Twisted Bonds (The Camorra Chronicles 4)

I released a breath. Kiara leaned close, her lips almost touching mine. “I want to focus on the future, not the past. That’s what you taught me, and we have so many reasons to look forward to the future. I’m pregnant. I found out today before it happened.”

I froze, staring at Kiara, at the joy in her eyes. “You know for sure?”

“I was at the doctor’s today. I’m six weeks along. Alessio will be a big brother soon.”

I pulled her against me, not caring about my bandages, not caring about the burn in my arm where the bullet had graced me. I kissed her fiercely and pressed my palm against her belly.

“Are you happy?” she whispered.

My heart sped up, trying to put a finger on the sensations in my body but falling short. “I’m so many things right now, but seeing the joy in your eyes, yes, I’m happy.”

Kiara leaned her forehead against mine and we stayed like that until our skin wrinkled. After we’d dried each other, we headed into the bedroom and laid down, wrapped in each other’s arm.

“Do you have a name?” I asked after a while.

Kiara shook her head. “We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. But I’d like you to choose the name this time. I got to choose Alessio’s name.”

“I’ll find a beautiful name for our baby.” I listened to Kiara’s breathing then gripped her wrist, needing to feel her pulse.

“Are you okay with her being gone?” Kiara asked softly after a few minutes of silence. “You and Remo had hesitated so long to kill her, and now she’s dead.”

“I don’t regret that she’s dead, only that Remo and I didn’t do it sooner. As long as she was alive, she always remained that nagging ache at the back of our heads. Now she’s gone once and for all. The past can finally rest.”

When I entered the gaming room around seven the next morning, any trace of yesterday’s attack was gone. I took in the clean floors and sofas. The smell of leather cleaner and disinfectant hung in the air, gone the blood and gasoline.

The French windows were open. Adamo was sitting on the terrace, arms wrapped around his knees. I went over to him and sank down on the ground. Shadows spread out under his eyes and his hands were red. “Did you clean everything?”

He nodded, not looking my way. “I had to. It was the least I could do.”

“You should have slept. Yesterday was hard for all of us.”

He finally turned to me. I searched his eyes for a sign of drugs but they were clear. “I didn’t need rest. I wasn’t the one who had to cut his wrists.” He looked at my bandages then at the wound on my bicep where a bullet had grazed me. “Or got shot.”

“It’ll heal,” I said. These wounds were nothing I couldn’t deal with. The memories would stay with me and haunt me, but they too would fade with time.

“I’m so fucking sorry. For everything,” Adamo whispered.

I touched his shoulder. “Learn from your mistakes, Adamo. That’s all I ask.”

“I can’t even look at Fina and Kiara. Because of me, they almost lost everything.”

“It’s the past.”

Adamo sighed.

“Will you be okay with what you did? Stabbing our mother?” I asked.

“I would have killed her. Right then, I wanted to. I didn’t because I knew you and Remo needed to do it.” He paused. “Right?”

Killing our mother had always hung like a Sword of Damocles over Remo’s and my head. Now that she was dead, I realized the deed itself had been easier than I thought. Maybe because of what our mother had almost done to Kiara and Alessio. It was the last straw.

“We needed to do it, and now she’s gone.”

Remo stepped outside and sat down beside us. “Finally, gone.”

Adamo watched him. “I’m—”

“I know,” Remo said. “I don’t give a fuck how often you apologize, it doesn’t change a goddamn thing. Prove yourself. Show us that you learned from your mistakes.”

“That’s what Nino said.”

“He’s a fucking genius, so listen to him.” Remo smelled Adamo’s clothes. “Now grab a shower.”

After a moment of hesitation, Adamo stood and left.

Remo watched me. “You look calm.”

“So do you,” I said. That was the surprising part.

“I am, and then I’m not,” he said. He flexed his bandaged wrists. “One moment I feel so much rage, I can hardly stop myself from going on a rampage. And then I feel relief. She’s gone once and for all.”

“She is. We killed her. Now we can move on.”

Remo smiled sardonically and nodded towards his wrist. “She left her mark. After all these years, she almost got what she wanted.”

It wasn’t the only mark she’d left. “She didn’t and she won’t. We prevailed.”

“It’s what we do,” Remo said. He searched my face. “How’s Kiara?”