The photo album on the bed caught my eye. I flipped through the pages, finding pictures of Gia and I as babies. I smiled. We were so cute at that age. I quickly lost the smile as I turned to the next photos. My stomach dropped. I gazed at the images in disbelief, sickness swirling in the pit of my stomach. I stared, not comprehending what my eyes were seeing.
There was an image of my father with his arms around a woman that was not my mother. It was Gia’s mom. There was more. An image of Gia’s mom, again wrapped in the arms of my dad. This time, they were gazing at the baby girl in her arms. With shaking hands, I pulled out the picture and flipped it over. The back read, “Gia, Mommy, and Daddy.”
I was fighting the chaos in my belly and didn’t hear Gia when she came back in the room.
“Oh, I see you found my family album. My mom gave that to me. She thought I might like it.” I looked up at her, disbelief still pounding my brain. The look on her face was one I’d never seen before. Her sinister smile sent a chill through my bones. Handing me a glass of amber liquid, she smirked. “Here, drink up, big sister,” she said with a sneer.
I sniffed the glass, immediately knowing it was brandy. Without a thought, I downed it, welcoming the burn that followed.
“Let me tell you a little story about a girl that got sick and had her world turned upside down.” A shiver raced down my spine. “Remember a couple years back, right before my dad had his heart attack? I had appendicitis and had to have surgery.”
I shook my head and held up my hand. “Gia, don’t.” I didn’t want to hear what I knew she was about to say. The fog in my brain grew thicker.
Gia glared at me. “No! You’re going to listen!” She looked at me with disdain and sadness mixed together. “I overheard Mom talking to the doctor about how Sal had come in to donate blood, just in case, because we were a perfect match. The doctor said that was best, since he was my father.”
I shook my head again, then stopped when the room started spinning. “No. It’s not true.” I couldn’t believe it. It was all too much.
She sneered and went on. I couldn’t make out the words, though. The world faded around the edges, and my head was swimming.
Feeling suddenly dizzy, I swayed back and forth, grabbing the wall. The overwhelming dizziness took ahold of me.
Gia stood over me, smiling as I fell back on the bed. “That’s it. Go to sleep, dear sister,” I heard her say right before everything went black.
34
Dom
“Fucking hell! I can’t catch a break!” I roared, punching the wall. Pain radiated through my hand from the cinderblock lining the hallway.
“Dom,” a soft voice called. I turned to see Cara standing there. “She’s just overwhelmed. Give her some space. A lot has gone on over the past few months, and she needs to blow off some steam. She can’t do that being here under everyone’s thumb.”
“I can’t keep her safe if I give her space! Just like now, she’s off on her own, with no guard. Putting herself in danger!” I shouted back, then lowered my voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. But your daughter makes my job so hard sometimes.”
Cara nodded in understanding. “You don’t know where she went?”
“I think I might. That’s the only reason I’m not tearing the world down. I saw a message on her phone that came in just before she took off. Gia asked her to come over. I’m hoping she went there. Still, she knows she wasn’t supposed to leave.” I pulled at my hair. “I’ve got guys out looking for her and I’m waiting on word.”
Pacing the room, I had a sick feeling that something wasn’t right. I decided to message her again, even though the last several calls and texts hadn’t been answered.
Dom: Angel, please just let me know if you’re at Gia’s. I love you.
Hitting send, I prayed I got a response soon. I called Viper.
He answered immediately. “Hey, brother, I was just going to call you. I think we need to talk about some shit. How much do you know about Gia?”
I frowned. “Not much. Tech dug into her but didn’t find a lot. Why?”
Viper sighed. “Well, Tech went back over everything when we hit dead ends and dug a little deeper. Something about Gia wasn’t sitting right with me or him. Seemed like she was fucking hiding something.”
I stood straighter, that bad feeling getting stronger. “Like what, brother?” Frustration settled in. “Why don’t you just meet me in my room and we can fucking talk face to face.”
“On my way.”
Hanging up, I looked over at Cara. “Cara, how close are Gia and Jules?”
Looking at me quizzically, she asked, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, other than the fact that they’re half-sisters. Tell me about their relationship.”
“Until recently, they were inseparable. But after Gia’s father died, things changed. They were still close, just not as close. Gia pulled away, which is completely understandable. I think it hurt her to see Sal with Jules after she lost the man she thought was her dad.”
I glanced at my phone, even though I knew it hadn’t rung. I was feeling sicker by the minute. “Let me ask you this, do you think Gia knows about Sal being her father?”
“I don’t really know. Why do you ask?” She stepped closer, hands on her hips. “Dom, what’s going on?” Alarm rang in her tone.
“I’m not sure. Viper said something may be off with her and Tech is looking into it.”
“What do you mean, something seems to be off? Dom, do you think Jules isn’t safe with Gia?”
“I don’t know. She probably is. We may
