Cruel Lies

CRUEL LIES MESSINA CRIME FAMILY BOOK TWO LILIAN HARRIS CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Six Years Ago - Almost 15 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Four Years Ago - Age 34 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Two Weeks Later Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Two Weeks Later Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Two Months Later Epilogue Playlist Also By Lilian Harris About the Author This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidences are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. © 2023 by Lilian Harris. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher. Editing/Interior Formatting: CPR Editing Proofreader: Judy’s Proofreading Cover Design: Cormar Covers This book is dedicated to all you women out there. Whether you’re working, chasing your dreams, or raising a family. Or doing all three while still feeling like you’re failing. I see you. I am you. We’re in this together. You’re a badass bitch. CHAPTER ONE NICOLETTE Sometimes the people who hurt us the most are the ones that are supposed to love us. That’s how I ended up here—in the woods being chased by a killer. It’s impossible to outrun him, and eventually he’ll catch up. The blistering swell of his footfalls echoes through the nearly pitch-black forest, the moon providing me with just enough light. My breathing comes in burning gasps as I rush barefoot through the darkness, swallowed up into the night. There’s no other sound here at all. Nothing but him. My predator. My killer. My pulse beats in my ears, slamming in my throat. Run. Just keep running. I can’t believe they found me. I’ve been running for so long—about a year now since she died—yet I knew eventually my past would catch up with me. That I’d become prey once again. I’ve been hiding out from place to place, afraid to stay still for even a moment, afraid of this very thing. But in the end, the villain always wins. My sister’s murderer has found me, and he’s planning to take me out next. Or at least one of his men is. Giancarlo Marino, the boss of the Messina crime family, was my sister’s father-in-law…and also the man she’d been foolishly having an affair with. The one she got pregnant by. And that’s what got her killed. I was there hiding in the closet of her bedroom, recording her fight with Giancarlo. And that’s when he shot her. I stayed in that closet, trembling, afraid that if he heard a sound, I’d be next. But he didn’t discover me. He walked out as though nothing had happened. Once enough time had passed, I came out of hiding, and when I saw my sister’s blank expression staring back at me, blood pooling around her body, I sobbed. She may have been cruel to me, but she didn’t deserve that. Even after all this time, I can’t get the image of her out of my mind. Whenever I go to sleep—and I use that word loosely—I see that night over and over. I hear her desperation right before death claimed her. I hear that pop of his bullet and the silence after. Bianca and I may not have been close, and she made it her mission to be a bitch to me whenever she could, but I didn’t want her dead. I don’t know why Bianca hated me so much. We were almost five years apart and didn’t have much in common. But it was more than that with her. She was vicious and she loved seeing me suffer. She had everything: our parents’ love, their undivided attention, a man who loved her. But nothing was ever enough. She wanted me to hurt. It got worse after she met Raph at nineteen. She thought she was even more amazing than the whole world made her out to be. Raph was older than her at thirty-two, and my parents were ecstatic that a handsome, Italian, wealthy business owner was interested in their pride and joy. Little did they know that this rich man was also Mafia royalty. But that made my sister even happier. She liked the danger. And when my parents did learn this little bit of shocking news, they weren’t fazed. He did have money, after all. And we didn’t. My parents gave her everything, while I got crumbs. She was the golden child, while I was the forgotten one. The one ignored, left to her own whims. The one they got around to when they had time. I got that they worked hard. My dad owns a few liquor stores and Mom works as a seamstress. But they never bothered with me. Not like with her. They genuinely cared about what happened in her life, but not in mine. Why? What made me unlovable? They may have never said the word out loud, but I think I was a mistake. They didn’t want me. They had the daughter they dreamed of, and I was a mere financial burden. Someone they had to feed and clothe. So, I remained in the shadows…until he came along. Raph. The man who changed my life and ruined it at the same time. The man who finally saw me. The man I gave my heart to, even while he remained in the dark. I couldn’t tell him how I felt. He was hers, and I was nothing but a child. When we met, I was almost fifteen and instantly smitten. Think heart-shaped eyes and all. The