Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“All this time,” he said, his voice hoarse, barely audible. I sat back and looked at him. “All this time. . .” He shook his head and met my eyes. “When Gabe and I got to Italy, Giuseppe cried. He fell to his knees and cried. I’d never seen my father cry. He mourned her as we did, and now, I just— Was it all fake? Were they fake tears? Fake emotions? Was it guilt and not sadness?” He swallowed hard, eyes filling with unshed tears. “And fucking Rosie. Fuck! And you. And Mikey.” He took a deep breath to control his emotions, but I felt them in my chest, pressing down, suffocating. “He took them from you. My dad.”
I’d come in here to tell him I’d be gone but would be back in an hour. I’d come in here to tell him to shower and change for Rosie’s arrival, but I was still keeping that from him. I thought I could shoulder his pain and do those things, but I couldn’t trust myself to speak those words. I could barely swallow past the ever-growing knot in my throat. Somehow, I managed to stand up and walk over to him.
“You’re my brother, Dom.” I set my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. “What he did was unforgivable, but you’re not him.” I dropped my arm and stepped back to look him in the eye. “You’re not him. This isn’t your cross to bear. There’s nothing to forgive you for, and I know Rosie feels the same.”
At the mention of her name, he tensed and swallowed hard. Fuck. I needed to go pick her up. As angry as I was, as heartbroken as I felt, I didn’t want Dominic to torture himself.
“Shower. Change. Go downstairs. I have something I need to do. I’ll be back soon.” I crouched in front of him and made him meet my eyes again. “You’re my family, my brother. You always have been, and you always will be.”
27
LENORA
Relief washed over me as I stepped into the kitchen, where my brother spoke to Dean. Their tones were low and hushed. Not a whisper, but close to it. When they saw me, they paused their conversation to say hi before they continued. I gave them space as I put an everything bagel in the toaster and made myself a coffee. I heard my father’s name a few times during the conversation but couldn’t make out what they were saying. My only thought was that maybe the somber mood had been about him, but after playing out scenarios, it didn’t make sense. The only possible reason I could think of was that dad was sick and dying, and they didn’t want to tell me about it yet.
My heart stopped at the thought of that. Dom’s voice started getting louder behind me as I spread cream cheese on my bagel. Three things happened at once. I heard Dominic's anguished voice say, “My father killed them, Russo. He killed my mom, Rocco’s mom, and Rosie’s mom. He did this.”. The alarm started going off as he said this, and my knees gave out. Above me, I heard sounds and voices that seemed so far away that I couldn't make out what they said. My father killed his mother. That’s what he’d said. My father killed Rosie’s and Rocco’s mothers. A sob formed in my chest, but I couldn’t let it out. I heard a louder voice than the rest and felt someone lift me as I started to blink. Rocco’s face was hazy, but I was in his arms.
“I’m so sorry,” was all I could get out, a choked sob. . .
He held me tighter. When I stopped crying, I moved so he could set me down. He steadied me, and I put both hands up to let them know I was okay.
“It was just the shock,” I said, taking the Coke can Dean offered. When I looked at Dominic, Rocco, and Rosie, my lip started wobbling, and my eyes filled with tears again.“I’m so sorry.”
“It had nothing to do with you, Nora,” Rosie said, pulling me into a hug.
“I shouldn’t have said that in front of you,” Dom said, pulling me against him once Rosie let me go.
“You think you should have hidden the fact that our dad is. . .” I took a step back and looked at his face, his eyes sad and swollen. “He’s a fucking monster.”
There was nothing to say about that, so Dom nodded.
“I got her, Dom. Go,” Rocco said.
My brother turned to Rosie, and she was instantly in his arms. He walked them out of the room and headed upstairs. From where I stood, I could see them shaking as they held each other, and my tears started again. My father did this. How could he? My father, the man who had given me life, the one who smiled and reminded me how similar I was to him. The one who set me on a path I didn’t want to go down and promised it was for my own good, promised he’d always do right by me. I heard something akin to a pig being slaughtered and realized it was coming from me. Rocco lifted me in his arms again and took me to the den. That was when I fully came to, and it dawned on me that I was in his arms, crying over the man responsible for his mother’s murder. I pushed against his chest to sit up and tried to get off his lap.