“Your mother killed Jag’s brother—”

“Wait, what?”

Matteo puts up his hand. “Patience really isn’t your strong suit, is it?” He pauses, daring me to interrupt him again. I swallow and shake my head. “What I was saying was that your mother killed Jag’s brother and any shadow of an agreement that our Families had fell apart.”

My mother. A killer?

As if he can sense my shock, he continues, speaking quickly, almost reassuringly. “My mother always said the reasons were complicated. And if she knows more, she’s never told me exactly what happened. But needless to say, the Lions put out a hit on your mother.”

Even as Matteo is talking, I’m wrestling with the impossibility that this is my mother, my family.

“As for your father, he fought back against Jag and the Lions, and it earned him a contract on his head as well. So they ran.” Matteo shrugs, as if running from trained assassins is what everyone does when things get bad. “As for our Family, well, the Bears felt betrayed that your mom left instead of coming home to them. And they…they refused to protect them.”

My eyes widen. That’s why Aunt Jo blamed her family for Mom’s death.

“The way I heard it, the Lion assassins came back one by one without finding either of your parents. Or they didn’t come back at all. So to save face, the Lions convinced the rest of the Families that your parents were tragically murdered. But meanwhile the hunt went on,” Matteo finishes.

“But they did kill my mother eventually,” I say quietly.

“Yes,” he says, and there’s some regret in his voice. “But none of the other Families know that except us and the Lions. And since then, the animosity between the Lions and Bears has only gotten worse. When I hit you that day outside the dining hall, I…” He falls silent then and returns his gaze to the fire.

“It’s okay,” I say, and my voice is heavy. “Thanks for telling me the truth.”

“You are…welcome,” he says, but doesn’t look at me. Under all his anger and bravado, there’s such a deep sadness.

“You should know,” I begin slowly, trying to find some way to match his honesty with another truth, “that Charles wasn’t trying to kill Stefano. He was trying to kill you and make me take the fall for it. After your explanation just now, it makes a hell of a lot of sense that the Lions would want to divide us. I also think you should know that the guard who was killed outside my door had his neck slashed with a piece of glass. As far as we can tell, the weapon is still out there somewhere. So I guess what I’m saying is…be careful.”

Matteo looks up and his sadness intensifies. “They were trying to kill me?”

I nod slowly. I feel awful for telling him. I know how I would feel if something happened to Emily, especially if it had something to do with me. But after what he’s just confided in me, I can’t not tell him. There is every chance someone will try again.