Page 147 of The Silence Lies

The twins nod, but Luca is glaring at me like I just pissed in his cereal.

“Luca—“

“Don’t bother!” he snaps, pushing up from the couch. I know he’s taking this the hardest. I don’t know how I’ve found the strength to keep a clear head, because inside all I want to do is scream. We lost our fucking leader, and we have no trace of her.

Luca marches out of the room. I know I should leave him alone, but he’s just as much my responsibility as Sera is and I can’t afford to lose someone else.

Heaving a sigh, I follow him out into the courtyard. It’s pitch-black, save for the lamps lining the circular driveway. I get a sudden wave of deja-vu as I march after Luca, his long strides hard to keep up with. “Luca!”

“Leave me alone, Marchese.”

Ouch. If it weren’t for the torrent of emotions that we’re all battling, I’d have taken that shit a lot harder.

“Hold up!” I say, grabbing his arm and spinning him around.

He doesn’t fight me like I thought he might. Instead, he locks eyes with me, and that’s when I see it; the real heartbreak. It’s unlike anything before. It sends a chill down my spine because I know how hard he took his father’s death, and if he’s anything like me, he won’t survive something happening to Sera.

I wish I could tell him that it’s going to be okay. I wish I could tell him that we’ll find Sera. But doing so would all be empty promises formed on lies. The truth is, none of us know anything. We’re all in the fucking dark.

“I can’t do this,” he whispers, voice filled with desolation.

I take his hand in mine, stepping in to close the distance that separates us. “I know,” I say softly. “But we can’t break now. You can’t break now, because I need you.”

“Sera needs us.”

“We both need you,” I correct. “Don’t leave like this, please.” I clutch his face between my palms, feeling the tears roll down his cheeks. “Stay with me.”

Serafina

Hazy darkness fills every corner of my mind. Inky fuzziness blocks my ears, a distant ringing coming through every time I try to pull myself out of my subconscious. But the gravity towards abyss seems to be much stronger and after a while of fighting, I give up and let my mind transport me to better times.

Each dream is filled with Enzo. But those dreams turn into nightmares as my memory reminds me of all the lost moments Enzo and I could have shared. There was so much I should have said to him, so much we should have done together. He was always there for me in the darkest moments of my life; my mother’s death, my relationship with Luciano, my inauguration. It’s too late to go back, though. I can’t change the past, I can only look to the future and avenge what’s left of my best friend’s memory.

But that doesn’t stop those painful feelings from swallowing me up and suffocating me with anger and guilt. All my life I’ve known what my position means. To some, it’s a new era, liberation for all women. But to most, this isn’t how La Cosa Nostra is handled. The latter makes me sink deeper into my thoughts.

I’m vaguely lucid. The sensation of my body swaying still keeps me in the recess of my mind, but the pounding in my head draws me in and out. It allows me to recall recent events; the gun fire, the men, Giovanni screaming at me to run. I never saw him once I was yanked out of the vehicle, but I can hazard a guess as to what happened to him. He couldn’t have survived the bullets, I barely did. He won’t have been saved because there was nobody to save him. We were alone, outnumbered.

My shoulders pinch where my body sags, my weight sending pain through my arms and shoulders. Then shock comes as water splashes over my face, slipping into my lungs as my mouth parts. It’s cold, sharp, and not fresh at all. It’s like shards of glass cutting into my airways. I gasp and sputter, searching for purchase to stop the weightless sensation dragging my body. But it’s no use, my tiptoes barely scrape against the ground.

Blinking through the pain and hazy memories, I try to look around me, but it’s too dark.

Another splash of water sounds, but I don’t feel the frigid assault of it, I only hear another person’s groan fill the room.

I dart my head to the side, but I can’t see past my arms, only the vast darkness that blankets me. I try to swing my body around, but the metal cuffs cut deeper into my wrists. I scream out, anger filling my cries and stuttering my breath.

“Stay calm, Principessa.”

“Gio?” My throat gives way to a sob as soon as I hear his raspy voice. It’s dry like mine, gravelly from dehydration. I can’t describe the elation or relief I feel because there are no words to truly encapsulate the depth of my emotion. The only thing I can recognize is the fact I’m not alone. “You’re okay!”

Silence.

“How long have we been here?” I croak.

“Too long,” is all Giovanni says back.

I shudder at the thought that this is it for us. It doesn’t matter who I am in here, whoever came for us doesn’t plan on letting us leave.

“We need a plan,” I rasp, my lips dry from hours of sleep.

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