Velvet Lullabies

She sunk into the soft leather chair and Carlo took a seat in his chair on the other side of the desk. He ruffled through papers until he finally found and old crinkled envelope with a sigh.

“I think it’s time you read this.” He reached across the large oak desk to hand her the distressed envelope.

“What is it?” she questioned.

“Read.”

The envelope was addressed to Carlo Luchese and the return address looked to have been torn off in the original opening of the letter. From inside the envelope Adelina pulled out a single page of yellow legal paper. She carefully unfolded the paper to reveal her father’s handwriting. She would recognize it anywhere. The letter was dated June 16, 2010, the day her father was killed. She inhaled deeply and read.

My old friend,

I fear I have made the worst of mistakes, and so I pray that you have it within your soul to help me. You know my sweet Adelina, she’s eighteen now. I thought for a while that she had hit normal teenage years and that is why she had stopped sharing things with us. But I no longer believe that to be the reason. You see, she’s been secretive lately and late at night I can hear her crying in her bedroom. She used to be so proud and strong, my source of light in this dark world, but I fear now that the darkness has latched onto her.

See, I discovered she’s been hiding bruises. Wearing long sleeves in summer and piling on makeup. I think someone has been hurting her. Unfortunately, you know why I cannot confront her boyfriend.

I’ve been pondering this for a week now, and the more I think about it, the more I realize I have failed her. My sweet, beautiful girl. I have failed her. So tonight, I have decided I am going to follow them. I fear that tonight will confirm my suspicions and I do not know what will happen if I am right. I hope she will understand why I am doing this. I hope she will always know that I love her.

Carlo, should anything happen to me tonight, I ask that you take care of my girl. That you make sure that she is treated right.

She deserves the best in life.

And should I not return, please tell her I love her.

Sincerely,

Angelo DeMarco

For a moment, Adelina did nothing but trace her pointer finger over the curves of his slanted handwriting while the tears ran down her cheeks.

“He knew.” She said with a shaky voice.

“Seems so.”

“I always thought…”

“He knew what he was doing. He was setting you free.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

The sound of the piano greeted Lucian when he entered his parent’s mansion.

Aside from Lucian and Enzo messing around as kids the damn thing was never played.

But damn did it bring him comfort now.

Home. He thought to himself, this is what home sounds like now.

He found Adelina in the library at the piano. Her fingers drifted over the keys and she sand along to the melody. Her eyes were squeezed shut as the words poured from her lips.

She was beautiful like that. He could watch her all day.

“Hey,” she gave him slight smile. “You’re back?”

“Yeah, bella.” He walked slowly over to her at the piano. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

“It’s okay.”

“How are you?” he asked, kneeling in front of her.