AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As my lips parted, the wind changed direction, and the air was forced back in my mouth. It forced me to swallow back my scream.
Then with a horrific battle cry, I saw him emerge from the shadows. Abramo stood tall in his suit, looking just as terrifying as the day I met him. I knew then I wouldn’t have a chance.
“I can’t let this happen,” Greta called to me. “He’s blinded by you.”
I shook my head, trying to understand how we got here. How they got here.
“I need to keep our bloodline clean.” Rain flew from her weathered lips. “You’re a cancer that must be stopped.”
“I love him.” It slipped from my lips, then I shared my secret with her and watched as each word sank painfully in.
“It’s not enough,” she screamed, and looked like a nightmare hag as the wind and rain swirled around her. “You’ll never be enough for him.”
Abramo started to walk toward me, and I held up my hands as if to ward him off and moved in the only direction open to me, toward the edge of the roof. My heart pounded, as I knew I didn’t have far to go. A wave crashed below, and the smell of the salty air shot up my nose. I whirled around, arms flapping like a bird to keep my balance in the wind. Abramo was now on one side of me and Greta just a few feet away.
“You think your loyalty will save you, but it won’t. You’re nothing if you’re not Capri blood. She has to die!” Greta screamed again.
Abramo looked between the two of us, his face a mask, and I knew that was it. A million thoughts bombarded my head. I was going to be swallowed by the sea, and Elio would never know what happened or who was behind my disappearance. Or worse, would he think I couldn’t handle this life and had left him?
Suddenly, Abramo leapt forward and shoved Greta off the side of the roof. It all happened so quickly that I stood there stunned, unsure of what I’d just witnessed. His chest heaved as he looked over the edge, and then he slowly turned back to me.
“She said the same thing to Pauly Milani before she killed him this morning.”
I blinked at him in slow motion, trying to process everything, but it was too much to take in.
“My days were numbered. I’m not a Capri.” He ran a hand over his face to clear the rain.
“Please, Abramo, give me the truth.” I hoped he saw it was time I knew. “How did she know who I was, before everyone else knew?”
He looked up at the sky and let the rain run down his face as if contemplating his answer. Then he turned and took a few steps toward me. It took everything in me not to take a few steps back. Instead, I fisted my hands and pressed them to my sides and rooted myself in place.
“Greta was always suspicious of Francesco.” His eyes were black, and he spoke slowly. “She had him followed and discovered that his longtime girlfriend, Elenora, was about to marry Theodore Coppola. She left him alone for a while.” He looked around as if checking that we were still alone on the rooftop. “But after you and Elenora disappeared years later, Greta wondered if Francesco had anything to do with it. I was sent there to find him, to watch him. On a few occasions, I noticed he’d visit the Di Vaio house. Then one day, after a particularly long visit, he stopped going altogether. I dug harder and discovered he was hidingyouthere. It didn’t take me long to backtrack and connect the dots that you were Theo’s daughter and Elenora had gone into hiding. You don’t just disappear unless there’s a reason, and Theo had a reputation of beating on his women. I didn’t say anything to her until Elio started bringing you around. You were just a child.” He cleared his throat, and it was the first time I’d ever seen Abramo display any kind of emotion. “I had no choice but to share what I found when she asked. But I didn’t know she’d—” His face hardened then; he was done with the storytelling. He took a few steps back then and looked at me with a strange expression. “You have more blood around you than you think, Sienna,” he shouted then turned and jumped to join Greta in death.
I looked over the edge and covered my mouth as I saw him hit a rock, spin, and disappear into the ocean.
My foot crunched on something, and I looked down to see a strand of Nonna Greta’s rosary beads caught in a crevice. I hooked them with my finger and held them up in the wind. I squinted to see the marks left by her fingers. Years of manipulation and control pressed into grooves. All her hidden secrets were scored into those beads. How could something so holy hold such cruelty and deceit? A deep chill raced through me along with a fleeting thought that I should return them to Piero. Perhaps they would bring him some mild comfort. But the truth was they belonged with Greta. It was time for her to answer for all her sins, and I wasn’t about to have her skip a single one. I flung those dreaded things out over the edge as far and as hard as I could. I hoped they’d find her beneath the sea and tangle themselves around her neck to ensure she might have a most painful death.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a cry, not for them, but for myself. How did I keep managing to cheat death? How much longer could I keep that up? How many people were out to kill me? What did he mean? I emptied my lungs then stepped carefully away from the edge and over to the stone wall and leaned back to feel it solid behind my back. The rain washed away my tears and—Wyatt!
As I turned to run, I jumped as the lights flickered back on along the castle walls, and I saw a dark figure standing not far from me. He stood out stark against the rain-streaked wall. The Finder stood there with a gun in his hand. He gave me a sad smile and a nod, and in that moment, I knew he was there for me. Had he been watching over me, ready to step in if needed?
I didn’t know why I shared my secret with him, but I did. My hand went to my stomach and rubbed a small circle. I fought the urge to break down and cry again. It wasn’t just about me and Elio anymore. It was aboutus.
I took a few shaky steps toward him, incredibly happy he’d been a witness to what happened. When we were shoulder to shoulder, I cleared my throat of pain.
“Name your price. I want to know what Abramo meant by the blood comment.” My teeth chattered as I spoke.
“No payment necessary, Miss Sienna.” He gave me a nod. “I’ll get right on it. The door Greta used is that way.” He pointed but made no move to go with me.
My mind flew back to Wyatt. I had to find him. But first I needed Elio. I followed the wall until I found the door she and Abramo must have used.
Once inside, I was swallowed up in a hug from a very upset Elio.
“Oh, thank God!” He squeezed me tight then held me at arm’s length. “One of the house staff said they saw someone fall past their window, and when I went to check on you, you weren’t there. And—”
“Where were you?” Wyatt came racing up the stairs with a towel over his shoulders and blood dripping down his arm. He threw the towel around my shoulders, and Elio led us downstairs and into a den with heavenly heat pouring from a fireplace.
I stepped out of Elio’s hold and wiped my face with the towel as I tried to keep up with what was coming at me. Before I had a chance to speak, Niccola and Piero burst through the door with Andrea hard on their heels.
