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“Yeah…Fredrick.”
“And where did you meet Fredrick?”
“At the hospital.”
Every part of me chilled, and I stared down at my little sister. Dropping the washcloth in the sink, I crouched in front of Annabella until we were eye level.
“Why were you at the hospital, tesorina?” I asked slowly.
Annabella shrugged. “Mamma.”
“What about Mamma?”
Trying to get information out of Annabella was beyond difficult. She was a trove of secrets, faithful to the bitter end, and stubborn as hell.
“She was breathing funny.”
My heart pounded in my chest. Standing, I wrung out the washcloth and practically threw it at Annabella.
“Wash your face, please,” I muttered and spun around.
I crashed straight into Matteo. He gripped the back of my neck and tilted my face up, holding me still as I squirmed.
“Amorina? What is it?”
I wiggled out of his grasp and motioned toward my sister. “Stay here with her. Make sure she’s not…sticky and get to know her.”
“Marcella!” Matteo called after me, but I waved him off.
Please stay with Annabella. Don’t follow me. Don’t see…her. Not like this.
“Hey, stranger,” Gisella teased when I nearly ran straight into her at the top of the stairs. “Cazzo, what is going on?”
“Language,” I growled. “Where is Papà?”
She shrugged. “I’m not his babysitter.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped past her, making my way to the end of the hall. Pushing open the door carefully, I exhaled through my nose when I saw Mamma in her bed, thankfully alone.
Papà often made things worse. When Mamma was awake, he’d tell her all the things we were doing wrong, worrying her that he couldn’t handle three daughters on his own. Her heartrate would spike, the machines would go haywire, and she’d spend days recovering.
Mamma was coherent and frowned when she saw me. “Marcella?”
“Mamma,” I whispered and crossed the room to sit on the edge of her bed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She turned her head away from me. “My daughter is now engaged and planning a wedding. I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You are my top priority, Mamma. I’ll drop anything to be here for you. Wedding included.”
Mamma faced me with tears in her eyes. “I don’t want that, Marcella. You have the chance to have a new life, tersoro, and I will not hold you back.”
“You’ll never hold me back. You keep me steady, Mamma,” I admitted.
Mamma forced a tired smile.
“Now, will you tell me what happened?”
“Who told you?”
