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Marzia isn't here. But there is a letter, the ink still drying on the paper as I snatch it from her made bed. It smells like her, floral and sweet, and my chest tightens realizing I've lost her once and for all.
"We've cleared the house, Signore," one of the guards tells me. "She's gone. We've got several parties looking for her."
"Don't come back empty-handed," I bark at him before ordering everyone out of the room. I'm alone now, alone with my thoughts and the letter I hope will explain everything. Still, my hands shake as I hold the paper, and I force myself to take a deep calming breath before reading Marzia's neat handwriting.
Adrian, I found out your father wanted to kill me. You leave me no choice but to escape.
Fuck, she found out about Father's three month threat... but how? I keep reading.
I will be safe where I am, safer than I could ever be with you. If you truly care about me, please don't look for me.
Bambina
“Fuck!” I shout. My fingers shake, threatening to crush the letter, but it's the only thing I have now, and it's the last thing she touched, so I can't let go.
Afterward, I join the search for our missing captive. The teams are combing through the woods trying to find her. As for me, I drive down to the docks. I need a moment to think, to gather my thoughts, and decide what to do next.
I pull up by the docks and walk onto the pier. It's hot and smells like salt and sea. My head's a fucking mess, and Marzia is gone. My life feels like it's fucking over. I never wanted her to leave my side. I would've done anything, everything in my power to save her life. But she took that option away from me.
Something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye, and I shift my gaze to a small boat leaving the docks.
There's no one on it but an old man and a young woman with dark brown hair. She looks just like Marzia.
Part of me can't even believe it. That I've come here by chance and yet there she is—if it's really her. So close and yet so very far away, Marzia spots me too, getting up and watching me as the boat pulls away from the marina.
I raise my hand in greeting, or perhaps it is to say goodbye. My mind races with the possibilities. Of calling for reinforcements, of memorizing the boat so we can stop it the first chance we get. But then I think of the alternative. The gunshots that killed Marzia's parents ring out in my head, reminding me what a monster my father can be.
I grit my teeth as the dark-haired girl raises her hand to wave me off. It is her. It has to be. And I'm just fucking standing here, letting her get away. With a sudden desperation, I realize I can't let her leave.
Stripping off my shoes and blazer, I jump into the water from the pier. I start swimming after the boat. I don't see anything but my destination in sight and keep fucking going, swimming farther and farther out to the sea until everything's a blur, the salt's burning my eyes and the boat is long gone. Whether it was real of a figment of my imagination, I might never know.
It would be so easy to give up now. To just float here on the water and pretend she's still mine. Then I hear voices, an electric buggy coming up to me, men pulling me onto it and delivering me back to shore.
There, my father screams at me while Gustavo shakes his head, muttering we've all betrayed him.
I barely hear any of it. I don't give a shit about anything except for Marzia. And now that she's gone, I have no idea if I can keep going.
She gave my life purpose— now she's been ripped away. I feel like I'll never find that balance again. My heart and head both fucking hurt, pound with the betrayal of her departure.
"Any sign of Marzia?" I bark at one of my brothers, Cillian, as he hands me a blanket.
"No," he replies. "She's gone."
"She was here," I insist. "She was here, on a boat with some old man..."
"You're delusional," Father barks at me. "There's no way Marzia was here. What boat? And what the hell were you doing in the water?"
"Trying to get her back," I hiss. "What I should have done months ago. I need to be with her. Nobody else."
"Well, that's fucking great to hear," Gustavo grunts, glaring at Father. "How are you going to make up for that, Bernardi? Don't make me slit your throat right here."
As soon as those words leave his lips, all the guards surrounding us pull out their guns.
