He blinks, his brows dipping. “How the hell did she get Dad’s journal?”
“She was with him when ‘they’ whoever they are took him. Did Sofia tell you that, Gio?”
A muscle in his jaw tics, but he doesn’t cut his stare. “No. She said her mother disappeared a few weeks after Dad. That’s all.”
“You’re the one who told me that Sofia believes Kace has the formula but needs me to decode it. Well, guess what? That’s what Angelena said, too. Seems like they’ve been talking or perhaps reading the same journal?”
“What does the journal say?”
“I can’t read the pages she sent me. The text was too small. Walker’s enlarging it.”
“Walker,” he snaps. “Again with Walker. Even if they are good at their jobs, that doesn’t make them people to trust. In fact, it may well be the opposite. You trust too many people.”
“You trusted the wrong people, Gio, but I’m not and I know you’re doubting everyone over Sofia, but don’t doubt me. Trust me.”
His voice lowers. “Learn from my mistakes, Aria.”
I open my mouth and quickly snap it shut. I’m done beating up this topic for now. “You told me Angelena was missing.”
“That’s what they told me.”
“They? Sofia? Or the Blue Owls? Her father?”
“All of the above.”
“Is Angelena working with all of the above? She is Sofia’s—or rather, Sonia’s—mother.”
“Sofia was looking for her mother. She had pages and pages of investigative documents on her walls that were all about finding her mother. Documents that dated back years. If that was a lie, it was an elaborate one put together quickly when I showed up. How did Angelena find you?”
“Dad told her to give me the journal when I turned eighteen. She knew from the journal that Kace was a piece of the puzzle. She was watching him. That’s how she found me. I was with him.”
“Why the fuck would Dad tell her to give it to you at eighteen? Why not me or Mom, right when he disappeared? I don’t believe that shit. She’s lying to you.”
“Her disappearance near Dad’s is weird. You said that yourself. Maybe they were—”
“Don’t say it,” he snaps. “They were not together.”
“You said it, Gio. You put the idea in my head.”
“I was wrong. Mom and Dad were solid. I was older. I could see they were solid. We can’t trust anyone. We both forgot that.”
“I feel like this conversation is on repeat. We can trust Kace.”
He eyes the apartment and then gives me a once over. “Because he spoils you? Because you want security for the first time in your life? What do you think people do when they want something from you? They give you what you want and need.”
“I don’t need or want his money. You know that’s not who I am.”
“So he’s doing all of this because he loves you?”
My heart begins to race. “Stop now, Gio, before you go too far—again. I’m begging you.”
But he doesn’t stop. “Are you foolish enough to believe he didn’t know who you were when you hooked up?”
My defenses bristle. “Sofia’s note to you is how we came together. You know that.”
“Maybe he was in on it with her. She’s a lying, conniving bitch. I wouldn’t put it past her to ride another train when riding me didn’t work.”
“That didn’t happen,” I bite out.
He continues as if I didn’t even speak. “And come on, Aria. You think Dad gave him part of the formula and didn’t even tell him?”
“He was a kid just like us when Dad disappeared.”
“Old enough to release a best-selling fucking album and travel the world without his parents.”
“Dad didn’t tell him, Gio. He put it in the journal left for me.” My fists are now balled at my sides. “Kace isn’t even convinced he knows anything to help at all. The only reason he’s considered it is that Angelena sent me a coded message and he knew what it meant. It was something Dad said to him.”
His eyes narrow. “What? Tell me.”
I inhale sharply on what my gut is telling me before I say what I thought I’d never say to my brother. “I don’t know what team you’re playing on, Gio.” I fold my arms in front of me. “I’m not telling you.”
His eyes burn with anger, and he steps closer, his temper seething. “Are you really saying that to me right now?”
“It doesn’t matter anyway. We don’t have the formula. We don’t know what part I play in any of this. We only know Angelena, and apparently, Sofia as per you, thinks I do. You could torture us, Gio, and we couldn’t tell you. If this is all we know, we will never have the formula.”
“What if he and Sofia really are plotting together. What if, Aria?”
My defenses bristle, but I do not doubt Kace. “For the last time, because I’m done with this topic, Kace didn’t plot against me.”
“Because he loves you?”
“Yes. He does. And I love him. And you know what? He’s made what is his, mine. As far as I’m concerned, what is mine is his as well. If we find the formula, obviously Dad wanted him to be a part of where that takes our lives.”
He chokes out a laugh. “Seriously? Either you are far more naïve than I realized or you are a sellout.” He leans closer. “Maybe you like the money more than you thought you would.”
The air shifts and I can feel Kace even before I see him and reality hits me. Gio said that now because he knew Kace would hear. I glance toward the outer edge of the living room to find Kace standing there, two glasses in his hands. Slowly, precisely he rounds the couch and steps to my side, offering Gio a glass. The two men stare at each other, time standing still, the air crackling. Gio breaks the stare down and studies the amber liquid before he clinks the ice on the glass and downs it.
“Smooth,” he says. “A thousand-dollar whiskey? Or no, two thousand? You’re a very rich man. Rich men often want what they can’t have because they have every fucking thing else. So, what is it that you want? Obviously, that’s not my sister. She was easy.”
Anger and shock come hard and fast. I don’t even think. I grab Kace’s drink and fling it into Gio’s face. “Leave.”
He licks his lips, the amber liquid clinging to the dark strands of his hair. “That is damn good whiskey.” He smirks and God, I’m at it again. I sway toward him, ready to hit him again, and Kace’s arm is immediately around my waist. “Easy, baby.”
My eyes meet my brother’s. “I want you to leave.”
“You need to leave with me,” Gio says softly. “Now.”
Kace rotates me, giving his back Gio, his hands on my arms. “Give me a minute with Gio.”
“That won’t go well.”