“Honey, you’re shivering.”

“Please don’t touch me,” I whisper.

I duck out from under his arm and step away. Suddenly, the tension leaves him as if he’s come to some sort of decision. I watch it roll right off of his chest. His eyes turn glassy. My knees start to buckle. I stand firm, though. I’m not weak. I’m frightened and scared for my life; for my family’s lives.

“I’m a hitman,” he says emotionlessly, as if he hasn’t just crumbled my entire world. I’ve worshipped this man my entire life, and now he sits before me telling me he’s a murderer.

“Y…you kill people? Oh, my God! What’s wrong with you people? Don’t any of you care about how badly corrupted this world is? And dead center lies my family. The untouchable Diamond family,” I say bitterly.

“You’ve stolen loved ones away from others, Dad. Is this why you pushed me so hard to become a lawyer? Because if you ever got caught one day you would hope like hell that your daughter would defend you? Come on. Tell me. Why? How can you sleep at night? Breathe the same air as the very families of the wives, husbands, or even children whose loved ones you’ve killed?”

“It’s not like that, Calla.”

My father looks genuinely hurt. He should be.

“Then tell me how it is. Because like I told Cain, I’m on the good side of the law. The right side of the tracks. I can’t just stick out an olive branch to all of you. My entire life has been a lie. You’ve left me hanging all by myself on that small branch and today is the day it finally snaps and the ground I thought was underneath isn’t ground at all. It’s a cliff. And I keep falling, smacking my head into every hard rock along the way to the bottom.”

“Jesus. Fuck. Help me out here, Cecily?”

“No, Dad. This is between me and you. Father and daughter. I’m sure she has her own poison she needs to shove down my throat. I want to know how my own father could take someone else’s life?”

“I have no choice. I was born into this lifestyle just like your mom, just like Cain, and just like Manny over there. We don’t have choices like you do. You wouldn’t be here today if I had told them no.”

“You’re still not making sense to me. Were you threatened? Spit it out. The truth, all of it.”

I’m trying so hard to wrap my head around this. There’s no way I can. My body is looped so tensely right now.

“Our families go back a long way. My father was a trained assassin. He had me shooting targets from a mile away by the time I was ten years old. I’m not going to stand here and tell you what I do is right. What I will say is I sleep at night because I know you’re safe. Your mother and I kept this from you to protect you from this type of life. That’s why all those years ago, when you first brought up Cain’s name, I prohibited you from seeing him. I didn’t want my daughter anywhere near this kind of life. I never wanted it to touch you at all.”

I look at him suspiciously.

“So the feud between you and Cain’s dad was a lie, too?”

“That part is the truth. I hated that prick. He wanted your mother and let everyone know it. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was good at getting us the type of guns we needed, I would have killed him before someone else had the chance to. And then he hooked up with Cain’s mother and his obsession with Cecily stopped. Cain was born only a few months before you, and when two innocent little babies came into this world, I buried my hate for him. I don’t kill people just because I want to. I kill them because they’re scum. You don’t get a second chance when you fuck over Salvatore.”

I tilt my head and fix my eyes on Cain. He knows. He knows everything. And Manny, how does he fit into all of this? Is he a child of the mob as well? Four pairs of eyes are all looking at me. All of them gauging my reaction. Cain looks defeated. Manny looks like he feels sorry for me. My mother looks frightened, as if she might lose the one thing in her life she could never live without. And my dad, he’s standing there watching me intently, wondering if his little girl will ever be able to forgive him.

Suddenly the room starts to spin and the walls begin to cave in. My legs give out and my body crumples to the floor. I can’t breathe. My sweet, caring father is a cold-blooded murderer. My husband steals and sells guns. My mother is the sister to one of the world’s most notorious criminals.

And me? Who am I? The wife and daughter of people I once trusted. A fake, just like them. They all play a role in this. And whether any of them believe it or not, they have left me with no choice. Either I accept the lifestyle they lead, or I find my way out of here. Disappear, and never have contact with them again.

For the first time, I am ashamed to admit I can’t live without any of them. My parents’ blood pumps this non-existent life I was destined to live through my veins. That’s what makes my heart turn cold. And for that, I truly am my father’s daughter.

“Calla!”

They all shout my name at once. Cain is kneeling at my side, lifting me up as if I weigh nothing at all and cradling me in his arms.

“Come on, sweetie. Look at me.”

I do. I look up at him, and his face is so full of love and concern. I should hate him. Hate them all for the lives they lead; for the life I’m being forced to enter.

All of a sudden, I’m crushed by the dire need to be in Cain’s arms. I’m right where I want to be. Right where I’m meant to be. Burying my face into his chest, I let loose and cry while he holds me tightly. I feel so lost. So sad. I don’t even know my family. The two people in this world who I never expected would hurt me have completely wrecked me.

No one says a word as I let loose, soaking Cain’s shirt. I need to pull myself together. There is so much more to be said here, so much more I don’t know, and I’m afraid of just what that might be.

I peel my face away from Cain’s chest. He cups my jaw tenderly, his thumb brushing away the wetness from my face.

“I… I’m sorry,” I say breathlessly. “I’m fine.”

I’m truly not fine, and they all know it. I’ve been kicked in the chest.

“No, you’re not,” says my mother, echoing my thoughts.

“I am,” I insist. “Don’t you see? I’m the daughter of a mafia princess. The niece of the biggest mobster in the state of New York and the daughter of a killer. How could I not be fine?”

Cain bends and kisses each corner of my mouth.

“You’ve been lied to and deceived by us all, but we’ll get through this together. I promise.”

“Sweetheart?” my dad calls to me. I’m not ready to look at him yet.

“Yeah?” I croak pathetically.

“I never wanted you to find out. The last thing I ever wanted to do was to hurt my baby girl. You’ve always been my world. You always will be, no matter what you think of me. I’ll give you the time you need to process all of this. Cain knows everything. I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk.”

Dad’s voice is strained. I still can’t look at him. I focus solely on Cain’s face. His square jaw. Bright blue eyes. The way he looks down at me with worry etched all over his face.

“I love you,” my mother’s voice serenely whispers in my ear as I hear her kneel down on the floor with us. She puts her hand on my back. I don’t want to look at her right now, either.

“I know, Mom.”

“For the record, I’m sorry too, Calla,” Manny says.

I don’t move a muscle until I hear the door close behind them all. It’s after I know they are all gone that I break down once more in my husband’s arms.

The two of us stay in this position until my tears have all dried up. I have so many questions left to ask him. I need to pull my thoughts together.

Cain’s phone vibrates in his pocket. I unlock my grip from his shirt and go to stand, but he holds me in place with one hand while digging into his pocket with the other.

“Stay,” he simply states.