Page 42 of Vengeful Mafia Prince

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," she fires back, her tone coarse. "We can't keep her here. You can't— you can't just fall in love with her, Gio, that's not how this works. You know who she is—"

"It's too late for me to try and stop myself from falling in love with her." I say it as gently as I can, but it still sends a shock of horror through Valentina's face. She stares at me for a moment, clearly unable to wrap her head around what she's hearing.

"You're in love with her?"

I nod. "I'm in love with her. And I don't want to have to lose anyone else I care about. I've been through enough of that as it is."

Finally, I see it, the moment it all starts to break through for my sister. Her face crumples, and she sinks into me, gripping hold of my shirt as she starts to cry.

I put my arms around her and try to be there for her as the brother she needs right now. I haven't seen her cry much since we lost our parents, as though she's been doing her best to keep the pain that's running through her at every moment to herself. But now that he's gone, now that the man who did this is no more, she seems able to let go a little.

"I just... I miss them so much," she gasps to me as I rub her back.

"I know, I do too. But he's gone now. It's behind us. And we can move on. I just want to move on with Elena, and I don't want that to mean losing you in the process."

When she pulls back from me, she reaches for some napkins and quickly dabs her eyes. She doesn't like people seeing her emotional—she never has. I wonder if that's going to change in the future. I wonder if she's going to meet someone who will open her up the way Elena opened me.

"You don't have to lose me," she promises, wiping away the last of the tears from her eyes. "You have my word on that. I'm not saying I'm going to be playing happy families with her from day one, but..."

"I don't need that. I just need to know that I can have both of you in my life."

She smiles. "Then I can give you that." She gives me a quick hug again.

But then, I hear a creak on the floorboard behind me, and I whip around to see Elena standing there in the doorway to the living room. She's in some of the clothes I laid out for her, an old tee of mine and a pair of joggers, and she still looks exhausted.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," she blurts out, holding her hands up and backing away as though Valentina might pull that knife on her again.

"You're not," I promise her, and I go over to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. Valentina holds back, clearly in no great rush to get all friendly with her. She stares at her over the top of her glass, sipping slowly.

"Valentina, this is Elena," I say to her as I walk Elena closer. "Elena, this is Valentina. My sister."

Both of them seem confused for a moment, clearly baffled as to why I'm introducing them when they both already know each other, but then Elena seems to realize what I'm doing—I'm introducing them again, giving them a chance to get to know each other on this new level.

"Nice to meet you," Elena tells Valentina quietly, offering her hand. Valentina looks at it for a long moment, her face impossible to read, and I hold my breath. I don't want her to turn this down. I don't want her to turn Elena away.

And at last, she reaches out her hand to take Elena's.

"You, too."

She grits the words out, and the handshake barely lasts beyond a couple of seconds, but to me, it's about the best thing in the whole world. I head toward the kitchen, leading Elena with me so I can get her something to eat, leaving Valentina with a moment to herself.

"What the hell just happened?" Elena mutters to me as soon as we're out of earshot.

"I was just letting you meet my sister," I reply casually, and she bumps me with her hip.

"I know that's not all it was. Come on. Please. I'm confused enough as it is, I don't need more stuff to overthink."

"I wanted the two of you to meet each other... without all the baggage."

"I don't think that's possible," she replies with a slight snort as she leans up against the counter.

I start to pull out some food for her. "Granted," I agree, dipping my head to the side in concession. "But I don't think you have to worry about her hating on you anymore."

"You don't?"

I turn to her and take her hands in mine. "I'm so sorry about your father," I tell her, and she shakes her head.

"You don't have to be. You protected both of us. You..." She trails off for a moment and then continues, renewing her certainty. "He made me choose. He asked me to choose between you and him, and I know there's no way you ever would have asked me to do that. That's how I knew what choice to make. Because you never tried to push me. And he didn't just try to push me, he tried to kill me. And you. And if you hadn't acted when you did, then we would both be dead. I owe you my life."

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