rafael. I might be the stupid girl they think I am, but this is my mess, and I’ll take care of it. I can’t change the past, but I can stop him.”
Don’t you dare breathe a word of it to Rafael.
Oh God. Here we are again.
58
RAFAEL
“Any news on the facial recognition?” It’s a ridiculous question, because of course Tamar would have come to me right away if she had something. But my patience is holding on by a thread. Even under the best of circumstances, I hate waiting.
“Some false positives. That’s it. I think we need to prepare ourselves that we might never have a match. There aren’t many facial points to make it work, but we’ll know more in a few days.”
“Are you still monitoring Marco’s whereabouts?”
“He’s still out of the country, as far as we know. He’s not scheduled to return until Friday. We’re going to have to tell Valentina when he returns. I agree with Lexie. The best way to protect her is if she knows there’s danger.”
I don’t agree. Not in this case. Although there might come a point when we have no choice. She can’t be around him. He’s dangerous, or at the very least, his friends are, and our hands are tied when they’re alone. But I’m going to hold off until I’m backed up against a wall. I don’t trust that she won’t run to him the minute I tell her. This is not only about her safety, but it involves Lexie’s too.
“We need that ID, Tamar.”
“I know.”
“I’ll be at Sirena. Contact me the moment you hear anything.”
