Fragile Longing

“Don’t tell anyone, please,” Fina whispered.

I pulled back. “You’re going to go back to their father?”

Fina nodded. She rarely spoke about her kidnapping, but whenever she’d mentioned Remo Falcone, she hadn’t sounded as scared as I’d expected. Sometimes, she even looked wistful, and now I knew my gut instincts had been right. “Do you love him?”

“I don’t know,” Fina said, her blonde brows pulling together.

How could she not know? But then I remembered my confusing feelings for Danilo and understood. Emotions weren’t always black and white. “Dad won’t allow me to see you anymore, will he?” I asked, my eyes prickling with tears that I tried to hold back for Fina’s sake. I didn’t want her to feel guilty.

Fina looked away briefly, blinking rapidly. “I hope one day he’ll understand.”

I didn’t understand why Dad and Sam disliked the twins so much, but it had become more obvious every day. They hated Remo so much that they couldn’t see anything but their hate. I couldn’t imagine them ever being okay with Fina going back to Las Vegas, even if it were for love and her twins. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too. I’ll try to contact you. Remember, I love you, ladybug.”

Tears tracked down my cheeks as I watched Fina descend the staircase. I gripped the banister until I heard the soft click of the front door as Fina slipped out of the house. I wasn’t sure how Fina would get off the premises or past the guards, but she was clever and determined. She’d find a way.

I returned to bed, but I couldn’t fall back asleep. My thoughts were with Fina, wondering how she’d get to Las Vegas. I wanted her to be safe. I considered going to Anna. She, Leonas, and Valentina had spent the night here since Uncle Dante was doing business. But I’d promised Fina to keep it a secret. I trusted Anna, but I didn’t want to drag her into this mess and force her to lie to her dad.

I must have fallen asleep eventually because I was woken by angry shouts. I scrambled out of bed to investigate the reason for the shouting. My heart raced, expecting an attack. Instead, I found Mom, Dad, and Samuel facing off with Dante.

Mom was crying hysterically. I was trying to understand what was going on. Everything happened so fast, I barely had time to come to terms with what was happening. And then my parents threw Anna and her family out of our house. I watched everything, mouth agape, heart clenching hard. Anna gave me a fearful look. I’d never seen our parents scream at each other, much less throw each other out of the door. When the door closed behind them, I suddenly realized that I might have lost Fina, the twins, and Anna all in one day.

Mom rushed upstairs, Dad following behind her. Her wails rang through the house and brought tears to my own eyes.

Sam walked toward Dad’s office and I trailed behind him. He poured himself a drink and downed it, then sagged into one of the armchairs, looking disheveled and heartbroken. I crept toward him and touched his shoulder, wanting to give him comfort. He and Fina had been inseparable, and now she was gone.

“She chose him. She saved him,” he gritted out, and then he told me how Fina had gone to a safe house where they’d kept Remo Falcone to kill him and she’d saved him. Dante had let her go and now my family blamed my uncle for losing Fina, but she’d made her choice to leave—not Dante. He’d only honored her wish. I didn’t voice my thoughts and listened to Sam’s increasingly drunk ramblings. When he mentioned Danilo, I perked up.

“Danilo was there?”

Sam nodded and staggered to his feet to grab another drink.

“Why was he there?”

Sam was already unsteady on his legs, and I wished he’d stop drinking but I couldn’t tell him what to do. He snorted. “Because Danilo’s been dreaming about tearing Remo fucking Falcone apart since the day he stole Fina from him. We’ve all been dreaming about it, about finally getting our revenge. But did we get it? Fuck no. Dante took that from us, and now Fina’s gone just like any chance at revenge we ever had.” He downed the drink.

I’d foolishly hoped that Danilo had gotten over losing Fina, that he’d moved on, but if revenge was still on his mind that obviously wasn’t the case. “Why can’t you just move on?” I whispered. It was the question I wanted to ask Danilo.

Samuel laughed bitterly. “Move on? There’s no fucking way I can just move on. I lost her, and nothing and no one could ever replace her.” He slumped in his chair, looking like he was seconds away from passing out.

I knew Samuel didn’t mean to hurt me, and I knew I could never replace Serafina. She and Samuel had always been a unit. They were twins. Their bond was special, and I’d always accepted it. Yet, after hearing his words, I felt crushed, knowing that the same thoughts were probably going through Danilo’s mind. He’d wanted Fina, had chosen her, and now he was left with me instead. Samuel’s breathing had evened out and his eyes were closed. I carefully removed the glass from his hand and put it on the table. I left him in the armchair and crept out of the room. When I arrived upstairs, I heard Mom’s crying coming from their bedroom. For a couple of heartbeats, I hovered in the hallway, wondering if I should knock and try to console her.