Page 142 of Alessio

“You okay?”

She gave the man a second look. He hadn’t bothered to care before if she was fine, or not. He was there to do his job, and she respected that. They all had roles to play in this life, and she was all too aware of that fact.

“Fine,” she blurted. “I’m fine.”

“Good. Your sisters will be here shortly.”

“Thank you.”

Tim left her to resume his post outside the room, and Ginevra paced. Next to wishing Corrado and Alessio were there with her, she wanted nothing more than to be back with her sisters.

But would they be resentful because she had left them here alone? Would they be angry that she run off without them? Might they feel like she fed them to the wolves to save her own skin?

Those were things Ginevra wasn’t sure.

And it hurt her heart.

Ginevra continued to pace, unaware of the minutes ticking by, until the hotel door’s knob jiggled. All at once, she turned into stone, her gaze darting to the opened doorway, and there they stood.

Greta.

Giulia.

Looking too much like younger versions of their mother, with water in their eyes as though they feared what would be waiting on the other side for them, too, and yet, still searching for her.

“Ginevra?” Greta asked first.

Ginevra sucked in a ragged breath. “Hey.”

And yet, she didn’t give a fucking damn, either.

Giulia smiled widely, the first tears making lines down her cheeks when Ginevra took a step toward them. “I missed you so much. I tho—”

“No, no, no.”

She didn’t want to hear those fears. She wanted to take these teenagers, not quite women yet, away from those that wanted to take her from them. No one would ever take her from them.

She decided that.

Not again.

Ginevra quickly crossed the floor then, her arms already opened to hug her younger sisters. Greta stepped forward first, slamming into Ginevra at full speed, but Giulia came right after. She kissed the tops of their heads, trying to search them at the same time for any changes.

It was just a couple of months.

There shouldn’t be changes.

Still, she wanted to check. Were they taller? Greta changed her hair to a stark red that looked beautiful against her olive-toned skin. A change from brown, and their mother once loved the color red.

“God, look at you,” Ginevra said quietly, her hands skimming over both her sisters’ faces to wipe away their tears. “Don’t cry, okay? It’s all going to be better now—I’m not going away again.”

“Promise?” Greta asked.

Almost eighteen, but right then, Greta sounded small. Childlike, even, and it killed Ginevra a little. They’d all been nothing more than pawns to a bigger game played by people who didn’t give a single shit about them at the end of the day.

“I promise,” Ginevra whispered.

Giulia hugged Ginevra again, and Greta followed her lead. She let them, and the hotel door closed by Tim when the tears fell once more. Was this the reunion her sisters expected? It was still good.