A Dark Sicilian Secret

Jillian turned and ran up the steps into the house, and didn’t stop running until she’d reached the nursery where Joe was sleeping.

Maria put a finger to her lips when Jillian burst into the room. The shades were down, darkening the room and Jillian nodded as she continued to the crib. She had to see Joe, had to see him as only then could she believe everything would be okay.

Jillian stared down at him, taking in his flushed cheeks and his rosy lips. He’d never looked more angelic. “Did he have a good day?” she whispered to Maria.

“Yes. He played and played and he ate a lot and we also went for walks.”

Jillian’s chest squeezed. She longed to reach out and touch him but she didn’t dare wake him. Instead she smiled at Maria and went to her room, where she changed from her navy striped top and slacks into a simple white linen dress. She ran a comb through her hair and then turned away from the mirror. Don’t be scared, she told herself, heading for the stairs.

Reaching the library on the second floor, Jillian wiped her now damp palms on the sides of her dress before opening the library door. “What do you want to know?” she asked.

“Everything,” he said as she stepped into the room.

She closed the door behind her before approaching his desk where he’d been typing something on his laptop computer. “But you know everything.”

“Do I, Jill?”

“Yes. I have no secrets. My dad’s a jerk. My mom’s weak. My sister’s dead. What else is there?”

“Then who, cara, is Anne? And Carol? And Lee?” He caught her expression and smiled grimly. “Yes, my wife of many identities. Who are you really?”

“How long have you known about the different identities?”

“Since yesterday. But I had suspicions before.”

She nodded. “Then you know everything…”

“I don’t know why, and I don’t know who you were before you went into the government’s witness protection program, but I have my suspicions.”

Jillian startled and he nodded. “I’d wager this castle that your father is linked to organized crime,” Vitt continued, “and I’d bet my Lancia that he’s a mob boss from Detroit, a man who confessed everything he knew to the FBI to save himself from going to prison.”

He smiled and gestured to the phone. “Now I just need you to confirm it for me.”

She swayed on her feet. “I can’t, Vitt.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both.”

“Then I will, and once I call them, and let them know you’re here with me, I’m confident they’ll tell me what I need to know—”

“They won’t.”

“Not even if they think you’re in trouble?”

She laughed. “God, no! They didn’t when Marco kidnapped Katie, so why would they do it for me?”

“Is that how your sister died?”

She made a low tormented sound. “The tragic thing is that they didn’t even want Katie. They wanted my father. But my father wouldn’t dream of sacrificing himself for anyone else, much less his daughter.”

“And so she died.”

“In a car bomb. Can you believe that? She thought she was free to go. She thought she’d escaped the danger. Instead they blew her up as she started her car.” Jillian dragged her fist across her face, rubbing away tears before they fell. “The police called it an accident. But everyone on the inside knew it wasn’t an accident. And so the government stepped in and Mom and Dad were moved to yet another location. I didn’t change my name, but I did change jobs, going from Switzerland to Turkey.”

“And it was in Turkey you met me.”

She nodded. “I thought you were perfect for me, too. Until I discovered who you were. So I ran. Just as I’ve been running for my life ever since I was twelve.”