Page 160 of Unravel Me

I let out a loud gasp. "Well, for the first three years of my marriage, I kept feeding myself lies that I wanted to be with Mark. But then…" I swallow. "…the violence started. Still, I couldn’t leave. Mark would never have agreed to let the perfect image of a political family fall apart. He threatened me more than once, saying he’d take custody of my child and discredit me by exposing my past in the Ring to the public, making me look like an unfit dad. So I stayed with him, terrified… because on top of that, Mark was the only one protecting me from Rocco."

Ennio straightens.

"That problem is gone now. Rocco is no longer here. He’s not coming after either you or Mauro. You’re free."

His final words resonate with tremendous force. I let out a breath and press my hands to my face.

Wow… Free at last?

Ennio glances at Alex and says, "It’s time for me to go. I have plenty to take care of," he adds in a somewhat bitter tone.

"Thank you again for your help," Alex says, then adds with a subtle smile, "Capo."

Ennio accepts the remark without so much as a twitch of his eyebrow. He merely gives a small nod, gets into the car, and drives away immediately.

Alex peers into my face, and he has to tilt his head up, since he’s such a tiny omega.

I’ve been shaking this whole time, and every nerve in my body seems to have gone slack, trembling independently of all the others.

Alex takes me by the shoulders.

"Hey, easy, Jared. This is the moment when your path finally becomes clear. You can take a deep breath and focus only on building something with Mauro now… There are no obstacles anymore. Do you understand?"

"Somehow, I still can’t believe it," I whisper through my chattering teeth.

My entire life has been about pushing through one difficulty after another, always fighting against something, and now all of it has simply cleared up like this?

Alex, whose face is usually somewhat sad, smiles and slowly nods.

"I envy you." His gaze flicks toward the balcony of Bay’s apartment, and his eyes change slightly, becoming wistful.

"Can I really jump into this with both feet?"

Alex nods, his lips trembling as his eyes jump toward Bay’s balcony one more time. "I would. Without a doubt. Not a fucking nanosecond of hesitation!" Then he turns and heads toward the entrance of the apartment building, his head low, his energy gloomy.

Well, his own happily ever after doesn’t even seem to be a faint speck on the distant horizon yet.

Is mine so much closer?

I follow him, my head spinning with chaotic thoughts, strange excitation slowly but surely rising.

◆◆◆

That night, I can barely sleep. I toss and turn, Mauro’s sad, beautiful face constantly appearing before my eyes. I can almost scent him, feel his touch, the heat of his skin. I’m literally burning, my body craving him, aching to sink into his arms and feel his eyes on me, burning with desire and… tenderness. I feel so hungry for him, my heart filling with turbulent emotions.

I curl up and turn over again and again, but sleep won’t come, and eventually I decide to do what my heart wants. And what it wants is to jump into the car and drive straight to Rainbow Springs.

An impulse. I mean, why shouldn’t I?

Fuck it, I’m going to do it, just like that. Sometimes life has a way of straightening itself out on its own.

I want him, without a doubt, and he’s my perfect match. The dangerous situation has been resolved, so I should do something!

When morning comes, at six o’clock, I get up and start packing Tommy’s things. There isn’t much to do because most of them are still in the suitcases Alex packed when he moved here to Bay’s place.

Around seven, Bay comes out of his room and sees me preparing breakfast. I realize then that he and Alex slept separately, and Alex is still snoring softly in his room.

I feel sad that things aren’t working out for them, that their incompatibility keeps them apart, because I really want my cousin to find happiness too.