Revenge.
I'm familiar with it. You have to be when you're the firstborn son of a notorious mafia leader. Death and vengeance have been the very foundations of my life.
So who in their fucking mind would be stupid enough to cross me?
My brother and...
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I throw my arms around Alessa as soon as I open the door. She hugs me back but I can tell she's confused.
"Maria?" She asks quietly in my ear. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"
I hate that she can tell already. I hate that she's just too smart for her own good.
"Come inside," I beckon her instead.
One of Knox's men who drove Alessa here wheels her suitcase inside before leaving. Alessa glances at it, then briefly around my house, before her nervous gaze comes back to me. She stays where she is.
"What's going on? You acted so weird during dinner a few days ago. Then all of a sudden Father sends me here when he was adamant to keep me away from Knox. What did you say to him?"
It's a good question. I did exactly what Knox told me to—pleaded that I needed to see my sister and asked if she could stay a week. I lied and told him Knox was gone on business and Cavallo covered for us, telling my father he's the one who sent Knox. He gave Alessa permission immediately.
Knox told finally told Cavallo the truth and he's been a livid man, eagerly helping Knox in bringing forth evidence to present to the mafia. But we have to move quickly and quietly because we can't risk my father finding out. I had to bring Alessa here right away or she would have gotten caught in the crossfire.
"Did Carlotta take the week off?" I ask instead.
Alessa nods. "Yeah. It's just Father at home so there was no sense in her staying while I'm here."
I nod too. I was hoping that would be the case. When this is all over I'll tell her everything but right now I don't want her to get caught in the middle. She's always been like a mother to Alessa and I. I can't let her get hurt.
"Maria." My sister's face cinches and I feel my heart crack. "You're scaring me. I know something is wrong."
God, I'm not ready to do this. To look her in the eye and tell her everything Father has done. She's only so young, so good, and so innocent. I'm going to shatter the world underneath her feet but I have to do it. She deserves to know.
I take her hand and guide her away until we get to my bedroom. Knox and I share his bedroom now but I use this space as more of an office for my Masters program. I close the door behind us and ignore how hard my heart is beating in my chest. I wonder if this is how Knox felt when he had to tell me.
It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. At first Alessa is frozen in shock, white as a sheet and holding her breath. The information doesn't sink in right away so I keep going, like Knox did with me. Even when I tell her everything she doesn't react. It isn't until I show her the charm on my wrist and Knox's father's journals that Alessa shoots up from my bed and runs to the bathroom. I run after her and hold her the entire time she throws up and sobs hysterically. A part of me dies right with her through it all.
