Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
"You didn't lose me," Nico rasps.
I meet his gaze, gratitude and grief rushing through me in tandem. My head bows beneath the weight of it. For the first time since our mother died…I cry.
Chapter Twelve
Amalia
Alvise's house sits on the outer edge of what used to be my family's territory. Lorenzo Valentino swallowed up the area after he killed my father, claiming it as his own. Everyone loyal to my father fled, leaving Lorenzo to move his men into the area. This neighborhood is small, quiet. Not much goes on here anymore.
Most of the Mafioso who lived here died a long time ago or moved on. Alvise's house has been empty for years. I guess it belongs to me and Diego now, but it'll always be Alvise's in my mind. I lived here for two days before he moved me to the far side of Chicago. No one even knew I was here. They slipped me in under cover of darkness…and slipped me back out the same way.
It's probably the worst possible place for Diego to meet me, but it's the only place I could get to on foot from Rafe's without asking for help. I figured flagging down a car and asking for a ride would be like leaving a flaming arrow in the sky pointing the way to my brother.
I can talk to Diego here, try to make him see reason. I have no idea what I'm going to say. I have no idea if he'll listen. All I know is that I have to try. I don't want to lose him, but I can't lose Rafe. I'll fight whatever battles I have to fight to earn his forgiveness, for however long I have to fight them.
I slip through the back door of Alvise's house into the kitchen, pocketing the key Diego hid under one of the flagstones.
"Diego?" I call into the dark. "Are you here?"
He doesn't answer.
I sigh heavily. Of course he's not here yet. It hasn't even been half an hour since I called him. There's no telling where he is or how long it'll take him to get here. It could be hours.
Feeling my way to the sink, I turn it on and wash my face and then cup my hands under the water to take a drink. Thanks to all the crying, I feel like I have razorblades lodged in my throat, gnawing at it. The cool water soothes the worst of it. It doesn't make me feel better though.
Nothing short of feeling Rafe's arms around me again will do that. Until I see him again, talk to him again, I'm not going to be okay. There's still so much I need to say to him. I didn't get a chance to tell him the worst of it before he left. He still doesn't know about my father. Once he does, he may never forgive me. But even if he never wants to see me again, even if he hates me for the rest of my life, I'll never regret burning those documents. I'll never regret refusing to sacrifice him to save Diego and myself.
I love him with everything in me. With everything I am. There won't ever be anyone else for me. How could there be? My soul belongs to him. I gave it to him willingly, without reservation. I'll never want it back. If all I'll have of him for the rest of my life are memories, I'll find a way to survive on them. I'll never replace his touch with another. Not ever.
I feel my way through the kitchen and into the living room. The moonlight filtering through the large bay windows guides the way. I don't turn on any lights, not wanting to draw any attention to the house. I don't know if Rafe still wants to kill Diego or not, but until I know for sure, I need to be careful. Forcing a confrontation between them right now seems likely to end in disaster for all of us. Especially once I tell Diego that I'm in love with Rafe.
He's going to be furious. He'll rant and rave and swear that Rafe messed with my head. As if I'm not perfectly capable of making up my own mind. As if he didn't teach me everything he knows about protecting myself. But Diego is overprotective and stubborn and never sees reason. And he loves me. I'm his baby sister, his only family.
And Rafe…well, Rafe is the man he's hated since he was fifteen years old. Dario Marchesi may have been a horrible man to the rest of the world, but to Diego he was a father. Maybe not a great one, but a father, nonetheless. And Rafe is the man who killed him. Diego's had fifteen years to hate him. It's going to take more than fifteen minutes to undo it.