Kind regards,
Remo
(P.S. once doesn’t count, right? Maybe I can send you a second set of sheets.)
Danilo stormed toward the sheets and tore a lighter from his pants, trying to set them aflame. I grasped his arms but he struggled madly. He finally ripped free and stumbled away toward Pietro’s office. Carla had occasionally talked about purgatory when we’d discussed her belief. I’d always considered the idea of hell ridiculous. But today I experienced my own personal purgatory, and I’d dragged my family into the flames with me.
PART SIX
Valentina
Ines pushed to her feet. Her movements were jerky, almost as if she were drunk and unable to control her limbs. All she was drunk of was fear. She was shaking and crying as she rushed toward Dante. “Give him what he wants, Dante. Whatever he wants!”
“Ines,” he said with a strained note. I could see the anguish in his eyes. Dante had no trouble making the hard, the difficult decisions, but this was beyond anything he’d ever expected.
She fell to her knees, clinging to Dante’s calves. She peered up to him. “I beg you, Dante. I’m on my knees, please save my daughter, save Fina. Please.”
Pietro shook then he stumbled forward, grabbing her shoulders. “Ines, stop. Ines.” She fought him, clinging to Dante’s legs as if they offered salvation: Fina’s salvation.
I couldn’t breathe. The room was saturated with so much despair and fear it clogged my throat. I’d always worried war would reach our family, but never like this.
Dante was frozen as he stared down at his sister. “Ines,” he said quietly.
I pressed a hand over my mouth, trying not to cry. I could see myself in Ines’ place, could imagine her despair, her anguish. If Anna was in Remo’s hands… I, too, would beg anyone capable of saving her on my knees, would throw my pride out of the window and crawl if I must. But I wasn’t sure if Dante could save Fina, and he wasn’t sure either. Because Remo was playing a devilish game he enjoyed too much.
Samuel helped his father pull Ines to her feet and she fell into Pietro’s arms, clinging to him, sobbing. I’d never seen Ines like this, and the tears I’d tried to hold back, they flowed freely down my cheeks now.
Sound of glass shattering and furniture crashing to the ground reached us followed by Danilo’s roar full of fury, of despair and even guilt. Pietro and Samuel half carried Ines out of the room. Dante and I remained in the living room, many steps apart, frozen in place. A feeling of desperate helplessness hung between us.
Our eyes met. Dante’s face was a harsh mask, his eyes tumultuous. I wanted to say something reassuring to ease the weight of responsibility resting on his shoulders but my mind was blank.
My gaze found the sheets once more and I sucked in a quiet breath. I didn’t want to imagine what Serafina had gone through, how Remo had forced himself on her. Imagining her fear, her shame, her pain, pushed more tears out of my eyes. Dante strode toward the sheets, picked them up and folded them neatly, then stuffed them back into the parcel. “What are you doing?” I asked tonelessly.
“I’m going to send them to a laboratory.”
“You think it might not be Serafina’s blood?”
Dante’s lips tightened. “No. But I need absolute certainty.”
Blood and DNA samples were taken from everyone in our circles to make identification in case of a brutal death easier. Even from Anna and Leonas samples had been taken right after their birth. I tried not to linger on the thought.
Dante picked up his phone and a minute later Enzo came into the mansion. He and many other men took turns guarding the mansion and the surrounding streets. Dante quietly explained to him what he should do and as usual Enzo listened calmly, his face not giving anything away. His calm was something I appreciated in a bodyguard.
He briefly glanced my way before he headed out with the parcel.
“I’m going to check on the kids,” I said. Even if I longed to be held by Dante, I could tell he needed a few moments to himself. He nodded, already turning his back to me.
I walked out. The house was eerily quiet now. Danilo had stopped raging behind the closed door of Pietro’s office and somehow the quiet bothered me more. I quickly moved upstairs. Muffled sobs came from down the corridor where Ines’ and Pietro’s bedroom was.
My heart clenched violently and I had to lean against the wall to compose myself before I dared to step into Sofia’s room.
Anna and Sofia sat cross-legged on the bed, their faces confused and fearful. They looked at me for answers, and for a moment I knew how Dante felt when all of his men always turned to him for solutions.
My face felt stiff. I couldn’t smile, not even to console these girls. Leonas sat on the sofa in the corner, playing with his Gameboy and a deep frown on his face, blond strands covering most of his eyes.
I could tell he was upset even if he pretended to be engrossed in his game.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Anna asked.
Sofia jumped off the bed and took a step closer. “Was there… was there a piece of Fina… in… in…” Her face twisted with horror.
I quickly shook my head, even if there had been a piece of Fina, albeit only blood, inside. I wouldn’t be the one to tell Sofia anything. If Pietro or Ines decided to let her know they’d have to tell her, but I doubted they would.
I walked over to them then sank down on the bed. Sofia’s room was a dream in pink with frills and stuffed animals. So young. So innocent. It was a little girl’s safe haven in our cruel world.
Anna pressed up to me and I kissed the top of her head.
Sofia looked toward her door. “I’m going to look for Sam.” I didn’t stop her. With everything going on she’d often been at the fringes, too young to be involved but too old to require constant attention. I hoped for her sake as well that Fina would return soon.
“Let me talk to your brother for a moment, okay?” Leonas didn’t like to talk emotions in general, much less when others were around, even his sister.
Anna nodded. “Okay. I’ll grab something to eat.” I gave her a grateful smile. At almost eleven, she was already more responsible than I had been at her age. That was her father’s blood, no doubt.
Once she had left, I sat down on the plush sofa beside Leonas.
“Can you turn that off?”
He pressed the off button but didn’t look up from the screen.
“Is Dad angry with me?” he asked softly.
“He’s not angry with you. Maybe he was for a moment because of what you said. You need to think before you talk or you might hurt people, do you understand?”
He looked up, blond brows pulled together. “I guess.”
“Count to three before you say something that might upset others.”
“How do I know what upsets others?”
“Right now, if it’s something about Fina. Everyone’s really touchy.”
“Okay. Is she alive?”
I bit my lip. Seven years old and he asks me about death as if he was talking about what we’d have for dinner. “No, she’s okay.”
“I miss my friends. Anna’s got Sofia but I have no one.”
“You have me and Dad.”