“Sofia, those two men I spoke with … did they kill Marco?”

She gave a small shake of her head. I thought that was all I was going to get from her, but then she spoke in a shaking, childlike voice. “Not them—men like them. Men in vests. Scary men,” she whispered. “We’d gone to the movies, and I fell asleep in the car. I woke up and saw Marco get … shot. My dad … he … beat them to death, I think. He thought I was asleep. I never told them. I never told anyone. Watching you with those men—it was just like that night. I woke up in the car and saw you walking over to the two men in vests. It was like I was living that night all over again.” She pulled back and peered up at me as tears streamed down her pale cheeks. “I was so scared they would kill you too.”

I was floored.

Absolutely stunned.

Not only had she seen the entire thing, but she’d never told a soul. All those years we were so close, and she’d never even told me. I buried the small pang of hurt, knowing her inability to tell me about the incident was more about her own trauma than a testament of her trust in me. My heart shattered for her, splintering into a thousand pieces at the horror she’d had to endure all alone.

“I’m okay, Ladybug,” I reassured her, wiping her cheeks dry just as more tears overflowed. “I’m so sorry I scared you. I had no idea.”

“Nobody does—and you can’t tell them. Promise me, Nico. Promise me you won’t tell my dad.” Her words were suddenly hurried and urgent, making me wonder what on earth she was afraid of.

“Your parents need to know, Sof. Why would you want to keep that from them?”

Her eyes darted around in panic, and she tried to climb from my lap, but I held her firmly in place. “You don’t understand,” she pled, wringing her hands.

“Help me understand. Why can’t your parents know that you were a witness?”

“Because they’d ask questions, just like you’re doing now.”

I narrowed my eyes, suspicion tensing the muscles in my neck. “What else don’t you want them to know? What secrets have you been keeping?”

Her lips pursed tightly together in staunch refusal to speak.

“Goddammit, Sofia! How do you expect me to stay quiet about something like this unless you give me a good fucking reason?” I lost the tightly held grip I’d had over my emotions. She didn’t know just how difficult a position she was putting me in, but that didn’t make it any easier.

“Is it not enough that I’m begging you?” she asked quietly, eyes pleading in earnest. When she examined the harsh lines of my face and realized I wouldn’t give, she dropped her head back in defeat. “My father is a dangerous man. He doesn’t know that I know. If you tell him, it will open a whole can of worms that will change everything.”