She pressed her face against my chest and sobbed. It was an image that would haunt me for a long time.
Liliana
I woke to something warm and soft below my body. My mind was sluggish but the memories were clear and focused, more focused than my surroundings when I finally dared to open my eyes. Movement in the corner attracted my attention. Romero leaned against the wall across from me. I quickly did a check of the room I was in. It was a guest bedroom, and I was alone with Romero behind a closed door. Without the lingering effects of whatever Matteo had injected me with earlier, I would have started screaming again. Instead I watched mutely as Romero walked toward me. I wasn’t sure why I’d ever thought of him as harmless, now every move he made screamed danger. When he’d almost reached the bed, I cringed, pressing myself against the pillow. Romero paused, dark eyes softening, but their kindness couldn’t fool me anymore, not after what I’d seen. “It’s okay. You are safe.”
I’d never felt not safe in my life—until now. I wanted my blissful ignorance back. I didn’t say anything.
Romero took a glass of water from the nightstand and held it out to me. My eyes searched the skin of his hands for blood but he must have cleaned them thoroughly. There wasn’t the slightest hint of red, not even between his fingers or under his nails. He probably had a lot of practice cleaning up blood. Bile crept up my throat at the thought.
“You need to drink, kiddo.”
My eyes flew up to his face. “I’m not a kid.”
The ghost of a smile crossed Romero’s face. “Of course not, Liliana.”
I searched his eyes for mockery, for a hint of the darkness that had been there in the basement, but he looked like the good guy I wanted him to be. I sat up and took the glass from him. My hand shook but I managed not to spill water on myself. After two sips I handed the glass back to Romero.
“You can go to your sisters soon, but first Luca wants to have a word with you about what you saw today,” he said calmly.
Fear speared me like a cold blade. I slid out of the bed when someone knocked, and Luca entered a moment later. He closed the door. My eyes darted from him to Romero. I didn’t want to break down like I had before, but I could feel another panic attack pushing through the drugs in my bloodstream. I’d never been alone with them, and after today’s events, it was too much.
“Nobody will hurt you,” Luca said in his deep voice. I tried to believe him. Aria seemed to love him, so he couldn’t be bad, and he hadn’t been down in the basement torturing Russians. I risked another look at Romero, whose eyes rested on me.
I lowered my face. “I know,” I said eventually, which probably sounded as much a lie as it felt. I took a deep breath and leveled my gaze on Luca’s chin. “You wanted to talk to me?”
Luca nodded. He didn’t come closer, nor did Romero. Maybe my fear was plain as day to them. “You can’t tell Aria about what you saw today. She’ll be upset.”
“I won’t tell her,” I promised quickly. I’d never intended to talk to her. I didn’t want to remember the events, much less to tell anyone about them. If I could, I’d wipe my memory clean of them instantly.
Luca and Romero exchanged a look, then Luca opened the door. “You’re much more reasonable than your sister Gianna. You remind me of Aria.”
Somehow his words made me feel like a coward. Not because Aria was. She was brave and so was Gianna, both in their own ways. I felt like a coward because I agreed to keep my silence for selfish reasons, because I wanted to forget, and not because I wanted to protect Aria from the truth. I was pretty sure she could have handled it better than I did.
“You can take her to Gianna, but make sure they don’t walk around the house again,” he said to Romero.
“What about Aria?” I blurted.
Luca tensed. “She’s asleep. You can see her later.” With that he left.
I wrapped my arms around my waist. “Do my parents know what happened?”
“Yes. Your father will pick you up once he’s done with business and then take you back to Chicago. Probably in the morning.” Romero waited but I didn’t move. For some reason my body bristled at the idea of going closer to him, which was ridiculous considering that not too long ago I’d fantasized about kissing him.
He opened the door wide and stepped back. “I’m sure your sister Gianna is eager to see you.”
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to walk in his direction. His body was relaxed and his face kind, and despite the terror and fear still simmering deep in my body, my stomach fluttered lightly as I brushed past him. Maybe it was shock. I couldn’t possibly have a crush on him after today.
CHAPTER TWO
Liliana
Whenever I thought I’d gotten over what had happened last September, something would remind me of that day and my stomach would tie itself into a hard knot. Like today. Gianna and I were on our way to visit Matteo, Aria, and Luca in New York. Father had finally given in and allowed us to leave Chicago again to celebrate my fifteenth birthday. After what happened with the Bratva, he’d kept us on a short leash.
“Are you okay?” Gianna asked quietly when our plane landed, startling me out of my rising nervousness. Only being back in New York and seeing Matteo and Luca again was enough to fill my nose with the sweet stench of fresh blood.
“Yeah,” I said quickly. I wasn’t a little girl anymore who needed her big sisters for protection. “I’m fine.”
The waiting hall of JFK was crowded when Gianna and I stepped through the doors. Aria ran toward us when we’d almost reached them and threw her arms around both of us. “I missed you so much.”
Being reunited with my sister, I couldn’t help but smile. I would have walked straight down into that basement if that meant I could see Aria again.
Aria gave me a once-over. “You’re as tall as me now. I still remember when you didn’t want to go anywhere without holding my hand.”
I quickly looked around, but thankfully nobody was around to overhear her. “Don’t say anything like that when Romero is around. Where is he anyway?” I realized a moment too late how idiotic I sounded, and flushed.
Aria laughed. “He’s probably in his apartment. He got the day off but he’ll work the night.”
I shrugged, but it was too late. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten the blood on Romero’s hands but for some reason I wasn’t as scared of him as I was of Matteo, or even Luca. And I realized just how much they terrified me when we walked toward them. My heart sped up and I could feel a panic attack rising up. I hadn’t had one in weeks, so I fought it desperately.
“The birthday girl,” Matteo said with a smile. How could that charming guy be the same person whom I’d seen covered in blood in the basement?
“Not yet,” I said. I could feel my panic start to abate. In real life Matteo wasn’t as frightening as in my memories. “Unless you have an early present for me.”
“I like the way you think,” Matteo said with a wink. He took my suitcase, then held out his arm. I glanced at Gianna. “Won’t you carry Gianna’s luggage?” I didn’t want Gianna to think I was flirting with her fiancé even though she didn’t seem to like him very much, regardless of the fact that I’d caught them kissing on Aria’s wedding day.