Page 66 of Die for You
Lenny sighs, rubbing his forehead. “Please listen. It’ll all make sense. I promise.”
I don’t know why, but I stay because deep down, I feel this may be the answer to finding Lettie. Someone is after me, and I don’t know who. So perhaps, this may give insight into something I am unaware of.
“Your mother isn’t Sister Margarette,” Lenny says gently, his hands raised in surrender. “Your mother is…your mother is…fuck!”
He runs his fingers through his hair. “Your mother is…Gianna.”
“What? Have you gone mad?” I cry, unbelieving he would even suggest such a thing.
“It’s true,bella.”
“Don’t you fuckingbellame!” I scream at this strange man who is my apparent father.
Lenny tips his head toward the ceiling, blowing out a frustrated breath.
“I know this is hard for you to believe, but here.” Francesco retrieves a photo from his pocket and offers it to me.
I see it’s a photograph of him and Gianna. Although young, it’s definitely her.
“I fell deeply in love with your mother. But Gianna is incapable of love. Look at what she’s done to you, her own daughter. She has lied to you since the moment she left you on the doorstep of that orphanage.”
“No.” I shake my head, stepping backward, needing an escape.
“I was the one who introduced her to Aldo. It was the worst mistake I ever made. She saw his power and respect. And she wanted it.
“She hid when pregnant with you. I didn’t even know you existed, Valentina. I swear it. If I did, I would have never allowed you to grow up without me.”
“Shut up,” I mumble, a fire starting at my feet and working its way up.
But he does not.
“Gianna knew you would always be the ace up her sleeve, which is why she hid you from the world, only to play martyr and come ‘save you.’
“But in reality, she was merely waiting for you to become useful—young enough to brainwash but old enough to learn the ways of her world.It’s the only reason she kept you. If I’m lying, why wouldn’t she raise you? Instead, she locked you away and made you someone else’s problem. It wasn’t because she had a change of heart. It was because she doesn’t have one.”
“Shut up…shut up.” I place my hands over my ears, needing to shut out the noise.
How can this be true? If that’s the case, then Gianna is the biggest monster of them all.
If this is true, then Gianna is to blame…for everything.
If this is true, then I will fucking kill her.
“Valentina—”
“Enough. She’s had enough. Get out.”
I faintly hear Lenny’s voice because the white noise is deafening.
I drop to my knees, covering my ears, rocking back and forth, my head bowed.“No…no…no,” I repeat, panic overcoming me, and I can’t breathe.
The harder I try to catch my breath, the harder it becomes to breathe.
My heart is pounding. It feels as if I’m underwater.
I want to give up, but I can’t. Lettie needs me.
Everything is upside down.
