Twisted Bonds

by Reilly, Cora

  She watched me then glanced over to Savio before she sighed, lowered her gun and walked around to the passenger side. I stayed a few steps back, still wary of her intentions. Savio came up behind me, as usual bad at following orders.

  “Will you help me? Or do you want Remo to die?” Serafina hissed, glaring at us.

  I took a step closer and peered inside the car—spotting my brother, covered in blood. I sheathed my gun. He was unconscious, cut and bruised and beaten, but breathing. I wedged my hands under his arms and Savio gripped his legs. We needed to get him to a hospital quickly.

  A high-pitched wail rang out. Tension shot through my body at the unexpected sound and my head shot up, toward the source of the noise. A infant, a girl judging from her pink clothes and longer, slightly curled hair. Beside her a second baby woke up in his seat, a little boy with dark eyes, almost black. Remo’s eyes. My gaze darted between the boy and the girl, twins— both Remo’s children, no doubt.

  Savio inhaled sharply beside me. “Holy fuck. They are Remo’s.”

  Remo was a father. I was an uncle. Two new Falcones. Kiara would be ecstatic to have them in the mansion.

  I looked toward Serafina who seemed frozen. Something had shifted in her posture. She was tense, protective, ready to pounce if we dared to do something to her children.

  She needn’t worry. Never again.

  Remo began to tremble in my hold. “Quick,” I said and Savio sprang into motion, helping me carry our brother over to the helicopter.

  We put him down on the floor of the chopper and I crouched beside him, touching his throat.

  “I’ll ask Serafina if she needs help with the babies,” Savio said, stunned.

  “Do that.”

  “They’re coming home with us, right?”

  I glanced up at Savio. “It’s where they belong.”

  Savio turned and headed toward Serafina while I checked Remo’s chest for broken ribs, finding two, then felt his arms. Cuts littered his skin, some of them opening old wounds, others creating fresh ones.

  I sighed. This was the first time Remo was this helpless. I quickly attached him to a drip to make up for the blood loss he’d suffered.

  I’d checked every inch of his body for injuries when Savio and Serafina appeared in front of the helicopter, each of them carrying a baby.

  Savio held up the little boy to me and I took him. His dark eyes peered at me, bringing back memories of raising Adamo. Serafina and Savio got in with the little girl then settled on the opposite bench with the babies. I hadn’t been sure how I’d feel for a baby. I’d always cared for my brothers, and I cared about Kiara, but I didn’t know if I’d feel the same way for a baby. Yet, seeing those babies who looked like Remo, like Adamo when he was a baby, I felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness.

  Remo never considered having kids, but he’d protect them with all he had, from this day on until his death. I knelt down beside him again, feeling his pulse, needing the reassurance that his heart was still beating.

  I wouldn’t let him die.

  CHAPTER 14

  KIARA

  I had to stifle a gasp when I saw Adamo. A few soldiers brought him to the mansion and Fabiano supported him as he limped into the gaming room. His shoulder was in a cast and his forearm covered in bandages. His face was swollen and bruised, and the sight sent a stab of worry through me, but nothing, absolutely nothing, prepared me for the look in his eyes. They’d always been warm, soft, but now they were haunted, dark, harsh, and again I couldn’t help but notice how much like Remo that Adamo looked in that moment.

  “I don’t need your help,” Adamo muttered and freed himself from Fabiano’s hold.

  “Don’t be stupid. You’re fucking messed up.” Fabiano tried to reach for Adamo again but he lashed out with his uninjured arm.

  “No!” he roared, stumbling and falling to his knees, wheezing.

  I took a step toward Adamo but Fabiano held up his hand, palm outward, shaking his head.

  Leona leaned in the doorway, and the look of shock on her face could have been mine. This wasn’t the Adamo we knew.

  “Adamo—” I whispered.

  Slowly he looked up and for a moment I thought he was crying, but his eyes were almost feverish with anguish. “You wanna know what’s really messed up? That I’m here and Remo is in their fucking hands! He should have never exchanged himself for me. You should have stopped him.”

  “Remo can’t be stopped. He would do anything for you and your brothers. Absolutely everything. He’ll gladly put his life down if it means you get to live.”

  Adamo laughed darkly, still kneeling in front of us. “They aren’t only going to kill him. They’re going to tear him apart.” He started ripping at his bandages, shoving Fabiano back who tried to stop him, and finally his forearm came into view. Half of the Camorra tattoo was burnt away. “They’re going to send him through hell, and we’re just waiting for it to happen!”

  Fabiano’s chest heaved as he stared down at Adamo. “Nino and Savio are going to figure something out.”

  “It’ll be too late then. It’ll be too fucking late,” Adamo rasped. “If they kill Remo, I’ll go back and kill them.”

  I wrapped my arms around my middle, realizing I’d just witnessed Adamo losing his innocence. Maybe it was bound to happen. He didn’t sound like an angry teen speaking empty threats, he sounded like a man with a mission, and that more than anything scared me.

  Fabiano touched Adamo’s shoulder. “If they kill Remo ...” he swallowed, his mouth setting in a harsh line. “If they kill Remo, which they won’t, we’ll walk into Outfit territory together and kill every last man responsible for this.”

  Adamo smiled grimly. “We could shatter the Outfit, and you could become Underboss of Chicago under the Camorra’s rule.”

  Fabiano stared as if Adamo had completely lost it. He gripped his good arm and hoisted him to his feet. “Come on. We’ll get you into bed. You’re exhausted.”

  Adamo didn’t resist and I watched them making their way to Adamo’s wing. Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes. A soft touch made me open them again.

  “My God,” Leona whispered. “Whatever happened with the Outfit ... it broke him.”

  I shook my head. “It won’t break him. It’ll make him stronger like it did his brothers. Dante and the Outfit created another enemy.”

  Leona looked doubtful. “You really think it won’t haunt Adamo?”

  “It’ll haunt him for a long time, maybe always, but eventually he’ll get through it.” I was convinced of it but I was scared of the time it would take for him to reach that point.

  “But he won’t be the same,” Leona said.

  “He already isn’t the same.”

  I took a deep breath, needing to distract myself, not just from my worry over Adamo’s mental state but also for Nino and Savio, and most of all Remo. If the Outfit killed him, it would crack Nino. He’d lead the Camorra into war, logical or not. He’d avenge his brother in the cruelest way possible. I wasn’t sure if the man that Nino became afterwards would still be the man I’d come to love. “I’m going to cook Adamo’s favorite spaghetti. Will you help me?”

  Leona nodded and together we headed into the kitchen and began to work in tense silence.

  I knocked at Adamo’s door, the spicy scent of garlic swirling in my nose. My stomach was knotted too tightly to consider eating anything.

  “Come in.”

  Pushing open the door, I stepped inside, carrying a tray with a bowl of spaghetti aglio e oglio. “I made your favorite pasta.”

  Adamo lay on top of the covers, in sweatpants, revealing a bruised upper body. His forearm with the burnt tattoo lay on display as if he’d been staring at it before I’d knocked.

  Adamo awkwardly pushed into a sitting position. “Thanks.”

  I made my way through the narrow corridor of dirty clothes and positioned the tray across his legs. “Can I stay?”

  “Sure,” Adamo said. He picked up the fork and
began eating. “It’s good.”

  “I’m glad you like it.” I looked at the bluish marks over his ribs, his swollen cheekbone, the burnt eye of his Camorra tattoo. “I’m sure Nino can fix it somehow.”

  Adamo glanced up then followed my gaze. “No, it’ll serve as a reminder.”

  I nodded, even though I doubted he needed the additional reminder of what had happened. He’d see it in his dream for a long time. The past was a difficult enemy to beat.

  “I never got what it meant to feel helpless,” he said when he was done eating, looking at me with angry eyes. “I was in their hands and they could do to me whatever they wanted. I was at their mercy.”

  Bile traveled up my throat when I remembered that feeling, being at the mercy of another.

  “Sorry,” Adamo mumbled.

  “No,” I said firmly. “I’m done running from the past. I’m strong enough to bear it.”

  Adamo nodded. “I never want to feel helpless again. I never will let it come that far again.” Adamo glared down at his tattoo. “I always thought my brothers were full of shit for insisting I work out and fight as much as possible. I thought they were trying to be annoying, to show me who was boss—even after the Outfit attacked Roger’s Arena and tried to kill us all, I didn’t get it, not really, because my brothers were there to protect me. They always were. All my life they protected me. They had to, because I was weak, because I didn’t want to own up to what I was.”

  “You were a child.”

  “But I’m not anymore,” Adamo said harshly. “And even back then I could have been stronger if I tried. Remo and Nino had already fought for their lives when they were kids, and even Savio understood what it took to survive. He got what it took to make sure we all survived. But I didn’t because I didn’t want to, and because of that, because of my selfishness, Remo is going to die, and I won’t ever forgive myself for that. Neither will Nino, Savio and Fabiano.”

  I touched Adamo’s hand. “Of course, they will.”

  “They shouldn’t!” he roared, startling me so much I got to my feet, away from his fury.

  Adamo stared at me with wide, anguished eyes, then he dropped his head and began to laugh softly, shaking his head. “Just go, Kiara. Go.”

  “Try to get some sleep, Adamo. Your body and mind have been through a lot. You need time to heal. Give yourself the time.”

  Adamo didn’t react, and I couldn’t see his face because his hair hid it from my view. Before I walked out, I turned to him once more. “Remo won’t die. He just won’t.”

  I closed the door, then leaned against it and closed my eyes, allowing tears to fall.

  I cleaned the entire house and cooked several batches of cookies and muffins, everyone’s favorite dish, then put everything in the two new freezers in the basement. Picking up a dish towel, I began drying the baking sheets I’d cleaned.

  The door to the kitchen swung open and Fabiano walked in, his expression caught between shock and relief.

  “What is it?”

  “Nino sent me a message.”

  I dropped everything and walked toward Fabiano, shaking with fear.

  “Serafina contacted him. She claims she got Remo out.”

  “He’s alive?”

  Fabiano nodded slowly, looking almost hypnotized. “It seems so. I don’t know the details. I don’t know anything really. Nino’s message was short, to the point as usual, and he didn’t reply when I asked for more info.”

  Could it really be? Had Serafina helped Remo? But how?

  “Should we tell Adamo?”

  Fabiano shook his head. “He’s unstable. If Serafina lied and this turns out to be some sort of twisted trap, I don’t want to get his hopes up, only to crush them later.”

  He was right but Adamo needed to see the light at the end of the tunnel, needed it more than anyone else. Still I nodded. I had my cell on the kitchen table, in case Nino tried to contact me. He would be focused on a mission and only contacted Fabiano to give us the details we needed. That was just who Nino was. He’d never waste time for messaging or phone calls if there was an important task ahead.

  Fabiano, Leona and I sat on the sofa in the gaming room, not talking, waiting, always waiting.

  “You knew Serafina better than all of us, do you really think she saved Remo?” Leona asked Fabiano. She’d been trying to read a book for her classes but I could tell that she was too distracted, like the rest of us. I’d been counting the seconds since Fabiano had told me about Serafina and Remo. The more attention I paid to the time, the slower it passed.

  Fabiano pinched the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted. “Fuck, if I know. I knew her as a kid. She was good at getting her will and she was loyal. But getting Remo out of Cavallaro’s torture chamber and into safety?”

  I shuddered at the thought of what they’d done to Remo. Adamo was hurt bad enough and he wasn’t the one who’d kidnapped Serafina.

  Fabiano’s phone beeped and we all tensed. He took it from the table, his blue eyes quickly scanning the message. His expression lit up with relief. “They have him. They’re bringing him to Vegas.”

  I cupped my mouth, letting out a stunned laugh. “What about Serafina?”

  “Nino didn’t mention her, but if she helped Remo escape, she can’t return to the Outfit.”

  Fabiano hugged Leona and released a harsh breath. I smiled and stood, giving them time. Fabiano loved Remo like a brother. He’d tried to be strong but he had been as scared for Remo as I.

  I hurried upstairs toward Adamo’s part of the mansion, feeling like I could fly. Remo would live. I could only imagine what Nino must feel now. I hammered my fist against the door and Adamo opened it, looking scared.

  “Is he ...?”

  Tears sprang into my eyes and I smiled. “Nino and Savio got him.”

  “Alive?” Adamo whispered, taking a step back, beginning to shake.

  “Yes. Serafina saved him. He’ll be here soon.”

  Adamo and I stared at each other and then I just threw my arms around him. He winced, but before I could pull back, he hugged me even tighter, so tightly it must have hurt him.

  It took several hours before a car finally arrived. Fabiano hurried toward the door while I rushed upstairs to get Adamo. He was in the shower. “They’re here!” I called.

  “I’ll be down!”

  I stormed back downstairs, taking a detour past the library where Leona had holed up to read in peace. I ripped the door open. “They’re here!”

  Not waiting for her reply, I hurried toward the main part of the house, hearing Savio’s voice.

  “How is he?” I asked, then froze completely, unable to believe what I was seeing.

  “Nino took him to hospital,” Savio said, but I wasn’t looking at him.

  Serafina stood in the gaming room with two babies on her arms, twins and without a doubt Remo’s kids. They had his eyes and hair, and the boy even his facial features. For a moment I was sure I was imagining things.

  Leona appeared behind me and her mouth dropped open. Definitely not my imagination. Remo was a father. They were the cutest little babies I’d ever seen. Those dark expressive eyes drew you in like a moth to the flame.

  The little girl began to wail, her face turning red, and her twin began to squirm in Serafina’s arm at the sound.

  “I need to feed them and change their diapers. Then they need a place to sleep,” Serafina said, glancing between us uncertainly. I tried to imagine how she felt, returning to the place where she’d been held captive, to the people who had ripped her from her family and treated her like the enemy.

  Savio and Fabiano didn’t seem to know what to do either.

  I gave Serafina a smile, hoping to reassure her. “Would it be okay if I took you to the bedroom you were in last time? I don’t want to open the other rooms in Remo’s wing. Or would you prefer to stay in my and Nino’s wing?”

  Serafina gave me an ironic smile. “I’ll stay in Remo’s wing.”

  I helped Serafina
settle into the bedroom and prepared the formula she’d brought. As I held the boy, Nevio, in my arms and fed him, my longing for a child of my own returned with a vengeance that caught me off guard. Hopefully, things would fall into place now.

  I left Serafina and the children, even if I would have loved to watch the babies sleep, and headed downstairs. Savio, Adamo, Fabiano and Leona were in the gaming room on the sofas, still in shock over the newest addition to the Falcone clan.

  I sank down beside Leona. Savio had his head thrown back and looked like he was moments from passing out.

  Adamo gave me a curious look. “How’s she?”

  “She seems to be doing fine. Tired, as are the babies. They’re sleeping now.”

  “Babies,” Adamo repeated with a shake of his head. “I can’t believe Remo’s got kids. I’ll have to see them with my own eyes to wrap my brain around it.”

  Savio nodded, then yawned. “I’m still not over it and I’ve been staring at doll-face and little Remo for hours.”

  “Doll-face?” I said with a smile.

  “Did you take a look at that face? If you put that kid up on a shelf, nobody would realize she wasn’t a puppet.”

  Fabiano laughed. “Fuck. This ... this is the weirdest day of my life, and I’ve had plenty of weird living with you assholes.”

  “You were responsible for at least quarter of the weird shit, so don’t play saint,” Savio said with a grin.

  Fabiano gave Savio the finger, which he returned. Adamo chuckled, then held his side with a wince.

  “Next ass kicking is on me,” Savio said, nudging Adamo lightly.

  “If anyone gets his ass kicked, then it’s going to be you,” Adamo returned, some of the darkness disappearing from his eyes.

  I blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears, but I felt like a ten ton weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

  “Oh, come on, no crying,” Savio said with a grimace.

  Leona rolled her eyes at him, then took my hand. “You okay?”

  “I’m just happy.”