Just in case.
Those things?
Pulling the plug on Darren’s life support. Apparently, with her half-brother still technically alive, though no one believed he would make it through considering the doctor’s prognosis on his condition, people on the Calabrese side of things were still holding out hope. Like that would make a difference.
Ginevra didn’t pretend to understand the way Andino Marcello’s mind worked, or why the man seemed to enjoy pulling the strings of the people around him in a way that showed he was the only person who was in control, but here they all were.
Because of him.
Instead of being granted access to her sisters, Ginevra was tucked away in a fancy room at the Waldorf in Manhattan for the better portion of three days. Without a phone, or any other way to communicate with someone outside of the hotel.
There had even been two men who worked in twelve-hour shifts that guarded the hotel door. They were also the ones who took the phones from the Waldorf suite and only allowed room service in when she let them know ahead of time, so they could order it.
They’re not for you, she was told, but for someone who might want to hurt you.
Right.
Ginevra wasn’t sure if she would accept that shit, or not, but she hadn’t been given much of a choice. If she wanted access to her sisters, then she had to follow the rules. Hadn’t the last several months proved she was more than willing and capable of staying in line when it meant getting something she wanted?
Still ...
Ginevra could have stayed in Toronto for just a couple of more days if this was what Andino had planned for her when she arrived back in New York. Then, she might have fixed the mistake she made by leaving the club that night. No doubt, Corrado and Alessio assumed her leaving was about them when she hadn’t given them a reason to think otherwise.
Sure, Marcus could have told them she had gone home for her sisters, but if they had been told ... wouldn’t they come to her?
Ginevra thought so.
Hoped so.
And yet, here she was.
Alone in this goddamn room.
“Miss?”
Ginevra looked away from the bay window positioned across from the large seating area. She found one of the two men tasked with guarding her room standing just beyond the entry that led between the kitchen section, and the sitting room. He gave her a tight smile when she stared at him, waiting.
She had nothing to say.
What did they want from her?
“The boss just called—”
Ginevra frowned. “Who?”
“Andino, Miss.”
Oh, right.
So many things had changed in her time away, and that was only one. Not that she had understood the mafia, or how it worked before Andino sent her to Toronto, but since she came back, things she didn’t understand were different again.
Andino now controlled the Marcellos. Johnathan, Andino’s cousin, headed the family that used to belong to her half-brothers.
They acted like she was supposed to already be aware of these things, and she was still trying to catch up with what happened before she left, let alone what was going on now. Ginevra would not apologize for needing a minute to get herself together.
“And what did he want?” she asked.
The man—Tim, was it?—nodded once. “He wanted me to let you know your sisters are on their way here ... or they’re almost here. About ten minutes away, now.”
Her heart stopped.
She was sure it did.
“Yeah?”
“Yep. I will let them in when they get here.”
So that must mean ...
“Darren is—”
“They shut his life support off days ago,” Tim said, shrugging. “I assume Siena will get the information together for his burial.”
“Huh.”
“You okay?”
She gave the man a second look. He hadn’t bothered to care before if she was fine, or not. He was there to do his job, and she respected that. They all had roles to play in this life, and she was all too aware of that fact.
“Fine,” she blurted. “I’m fine.”
“Good. Your sisters will be here shortly.”
“Thank you.”
Tim left her to resume his post outside the room, and Ginevra paced. Next to wishing Corrado and Alessio were there with her, she wanted nothing more than to be back with her sisters.
But would they be resentful because she had left them here alone? Would they be angry that she run off without them? Might they feel like she fed them to the wolves to save her own skin?
Those were things Ginevra wasn’t sure.
And it hurt her heart.
Ginevra continued to pace, unaware of the minutes ticking by, until the hotel door’s knob jiggled. All at once, she turned into stone, her gaze darting to the opened doorway, and there they stood.
Greta.
Giulia.
Looking too much like younger versions of their mother, with water in their eyes as though they feared what would be waiting on the other side for them, too, and yet, still searching for her.
“Ginevra?” Greta asked first.
Ginevra sucked in a ragged breath. “Hey.”
And yet, she didn’t give a fucking damn, either.
Giulia smiled widely, the first tears making lines down her cheeks when Ginevra took a step toward them. “I missed you so much. I tho—”
“No, no, no.”
She didn’t want to hear those fears. She wanted to take these teenagers, not quite women yet, away from those that wanted to take her from them. No one would ever take her from them.
She decided that.
Not again.
Ginevra quickly crossed the floor then, her arms already opened to hug her younger sisters. Greta stepped forward first, slamming into Ginevra at full speed, but Giulia came right after. She kissed the tops of their heads, trying to search them at the same time for any changes.
It was just a couple of months.
There shouldn’t be changes.
Still, she wanted to check. Were they taller? Greta changed her hair to a stark red that looked beautiful against her olive-toned skin. A change from brown, and their mother once loved the color red.
“God, look at you,” Ginevra said quietly, her hands skimming over both her sisters’ faces to wipe away their tears. “Don’t cry, okay? It’s all going to be better now—I’m not going away again.”
“Promise?” Greta asked.
Almost eighteen, but right then, Greta sounded small. Childlike, even, and it killed Ginevra a little. They’d all been nothing more than pawns to a bigger game played by people who didn’t give a single shit about them at the end of the day.
“I promise,” Ginevra whispered.
Giulia hugged Ginevra again, and Greta followed her lead. She let them, and the hotel door closed by Tim when the tears fell once more. Was this the reunion her sisters expected? It was still good.
They loved her.
She loved them.
That’s all that mattered.
She wished two other people were here, too.
• • •
“Here we are.”
The car rolled to a stop in front of an apartment complex that was decent, considering the area and location.
“And what am I here for?” she asked.
In the driver’s seat, Andino chuckled. “Well, you need a place to live, and your old apartment is gone.”