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105. Head vs Heart

Sherlock goggles. "Sister?" He didn't see that coming.

"Half-sister, technically," he clarifies. "Same mother, different father, but the taste for blood is absolutely identical." He bares his teeth in a sly grin.

"Family matters, indeed. It appears you were dating his nephew," John points out, addressing a scowl to Giulia. Once everything is over, she will have a lot of explaining to do.

"How did you and his mother find out about us?" Giulia asks Moriarty, eager to have all the answers.

His eyes shine with malice as he says, "Find out? Oh, sweetheart, we orchestrated your entire relationship. Luca had been tasked to make you fall in love with him so that you would pass to him confidential information about your family."

All of Giulia's certainties weaver at that unexpected revelation. The blood turns cold in her veins. It was all a lie. Everything she ever felt, all the things he told her were nothing more than a lie. She already knew that their love was toxic and poisonous, but fake... No.

No! she shouts inside her brain, stopping that negative spiral. That is inconceivable. She can't even bring herself to believe it. It's impossible.

"This can't be the truth," she almost screams, raising her fists at the monitor while hot tears stream down her cheeks reddened with anger.

She clenches her jaw, flaring her nostrils and taking deep breaths to keep her fury under control. "I know his destiny was to become the head of the family one day. Don't think he didn't come completely clean with me: he told me everything. I know he had been trained since he was a child, but he was changing. He didn't want that life for himself anymore. I read it in his eyes; he was sincere. And there's nothing you can tell me to convince me otherwise."

Moriarty scoffs, and for the first time, for a fleeting second, he appears irritated. Then he regains his seraphic aplomb.

"You're right, I really can't. Because the point is, he was indeed changing. He met you and wanted to become a good man." He grimaces at those aspirations and rolls his eyes. "How dull and disappointing. Even though the beginning of your romance was founded on a lie, things didn't quite play out the way his mother had planned. She wanted to extract information from you, but you spilt nothing to your boyfriend." His voice oozes admiration as he looks at her almost tenderly. "You stayed loyal to your family, unlike him. Against all odds and our best plans, Luca was the one who fell hard eventually. He loved you truly and purely."

Giulia is possibly even more confused now. "How do you know?"

"He started passing onto us false information about your family, claiming that it all came from you. He insisted it was absolutely vital to keep your love story going to gather more intel. Sweet, stupid boy. We soon found out the truth and understood that the only way to solve that unanticipated issue—"

"Was to kill me together with my parents," she completes his sentence.

"Precisely."

"You should have been more careful and prevented Luca from discovering your master plan," she says defiantly.

He cocks a brow at her. "Darling, has anyone ever told you it is quite impolite to assume that I am stupid?"

His condescending tone sends a shiver down her spine as he continues, "We made sure that he found it out. Two henchmen of the family discussed aloud the plan of the explosion right under the open window of his bedroom. We wanted him to overhear, to know."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? It was a loyalty test, which he failed big time. We wanted to see whether he would side with his family and let you meet your death, or try to warn you. Now we all know what he chose." He gestures theatrically at her.