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I stumbled back, the pain shooting through my body stealing the air from my lungs. Max and Jack caught me, their hold the only thing keeping me upright. “No,” I groaned. “I thought—”
“You thought wrong,” the man said in heavily accented English. “Now take what you came for, and leave. The way you came up on us, ready for war, we have every right to kill every one of you. But we know what Ramirez did to you and your people. For that reason alone, we will let you go unharmed.”
“Did he hurt her?” I choked out. “Was he the one who killed Cali?”
“Yes.”
I clenched my eyes closed and sucked in a deep breath. My heart lay cold and empty in my chest, just as dead as the body on the ground. She was gone. The woman I loved had left this world not knowing that I worshiped the ground she walked on, that she was my goddamn reason for breathing.
Right then, it didn’t feel like I could draw another breath, but I forced myself to inhale and lifted my lashes. “Elias, Chance, Kingston,” I gritted out. “Get the body.”
“Are you sure, son?” Dad rasped. “Should we check—”
“She’s dead!” I shouted, and he flinched. “Now they’re both gone, Dad. I let that fucking bastard take them both from me. All of this, it’s my fault. No one has to tell me that. If it weren’t for me, my sister and the woman I love would still be back in New York, alive and happy. But they fucking aren’t!”
“Garret—” Max tried to break in, but I lifted my hand, cutting him off before he could give me hell. I knew I deserved it, but it could come later. I was holding on by a thread, and if any of them said another word, I was going to take the gun I had in my holster and put a bullet in my own head.
“It’s time to go home and bury Nova,” I reminded them, surprised I was able to speak through the lump clogging my throat. “She should be at peace, and she can’t until we lay her to rest.”
“Okay, son,” Dad said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Uncle Bash nodded to the others, and my cousins did as I’d commanded, picking up Manuel’s body and carrying it to one of the trucks. They weren’t careful as they dumped him in the back, the thud sounding like a bag of wet sand hitting the truck bed.
* * *
We buried Nova in New York. The Vitucci family had a family cemetery where every member would eventually be interred. There was enough room for generations to come, and because my sister would have been Ryan’s wife, she was placed in the plot right beside where he would one day be laid to rest.
Mom was already in NYC since we’d left her there with her cousin’s family before going to Colombia for Ramirez’s body. Upon my return with Dad, we brought many of his family as well. Aunt Raven and Uncle Bash with their kids and grandkids. My biological uncles, along with their wives, children, and grandchildren. Fuck, nearly every resident of Trinity County showed up to pay their respects as we placed my sister in her final resting spot.
Everyone had always loved her. How could they not? Even when I told myself I hated her because she was content with life in Creswell Springs when our place had always been in New York, I’d loved her. All she’d ever done was try to protect me, from everyone and everything that could potentially hurt me.
Including myself.
There was no way we could have an open casket. Just the thought of my parents seeing their little girl as I’d seen her right after Sheena O’Brion had hacked her into pieces made me shudder. If nothing else, at least we could spare them that much.
At the gravesite, everyone stood surrounding Ryan. Of all the people gathered, including my parents, he was the one I was the most concerned for. He’d shut down when we’d found Nova on that table in Canada. When I looked into his eyes, there was nothing there. No emotion, no soul. It was as if, with the death of the person he considered his heart, he’d lost a part of himself too.
The parts which made him human.
I’d been unable to hold back my tears for days. Not only had I lost my baby sister, but the woman I loved was dead too. I didn’t get to have a funeral or even a memorial for her. There would be no saying goodbye to her, except in my heart. The tears and the pain in my soul were never-ending. Yet Ryan, who had loved Nova more than anyone in the world, remained dry-eyed. I didn’t see pain on his face or in his dark gaze.
Just an empty ghost walking around in Ryan’s body.
Mom stood beside Ryan. She’d been trying to remain strong—for Ryan’s sake, she’d said that morning as we’d left for the service. For days, she’d been the strong one, trying to hide her tears from Dad and me. Not even when Aunt Raven arrived did she break down. But as the casket began to lower into the ground, I knew the hold she had on her emotions was starting to slip.
“I can’t do this anymore,” she whispered. “I-I can’t breathe.”
Dad, who stood behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist. “Shh, Felicity. It’s okay,” he attempted to soothe, but the tears that were running down his face made his voice thick.
She jerked out of his arms and stumbled a few steps. Ryan was so out of it, he didn’t reach out to steady her like he would have normally done. His gaze remained unblinking on the casket. “I need to go,” Mom gasped out, as if she was fighting to get oxygen into her lungs. “I need…air.”
The agony in her voice, along with the way she was struggling to breathe, set me in motion. “Okay, Mom,” I murmured softly as I put my hand on the small of her back, turning her toward the limos. “I’ll take you wherever you want.”
She relaxed slightly against me before giving a nod and allowing me to guide her away. I glanced over my shoulder to find Dad right behind us. The tears in his green eyes never failed to punch me in the gut. He’d always been so strong. Fuck, I couldn’t even remember seeing him cry at any point in my life up until then.
While I put Mom in the back of the limo, the others started to disperse as well, leaving everyone but Ryan and his parents behind. It was going to take Anya to get him to leave that grave, but I knew she would eventually accomplish it.
Mom didn’t want to go back to the compound, so I told the driver to take us to the airport. There was only one place I could think of that would give my parents any peace. I didn’t bother anyone about a private jet, just got three nonstop tickets back to California.
