Twisted Bonds (The Camorra Chronicles 4)

Serafina shook her head then whirled around, turning her back to us and slowly sank down beside her kids.

I didn’t say anything, terrified of Nino’s reaction when he found out. Fabiano stepped up to me, his hands curling over the edge of the crib. “How’s Alessio?”

“Gaining weight and the burns have healed.” I met his gaze. “Do you want children?”

Fabiano smiled, but his eyes were worried. “First, Leona and I need to marry next year … if that still works out.”

“Do you think Remo and Nino will still be chasing their mother then?” I couldn’t imagine being without Nino for that long. Even if he returned home now and then, their life would be dedicated to the chase and not our family.

“I don’t think so, but it might complicate the planning and everything else. I guess we’ll have to wait for their reaction.” He ran a hand through his hair, mouth tightening. He was as concerned about their reaction to the news as we were. He knew them, had known them a long time before Serafina and I did.

Fabiano strolled over to Serafina and the twins and knelt down beside them. Serafina didn’t look his way, her shoulders stiff. Fabiano handed Greta one wooden block after the other which she took after a moment of consideration and piled them up. Nevio, of course, got up and staggered over to Fabiano, keen eyes on the gun in his holster. Fabiano caught Nevio’s grabby hands. “No.”

That was a word Nevio wasn’t very fond of and his face scrunched up in an indignant cry. Fabiano chuckled, grabbed him and catapulted him up over his head. “One day you’ll be Capo, young man, but until then you’ll hear many no’s.”

Serafina turned to them, smiling slightly despite the tears trailing down her cheeks. Greta crawled over to her and settled in her lap. Feeling sentimental, I picked up Alessio, waking him. He mewled softly, blinking up at me. I pressed a kiss to his cheek and cradled him against my chest. “I’ll feed him.”

I left, heading for the kitchen. There was no reason to panic yet. Maybe Nino and Remo would handle their mother’s disappearance better than we hoped. They’d grown so much since I’d come to live with them.

The past was just that, the past. Right?

After Fabiano had sent Remo a text that he and Nino needed to come home as fast as possible, we waited. Fabiano and Serafina were still on the floor with the twins and I was stretched out on the sofa with Alessio on my chest when Remo and Nino returned. The moment they saw us, they fell silent. Nino’s brows drew together when he saw Fabiano then his eyes moved on to me. My eyes were red and so were Serafina’s.

“What’s going on?” Remo asked Savio, who’d been sitting on the sofa for the last hour, mulling over what we’d told him. Before Savio could reply, Nino walked over to me as I carefully sat up so as not to wake Alessio.

“Kiara? Has anything happened?”

I stood, then linked my hand with Nino’s. Serafina stayed on the floor with the twins, regarding Remo as if he was a ticking bomb. Fabiano rose to his feet, and I shivered, fearing what lay ahead.

I said, “Your mother escaped from the hospital. We don’t know where she is.”

Nino’s fingers became slack, something haunted flickering in his eyes, and his gaze went to Remo, who was frozen except for the look on his face. He looked the man I’d been scared of in the beginning.

“What?” The word reverberated with the promise of punishment, with pure unfiltered hatred.

“Adamo went to visit her and she tricked him into getting her out. When he wasn’t paying attention, she ran.”

“I still can’t believe this shit,” Savio breathed. He wasn’t as shaken as his brothers. Even though they’d told him about the events of that fateful day, he at least couldn’t remember them.

Remo curled his hands into fists and lowered his face to glare at the floor, shoulders shaking. Nino still hadn’t moved. The look on his face wasn’t any less unsettling than Remo’s.

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know,” I said, not taking my eyes off Nino’s beautifully cold face. “He wanted to catch her so you’d forgive him.”

Nino let out a choked scoff.

“What are you going to do now?” Savio asked.

“Catch her. Kill her,” Remo said in a low voice as he watched Greta and Nevio on the floor. He knelt and touched their heads.

“You’re going to hunt her?” I touched Nino’s chest.

“We have to.”

“I could hunt her and bring her to you,” Fabiano suggested, and I could have hugged him. My relief was short-lived seeing Nino’s and Remo’s expressions.

“No, not this time, Fabiano,” Nino said.

Remo leaned forward and kissed his twins, then staggered back to his feet. He pulled Serafina against him who pressed her lips together.