Page 52 of Plus-Size Bratva Possession
“Can we go home?” I asked, my voice small. “I'm so tired.”
He reached out tentatively, as though asking if I forgave him, and I linked my fingers through his, needing the anchor.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “Let's go home.”
***
Two weeks later, we were standing in the most unlikely of places. We were at my brother Caspian’s front door, and I was nervous beyond belief.
“You don't have to do this,” I told him for the hundredth time. The dinner invitation had arrived three days ago, a peace offering from my oldest brother to welcome Gastone as a brother-in-law.
It had confused me too. If they’d killed Adriana, they wouldn’t have been so bold, would they? But nowadays, my head was a jumbled mess. My world seemed to be full of secrets, and I didn’t know what to trust anymore because I no longer trusted myself to decipher reality from agenda.
For all I knew, my brothers could have done it. They could have thought Gastone forgave them for how well my family treated his sister. That being married to me was a peace offering.
Or, Gastone was mistaken all along.
Most of the time, I believed my brothers to be innocent. But sometimes, when my mind crumbled and distorted, I found myself thinking of what-ifs that petrified the hell out of me.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Gastone replied, straightening his tie. “I'm your husband, and out of respect for you, I'll sit at their table.”
I swallowed hard, knowing what this cost him, knowing what he believed my brothers had done. The knowledge sat like lead in my stomach, poisoning every phone call I'd had with my family since that day at the warehouse.
Though, of course, I never mentioned what I knew. Gastone specifically asked me not to. With a brave breath in, I rang the bell.
Kate, Caspian’s wife, was the one to open the door. On seeing us, she immediately pulled me into a hug, before turning to Gastone. There was a moment of awkwardness, which she broke first.
“I’m glad you could make it,” she smiled at him.
“Of course,” Gastone said, but he looked stiff.
She ushered us in, and the entire room fell silent when we entered the dining room.
“Look who decided to grace us with their presence,” Gio was the first to say, breaking the silence. He smiled at me, but it faltered when his gaze landed on Gastone.
I forced myself to smile back, accepting hugs and kisses from my brothers while Larissa gently squeezed my hand in passing, making way towards Gastone.
“It was good of you to come,” I heard her sigh as she hugged her brother. Beatrice hovered by her side, giving me a nervous look, and I nodded in encouragement, as though to tell her he was alright. He was good.
Bea nodded back and turned to Gastone with a smile, introducing herself.
Some drinks were poured, and we all made small talk. I noticed my family, especially Bea and Kate, trying to have conversations with Gastone, but he hardly answered. It was mostly grunts, yes’s, no’s, and a couple of maybes.
The whole time, Gastone stood rigid beside me. I noticed Larissa give me a quizzical, worried look, and to not make her worry, I simply shrugged and rolled my eyes as though to sayYou know your brother best.
When the conversation, or rather lack of it, couldn’t get any more awkward, Kate suggested we eat. I felt relieved hearingthose words. The truth was, I couldn’t wait to get home. I was starting to feel like coming here had been a bad idea in the first place.
We all settled around the table with Gastone next to me. But he hardly said a word, not to me, not to anyone else.
Dinner was a surreal affair. The conversation flowed freely around us, but Gastone and I sat in awkward silence, only speaking when directly addressed.
I wanted to laugh and joke like old times, but somewhere in my heart, I also didn’t want Gastone to feel like his story, his pain, didn’t matter. I didn’t know how to navigate my version of my family and reconcile it with his.
“So, Gastone,” Dante said, cutting into his steak, “Elena says she’s been going out a lot. You aren’t concerned about her safety?”
I shot Dante a warning look, but Gastone merely smiled tightly.
“Elena's free to come and go as she pleases,” he said. “She's not for me to control, and of course, we have security in place. Despite whatever enmity our families have shared,she is innocent. I wouldneverlet anything happen to her. No woman under my watch shall fall victim to any hurt.Never again.”
