Page 39 of Lines Drawn
He stands up and my heart breaks again. I’m sure he’s going to walk away, but then he manages to take my breath away even more than he has before. He folds himself down to the floor and pulls me into his arms.
Fuck. I need this. I need him. I’ll take whatever he’s willing to give me. I lean my weight further on him, and rejoice in the fact I don’t have to be strong for once. And then I break. I shatter. Seeing my family shredding itself? I don’t know what to do. I cry harder in his arms, and he takes it all. What did I do to deserve him? And fuck. Will Il Padrone or Cristian take him away from me?
Ihold Antonio tightly as he falls apart, rubbing his back and hair gently, offering soothing, nonsensical words and sounds. I hate this. Hate that it’s come to the point where such a bright, strong, and beautiful man can’t do anything but fall apart.
It’s not long before sitting on the floor becomes uncomfortable for me. The hard, unforgiving surface, the twisted up way I’m sitting, and the slight weight in my lap becoming too much. I try to shift my body weight from one side to the other, wincing as pain shoots up and down my leg when I do so.
Antonio pulls away. “Fuck. I’m sorry. Am I hurting you?”
“No, Bel Fiore Mio. I’m okay.” I try to reassure him, but as he redistributes his weight, the sudden adjustment makes my hip shift, and I flinch again at the sharp pain.
He scrambles up, pain, sorrow, and fear playing out on his features as he stands. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”
“My fault,” I tell him. “I should have known better.” Carefully, I get my left leg under me and, using Roman’s bed, I manage to stand, biting my tongue at the pain that's shooting through me as I try to distribute my weight correctly.
“What can I do?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. I promise, I’m fine. Just remind me not to sit on the floor anymore.”
I try for a smile, but the devastation on Antonio’s face makes me drop it. Reaching for him, I drag him into me, letting him settle against me. He tries to fight me at first, but must realize I’m not budging because he gives up quickly and lets me hold him.
I glance at Roman, who’s still sleeping, and has been since I came in. According to Leandro, who I relieved just minutes before Antonio came in, he hurt himself and had to be drugged again due to the pain. I didn’t ask any other questions, and Leandro left fairly quickly once I assured him I would be fine to sit with Roman.
“What happened, Bello?” I ask quietly, looking down at the man in my arms.
Antonio stares up at me, his chocolate eyes like swimming pools of pain as more tears fill them. He shakes his head. “I…I need to get things ready. We have a job to do. I was…was coming in to see if you wanted to join in, but…”
Shifting so I’m facing him head on, I grab him by the shoulders, forcing him to face me. “What happened?” I infuse just enough command into my voice that he shudders, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment.
“Everything’s falling apart,” he says so quietly I almost don’t hear him. “Emilio… He…he’s separating himself from the Family. He and Carter…”
Softening a little, I reach for his face, gently cupping a cheek, and he leans into the touch, letting out a sob. “Tell me? I can’t help if I don’t know the problem, Bello.”
He shakes his head. “You can’t fix this, I don’t know if anyone can. Lio and Carter basically declared themselves to be anything but Amato and Martelli. Everything is falling to pieces, and I don’t know what to do.”
I glance at Roman again, as I try to make sense of everything…running current events through my head and coming up with the only conclusions I can.
“Come with me.” I move away from him just long enough to grab my cane and then reach for his hand.
“But Roman…”
“Will be fine.”
Releasing his hand long enough to send a text to Kail and Rose, asking for one of them to come sit with the boy, I put my phone away and grab Antonio again.
He lets me pull him from the room. “Some place we can have some privacy?” I ask, unsure of the layout of the house. I’ve either been with Roman, or working on his behalf, since we’ve arrived.
He leads me into an empty medical room a few doors down. It's not the most comfortable, but it’ll do for my purposes. I tug him over to the bed, sitting on it and pushing myself back enough that I can encourage him to climb up with me. Urging him to straddle my lap, he tries to resist, but my grip on his waist is tight, and he must realize his resistance is futile.
When I have him where I want him, his weight comfortably sitting on my lap, I reach for his chin, urging his face up so he can meet my eyes.
“What happened?” I ask once more.
“Lio called himself Head of the O’Connel Family…” he whispers. He clears his throat and says a little louder, “Thingshave been fucked since Cristian gutted Ignacio. None of us are happy about it, but we trust—trusted—Il Padrone. Lio…I don’t know what happened between them, but something did, from the time Ignacio was gutted to dinner, or maybe before that? I don’t know. So much has happened in such a short period of time, it’s hard to keep up.” I let him ramble, his jumbled thoughts not bothering me in the least, as I use them to piece the events together.
Everything has been fucked to hell and back since Cristian almost murdered Ignacio. Roman was inconsolable when he learned, and that was the first time he got drugged to sleep. Then Tennant got hurt, then Cristian. How so much can happen in such a short period of time is a fucking mystery.
“Carter also declared himself as a representative for the De Luca Family.”
