by Seth Eden
“How is she?” Alessandro asked, his voice notably distressed.
“She’ll be okay, but the bullet got lodged. They had to put her under to get it out,” Luca responded. “They should be done soon.”
“Okay.” Alessandro looked over at me, but I avoided his gaze.
“Everything okay?” Molly asked.
Alessandro shook his head. “No.”
He walked over and sat in a seat across from me. I could feel Luca and Molly’s eyes on me, trying to assess the situation, and Alessandro’s eyes on me, pleading for forgiveness, but I didn’t give into any of them. I just pulled out my phone. I sent Ricky a text, asking for an update on Kelly and asking who was watching the kids versus who was going to the hospital with her. Then moved over to my email to reply to some late client inquiries.
“Working?” Alessandro asked. “I’m sorry. All of this must have kept you from completing some things on time.”
I didn’t respond. I heard Luca and Molly whispering to one another, and I figured it was about Alessandro and me. We’d worked pretty hard to hide our marital issues from the rest of the family. It wasn’t hard, seeing as Alessandro and I both had a bad habit of falling into each other, especially when we were in the fray of the family, but I could care less about that now. If the rest of Alessandro’s family found out that we were split up and headed for divorce, it was fine with me. It was high time to rip off that band-aid.
“Willow, I’m sorry. Please just look at me.”
Again, I didn’t acknowledge him. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t let myself look into Alessandro’s eyes and get swept up in his sweet voice and apologies anymore. I couldn’t afford that. He’d shown me who he really was, who he was committed to being, and I had to accept that. My nose burned and my emotions grew like a lump in my throat. I bit down on my tongue until there was a metallic taste in my mouth. I wouldn’t cry in front of the Varassos again. Not Alessandro, not any of them.
Finally, Alessandro stood up out of his chair and dropped to his knees in front of me. He wrapped his hands around my waist and buried his head in my lap. “Baby, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t. Get away from me.”
“No, please.” There was light sniffling, and I could tell he was crying. It brought my own emotions to the edge of spilling out, but I held them back. “I don’t know what comes over me sometimes. I’m sorry.”
“That’s why you need to see someone, Alessandro.” My hands were shaking as I tried not to thread my fingers in his hair or rub his back.
“I…” His voice trailed off. It helped me corral all of my emotions back down. If he didn’t take my threat seriously enough, then there was nothing left. “I love you.”
“Don’t.” I finally did lift my hands, but only to pull his arms from around me and shove him away. He fell back on his heels and looked up at me with red, puffy eyes. “I’m not doing this anymore, Alessandro. You can’t keep pulling this shit and then try and paper over it with apologies. I’m done.”
“But—”
“No.” I stared right into his eyes to let him know how serious I was. “Get away from me.” I watched the words shatter Alessandro, and it crushed me. I never wanted to tell him that, but I had to protect myself. I couldn’t do the back and forth with him anymore.
Alessandro gave me a weak nod before standing up and walking over to where Luca and Molly were sitting. He settled down into a chair a couple chairs down from Luca and dropped his head into his hands. I watched Molly and Luca’s gazes go from him to me and back again, and when I finally dared a look, they didn’t seem angry or malicious anymore, only sad. It made everything worse. It would be so much easier for me if the rest of the Varassos hated me. I wanted them to blame me for the downfall of the relationship, to still look at me with that disapproving sneer. That would make leaving a simpler task.
I thought about talking with Gabriel before leaving to go see Mira and him telling me that the Varassos did love me and felt bad about my situation. He was sure to mention that even Luca and Molly felt that way. I wasn’t sure I believed him then, but every time I let my gaze flit over to Luca and Molly, they were both looking back at me as though they desperately wanted to say something. At one point, Luca stood up, but Molly grabbed his hand and shook her head. It wasn’t like she disapproved of his coming over, but more that she sensed it wouldn’t help. Luca looked at me sadly, but he sank back into his chair before looking over at his brother with a lost expression.
All the emotions I was holding back started to seep out. I couldn’t handle them being sad for me. If it was just something I had to go through alone, it was fine. I didn’t want it to be sad for them. I thought it would be a relief, but they seemed almost as heartbroken as Alessandro and I were. I didn’t know what to make of it.
I was more than a little relieved when a male doctor in a white lab coat stepped into the room with a clipboard. “Varasso family?” I stayed seated while Luca, Alessandro, and Molly jumped up and rushed over to the doctor. “Hello. Denise is doing well. The surgery went fine, we were able to remove the entire bullet without issue, and she’s recovering now. She’s still a little drowsy, so you can visit with her, but one at a time. I can take someone back now if you’d like.”
“Thank you,” Alessandro said. “I can—”
“Can I go?” Luca, Molly, and Alessandro all turned to look at me with shock. “I’d like to apologize to her.” I poured as much sincerity into my voice as I could muster.
“Really?” Molly asked.
I nodded. “Really. I was so distracted by wanting to protect you that I acted outside of myself.”
Molly, Luca, and Alessandro all exchanged glances before finally looking back at me. “Okay,” Alessandro said.
I stood up and walked over to the doctor, and Alessandro reached out for me, but I stepped away from him. He dropped his head before going to sit down in one of the chairs. The doctor sensed the tension in the room but ignored it.
He pointed toward the glass doors he’d come through. “This way.”
“Thank you.” I ignored the intense stares of Luca and Molly as I walked away and was glad when the doors closed behind me.
The doctor led me back into a pod of hospital rooms and around a small nurse’s station to the room furthest back in the pod. He pulled aside a curtain, and I saw Denise laying in the hospital bed. She was connected to a series of machines, looking something like a puppet, but she still managed to turn a vile smile to me when she noticed me arrive.
“Willow. I didn’t expect to see you.”
The doctor smiled. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it.”
“Thank you,” I replied. I watched the doctor closely until he was entirely gone from the room and then walked over to Denise’s side. “How you feeling?”
Denise seemed confused by the question. “I’ve had better days, but it could have been much worse.” She looked up into my eyes. “I hope now you see that I just want to help your family.”
I smiled at her, doing my best to mimic the evil ones she’d given me prior. “What I saw,” I leaned down to whisper to her, “was a very convoluted plan go exactly as you wanted it to go.”
Denise scoffed. “Still on that are you? I told you—”
“I wasn’t done,” I cut her off. “Now. You’ve gotten my family’s attention, so it’ll make getting you out more difficult, but if you leave of your own accord, it should go smoothly enough.”
“And why would I do that?” Denise asked.
“Because if you don’t, I’ll tell them all who you really are, Denise Costa.” Denise’s eyes went wide, and the heart monitor started to beep a bit faster. I smiled at the sound. “I know that you’re trying to hurt my family, and if you think I’m going to let that happen, you’ve got another thing coming.”
19
Alessandro
Even though I expected that Willow wanted nothing to do with me, I still waited for her to wake up the next morning. She hadn’t said one
word to me since she told me to get away from her at the hospital, and she even asked to ride back with Luca and Molly. I was broken. I never meant to hurt her, but I realized when she pushed me away that it was all I had done. I should have considered myself lucky. I inched closer and closer to Willow’s breaking point with careless disregard for the fact that I’d one day push her beyond it. I’d finally stepped over into a place where Willow didn’t run to me. It was more painful than I expected.
The bedroom door opened just as tears were gathering in the corners of my eyes. “Morning.”
Willow didn’t respond. She walked into the kitchen, and I watched as she did the exact same stuff she would do any other morning. She put on a pot of coffee, pulled down two mugs, and started breakfast enough for two. When I was confident Willow was at least considering me for breakfast, I stood up and walked into the kitchen. I sat down at the table and just watched as Willow put together breakfast and eventually slid a plate and cup of coffee in front of me.
“Thank you.”
She ignored me and sat across from me at the table. She started on her own breakfast quietly. After about twenty minutes, she slid her phone across the table to me. I looked down at it, and there was a text from Ricky.
Hey. Just wanted you to know that
Alexis is good. The kids are with
us at the hospital, so it probably
won’t be a good idea to Facetime.
As soon as we’re in a good place
to do it, I’ll let you know. Here’s a
pic to tide you guys over.
Below the text was a picture of Alexis with her cousins. She had a bright smile on her face as she held up a puzzle with different barn animals on it. Her sweet face brought tears back to my eyes. The thought of never seeing her again made me sick to my stomach. I didn’t think Willow had it in her to use the picture as a silent threat, but she’d gotten into a fistfight with Molly because of how angry she was, so maybe that same vicious streak would have her showing me a picture for no reason other than to remind me of what I was risking if I stepped out of line. Never had I felt so cornered in my life.
Willow reached over the table and scrolled the text feed, pulling away the picture of Alexis and bringing my attention to the messages below it.
Did Marco make it?
Yeah, he got here in time. She
hasn’t popped yet. Sasha says she
held out just to make sure Marco
could be here. Women are frickin’
resilient.
Good. I’m glad. Keep me
posted on what’s going on.
I’ll see you soon.
You will? Did something change?
The texts dropped off after Ricky’s last question, and then I was certain. Willow was threatening me. She was letting me know she already had a foot out the door—all it would take is one single mistake.
I nodded. “I get it.”
Willow pulled her phone back and continued eating her breakfast in silence. In any other situation, I might actually be a little proud. That sort of silent, fear-striking threat was the most dangerous kind in my world, especially when the victim knew exactly how capable the one making the threat was of bringing it to fruition. I had to force the rest of my breakfast down after that. My stomach was too sick to handle more food, but I was too afraid of what might set Willow off. She’d still made me breakfast, even though she couldn’t even bring herself to look at me. I didn’t want not forcing down a couple pieces of bacon and some toast to be what sent her packing.
When Willow was done eating, she got up from the table and went into the bedroom. I had no idea if I should wait for her or not, but when I heard the shower in the master bathroom turn on, I knew she was getting ready. Exactly as she had still gotten up and made me breakfast, she was planning on going with me to my office. She was keeping the routine the same, but the stakes were infinitely different.
I got dressed, using the spare bathroom instead of fleeing to my office like I normally would, and sat on the couch to wait for Willow to come out. She presented herself about ten minutes after I was ready, dressed in all black. She typically only wore black and white as a rule since she wasn’t a huge fan of bright colors, but today, it seemed like she was in mourning. Maybe it was the solemn expression on her face or the fact that she still wouldn’t look at me, but it was as if we were headed to a funeral, not off to another typical day of work. She stood, waiting, still avoiding eye contact, and when I finally stood to move toward the door, she followed. I opened it for her to pass through and then locked it behind us. We made our way down to my office, where Gabriel, Stacy, and Molly were already waiting.
“Where’s Luca?” I asked.
“He went looking for who tried to kill Marco,” Molly replied.
I wanted to broach a complaint about it, but I didn’t have it in me. Everyone else seemed as exhausted as I felt, so I just nodded and moved to unlock the door to my office. I went over to my chair, Willow took hers next to me, and Gabriel and Stacy sat on the couch across from my desk. Molly took Luca’s typical seat and seemed more out of sorts than normal.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
She nodded. “Just worried.”
I raised an eyebrow. He must have been reckless about it. “Did he take backup?”
“Yeah, but he wouldn’t let me go.” She seemed more sad than frustrated. She tossed Willow a glance. “He said it was time to end whatever is tearing our family apart.”
Gabriel and Stacy exchanged glances, and then Stacy looked over at Willow. Willow offered Stacy a weak shake of her head, and Stacy’s shoulders slumped. I wasn’t sure exactly when, but Willow must have told Stacy about us at some point. Between that and the fact that Molly had clearly picked up on it from yesterday at the hospital, the cat was pretty much out of the bag.
“Did I miss something?” Gabriel asked.
I looked over at Willow, and, for the first time since yesterday, she looked back. We maintained eye contact for a minute, and then she looked over at Gabriel. “Alessandro and I aren’t together anymore.”
It stabbed into me like a knife to hear it out loud. There was no more pretending. Willow and I were officially done.
Gabriel’s eyes widened, and he looked at Molly and Stacy and then at me. “What? Why? Since when?” He looked at Willow, frantic. “If it’s about what happened yesterday—”
“It isn’t,” Willow responded simply. “That was just the final straw.”
Molly crossed her arms but didn’t say anything, and Stacy shifted herself a bit closer to Gabriel. He kept tossing glances at everyone, waiting for someone to tell him there was a joke, but there wasn’t one. It was painfully real.
Gabriel’s eyes landed on me. He was standing right behind me when Willow left me at her parents’ house when we broke up for the second time. He saw the way it changed me, the way it destroyed me. “Sandro—”
I put up a hand. “It’s not a discussion. We just figured you should know since everyone else does.”
Gabriel opened his mouth to say something else but then shut it. Stacy put a hand on his back and rubbed gently, and I just barely managed to catch Willow quickly putting a hand to her cheek to flick a tear away.
We had to move on. If we didn’t, the whole estate was going to collapse. “Luca’s gone to find the guy who tried to kill Marco. That’s good. In the meantime, I’m having Denise relocated from the hospital to here. She’ll stay in one of the guest rooms downstairs.”
Gabriel, Stacy, and Molly all nodded, but Willow shrieked, “What!”
I looked over her, trying not to be affected by the redness in her eyes. “What?”
“You’re bringing her here? Why?” She seemed just as indignant about the situation as she was the day before, despite the fact that the two supposedly made up.
“What do you mean? I thought you understood she was on our side?”
Willow’s eyes shifted nervously. “I-I get that, but I still don’t
think she needs to be here.” She was obviously lying. What was she keeping from me?
“I think it’s best for her to be here. Besides, I’m—” I stopped myself short. I was about to say that I’m the head of the household, but I managed to catch it before the words came out. I remembered Willow’s threat from that morning, and it scared me shitless. I looked at her pleadingly. “Please. I’d rather have her here where we can keep an eye on her rather than out there where someone else could get to her.”
“Alessandro,” Molly kicked in. “You’re the boss. You don’t have to beg her to make decisions, especially not anymore.”
Willow shot a glare at Molly. “Just because you allowed Luca to treat you like a lap dog doesn’t mean I’m going to do the same.”
Molly leaned forward. “What did you just say to—”
“Enough!” Everyone’s eyes shot to Stacy, whose face was beet-red. “Have we not suffered enough that you two still need to go at it? Marco almost died yesterday!”
Both Willow and Molly seemed struck by Stacy’s words and ceded, though their resonating anger still wafted around the room. I turned my attention back to Willow. I didn’t say anything, but simply asked, begged, with my eyes for her to let it slide.
Finally, she shook her head and shrugged at me, and I reached over and squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”
She snatched it away from me and looked away. I faced Gabriel and Stacy again, trying not to break down. “Can you guys go get Denise?”