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I don’t even realize I’m crying until a tear lands on my nose. “God, I’m a mess, too. You know, I thought a lot about you and Mom and our family when I was with Viktor. I know I can be difficult at times, and I never want to leave things the way I left them before I was taken. Never again. I want you to know I appreciate you so much.” Emilia squeezes my arm, silently letting me know she understands. “I miss Dad, too. I thought about his funeral, how Mom found a way to blame me for knocking over this plate when Antonio was the one being the little shit.”
Emilia laughs and grabs a chair, scooting over to me. “That’s because Mom doesn’t think Antonio can do anything wrong.”
“I still can’t believe she moved on to Franco after Dad died. I don’t think I’ve ever forgiven her for that.”
“She didn’t move on to Franco; trust me.” The bitterness in Emilia’s voice makes me look over at her.
“Why do you sound upset?”
Emilia is quiet a moment. The only sound in the room is the beeping of Viktor’s heart-rate monitor. “Gem, you do know Franco abuses Mom, right?”
I blink, feeling like my stomach has just dropped to my feet. “What?”
“Yeah. He hurts her. She doesn’t put up a fight because she’s trying to protect you and the rest of your siblings from him. If he has his eyes on her, then he doesn’t have them on anyone else.”
“Oh my god,” I whisper, thinking back to all the conversations I’ve had with my mom ever since Franco moved into our house. How withdrawn she could be. How she’d flinch whenever Franco came into the room. How she’d look tense every time he came close to her. “I didn’t know. I guess I still have more growing to do, huh?” I rub a hand over my face. “Poor Mom. Here I’ve been judging her, and she’s just been trying to protect me.”
“No one else knows about this, but he’s hurt her in multiple ways.”
I drop my hand. “What do you mean?”
Emilia just looks at me. And then it hits me. Lucia and Luca. They were born a little over nine months after Dad passed away. Mom was so insistent she and Dad were still intimate up until he died, which I always thought was strange, given how sick he was in those last few months. I also always wondered if the twins were Franco’s kids. Emilia is pretty much telling me they are.
Which means if Franco has been abusing Mom … then he …
“Did that bastard rape our mom?” I whisper in an angry tone.
“She doesn’t want anyone to know. Only I do. Well, and Marco, but he’s good at keeping secrets. She doesn’t want this hurting the twins’ future, ok? If she wants to believe they’re Dad’s, then let her. She knows the truth, but it’s a hard truth to accept.”
“Oh my god. I really am a bitch. I accused her of moving on with Franco to her face. I thought she didn’t love Dad anymore. She … slapped me.”
Emilia’s mouth drops open. “Mom hit you?”
“The night of my party, I told her I hated her. But now I know why she responded that way, and honestly, I don’t blame her. I’m not mad at her for that anymore. I was being mean.”
She pulls me into her side, so I can rest my head on her shoulder. “It’s complicated, I guess. Just don’t say anything to Mom, ok? She’s trying to deal with this on her own, and if she doesn’t want to talk about it, she shouldn’t be made to talk about it.”
I nod, my cheek rubbing against the silkiness of Emilia’s shirt.
We sit in silence then, lost in our thoughts, looking at the unconscious body of my husband.
Until he speaks. “Don’t go quiet on my account.” He blinks his eyes open, giving me a cheeky smile.
“Viktor.” I lurch forward, grabbing his hand. “You’re awake.”
“I have been for a while now, but you guys were talking, and I didn’t want to ruin the moment. Sorry about that.”
“No. It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re awake.”
Viktor’s eyes flit to Emilia, who’s standing up, looking uncomfortable. “Hey, Emilia.”
“Viktor,” she says warily.
“I know you probably hate me, but I’m going to take care of your sister, trust me.”
“I don’t trust you,” she says bluntly. “So, that’s why you have to show me I can trust you. That will take time.” Viktor nods. “But for my sister … I’d do anything. I’ll leave you guys be.” She hurries out of the room. It will take her a while to get comfortable with Viktor, but I trust that we have the rest of our lives to work on that.
“So.” Viktor turns to me. “You really love me, huh?”
