My Stepbrother's Dirty Little Secret novel Chapter 673

Chapter 673

I nodded slowly, “They never locked you back in the cell?”

“No,” he looked between all of us, “Then he started asking about Gianna.”

My attention sharpened.

“What exactly did he ask?” Vincenzo spoke for the first time.

Ciro looked toward him immediately, “He wanted to know whether she was safe. If she’d been treated well. If she was happy. I told him nothing. I didn’t even confirm she was alive. He kept asking. I kept refusing.”

Adriano crossed his arms, “Then?”

“They knocked me unconscious,” his brows pulled together, “When I woke up, I was already in Chicago. I don’t know where they kept me. I don’t know how long I was asleep. I only know we were here. They were already in Chicago three days before Ms. Hazel died.”

I nodded, “Go on.”

His breathing became heavier, “During those three days, Giovanni kept trying. He offered money. He offered protection. He told me no one would ever know,” a bitter laugh escaped Ciro, “As if I’d sell out my family. I refused every single time. I never gave him an address. I never pointed at a map. I never described the estate. I never said a word.”

Vincenzo sighed, “You want me to believe that?”

“I’m asking you to trust the man your family trained me to be, Don Capone. I never knew where they were taking me. Every time they moved me, they blindfolded me. I couldn’t have led anyone back here even if

I’d wanted to.”

Adriano stepped closer, “Then how did he find us?”

“I don’t know!” Ciro’s breathing became ragged, “I’ve asked myself that same question every hour since!”

He looked desperately toward Vincenzo.

“One minute, he was still trying to convince me. The next, he stopped asking. He looked at me like he’d already figured it out.”

“And when did he stop?” I asked

“Two nights before he showed up here,” Ciro frowned at the memory, “I remember thinking… Why did he stop? He didn’t need me anymore. I don’t know how. I don’t know when but somehow, he already knew.”

Fear of dying…

I expected.

Fear of being called a traitor…

That was different.

I looked at Vincenzo, “Ciro believes every word he’s saying. Which means either he’s the best liar I’ve ever questioned or Giovanni Toricelli found our doorstep without a single word from him.”

I already knew which answer my mind believed.

And that made Giovanni far more dangerous than I’d first assumed.

The children’s museum had been closed to the public for the day.

Only the Capone family was inside.

The sound of children’s laughter echoed through the building as Aurelia raced toward an indoor climbing castle with Jules close behind. Killian and Nero sat in their strollers, Killian was happily chewing on a rubber giraffe that Nero tried to take it from him while Claire and Maddie followed after the children.