Page 270 of Merciless Desires

Gisella shrugged. “EKG thingy was normal, chest x-ray normal, and bloodwork normal.”

“Of course it was normal,” I sighed. “How has she been doing, though?”

Another shrug from my sister. “Pretending she’s fine, I guess.”

“Marcella!”

The sleepy call from my youngest sister had me reaching out to wipe the tears away from Gisella’s face and mouth smile to her.

“Anna,” I said with a grin and turned to see her reaching for me from Papà’s arms. I took her gently from Papà and pressed a kiss to her warm cheek. “You smell like honey.”

“Papà bought me a honey donut.” She rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m tired.”

“Gisella is going to bring you home now,” I said and nodded at Gisella.

My middle sister rolled her eyes and waited until I placed Annabella on her feet.

“Come on, Anna,” Gisella prompted and held her hand out.

“Bye,” Annabella said softly, peering over her shoulder to wave at me.

The girls were barely out of sight before Papà spoke. “May I speak with you?”

I sighed. “About?”

Papà frowned. “Please, Marcella.”

I glanced in the hospital room at Mamma, and she was grinning at Matteo, listening intently to whatever he was saying. She was awake, she was coherent, and she was safe—especially with Matteo.

I nodded and followed Papà down the hall. He turned a corner and stopped, facing me with a frown.

“I love you, Marcella. You know that, right?”

I crossed my arms. “You have an interesting way of showing it.”

Papà nodded once. “I only want what’s best for you. What’s best for our family.”

“So…selling me is what’s best for our family?”

All expression dropped away from his face. “You think me the enemy…for what I’ve done.”

I shrugged. “What else am I supposed to think?”

“Marcella…all I ask is that you listen to me right now. If not for me…then for your mamma. And the girls. Please.”

I hated that he knew the way to my heart. It made me weak. It made me easy to bend. Staying silent, I leaned against the wall and waited for him to speak and get it over with. There was nothing he could say that would make up for his decision to sell me.

Being used as currency wasn’t entirely foreign in our way of life. It was, however, completely degrading. I was essentially equivalent to a few thousand dollars. My life was valued so low in Papà’s eyes.

“My girls are my entire life. You are my soul, the only thing on my mind, and my girls are my entire heart. When…when your mamma got sick…” He paused and cleared his throat. “I did everything I could to help. All the tests and specialized doctor visits and therapies and…everything, cara.”

Papà shook his head. “Nothing was working. So, we tried more. And it got…expensive. I’m not proud to say that I’ve never been good with money, cara. Anything my girls want, they get. So I poured…everything into your mamma’s medical bills. Everything.”

“And you started working more.”

“But it wasn’t enough. Nothing I was doing was enough. I bought a casket for my wife…” His voice cracked and he brought his fist to his mouth, clearing his throat again. “I planned her funeral. I had to come to terms with the love of my life…dying. I had to break my own heart, and I was going to break yours, and Gisella’s, and Annabella’s too when I would have to tell you that your mamma was gone. That I couldn’t save her, couldn’t…fix her. And that I never knew what she was dealing with. Never had a name for what had been causing her so much pain.”

“Papà…” I began, but he raised his hand, silently asking me to let him finish.

---