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“Just say the words; it’s going to be alright, I promise you.”
“You tend to say those words a lot to me, and for some reason, I believe you.”
“I’ve given you no reason to doubt me.”
“I hadn’t been back home since my father sent me away. It had been four years already, and I missed my mother terribly. My brother would call, and occasionally, I would receive a letter, but that was it. I was never allowed home for the holidays or even school breaks. It was incredibly lonely, and when I reached my sixteenth birthday, I missed my mother so much and begged my father to let me come home, but as always, he said no. We shared the same birthday, and I wanted to be with her. Lucas promised there would be other birthdays, and it would be best to remain at school. I cried for two days, and then Marielle devised a plan to send me home. At first, I said no and decided to celebrate as I always did, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”Another pause with more tears falling. I hated to see her break, but she needs to release the pain she’s been carrying all these years. She needs to be free.
“It’s okay, take your time,” I squeezed her hand.
“I guess my brother felt bad that he didn’t side with me to come home, so instead, he offered to send me skiing with my father’s blessing. In the past, he had never allowed me to join Marielle or the other girls to go skiing before, and I didn’t trust the offer was real. After I read the letter several times, I was conflicted about it until Marielle encouraged me to accept. Once I did, we confirmed our plans. As far as my family believed, I was on the train to Switzerland, but Marielle took my place, and I got off at the next stop and boarded another train to Italy. I didn’t learn of Marielle’s death until I returned to school. When I arrived home, I only wanted to spend time with Mama. My father was out of town, and Lucas was with him. My mother was so surprised to see me that she didn’t stop hugging me. We cried, laughed, and tried to cover as many subjects of conversation as possible. My parents shared separate bedrooms in different wings of our home. I stayed with my mother for two dayswithout any interruption from the outside world. It was the best two days of my life, and then it all went to hell when my father returned and caught me with my mother.”
She began to shake and cry, reliving it all. Finally, I couldn’t take it and pulled her onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her small frame. She cried her heart out on my shoulder, and I didn’t let go. When she calmed down, she continued. “Papa appeared shocked that I was home with my mother. My mother hugged me hard and told me to go to my room and that she would see me later. I was scared and ran as fast as possible but didn’t go to my room. I ran to Lucas, and he didn’t know I was home either, but at least he looked happy to see me and welcomed me home.”
“You see, I don’t know if I convinced myself to believe my father cared and loved me or was happy when he sent me away to school. He never touched me with force, but there was something cold about him. I remember being with Lucas, wondering if my mother was bearing the brunt of my father’s anger because I left school to come home. Lucas left to take care of a business issue. He told me he would speak with me soon, but I knew that was a lie. Lucas was a powerful man and preparing to take over the family business. My father would never show his true feelings when Lucas was present, but I know he hated the fact that we were close.”
She let out a deep breath and took a sip of water. As she continued to share her story with me, all I felt was rage that continued to build deep within me. All I wanted to do was beat Marco to death for being the cruel and sadistic bastard he was to Sabina.
“Sabina, you don’t have to say anymore. I see how painful it is for you.” She leaned into my touch, told me she was alright, and said she had to get it all out.
“I wasn’t allowed to say goodbye to my mother because not even two hours later, a guard drove me to the airport. I never knew about Marielle and the train bombing until I returned to Mayfield. The school was in mourning, and I didn’t even know. She was my best friend and was gone forever because of me. I’m so sorry, Bourne. If it weren’t for me, Marielle would still be alive. You would have your sister with you, and none of my darkness would have ever touched your family.” After revealing her truth, she got off my lap and limped out of the dining room. I let her go, knowing she needed to be anywhere but near me.
Her father believed she would be on the train and blew it up, knowing he was getting rid of his daughter and not caring about killing innocent people, including my beloved sister.
“You look like shit,” said Edric coming into the room and carrying my favorite scotch.
“Yeah, I feel it, too. Did you see what direction Sabina ran off to?”
“Back upstairs,” he said.
“Marco Santoro killed my sister,” I said as I downed my drink.
“You already knew that, and that’s why we took out the crew that set the bombs and sent them back to the bastard in pieces.”
“I remember, but now I know without a doubt that Marco ordered the execution.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I have to call Lucas and have him turn Marco over to me,”
“Good luck with that, mate; he will never do that.”
“For Sabina, he will. However, I will never trade her life for his. I will make him believe that I will. Marco will pay for my sister’s death and for the lives he took. It’s time. Get in touch with Lucas, and tell him I want a meeting tomorrow. Choose the time, and once and for all, we finish this. I have to check on Sabina and make sure she is alright.”
“Wait,” he called out.
“Bourne, are you sure about this girl? Because once you light the fire, it will burn until Marco dies.”
“I’m sure. I swear it on the memory of my father and my sister. He is a dead man walking. If I have to take out Lucas, I can live with it. I know there has been a hole in my heart since I lost them both. As much as their deaths changed my life, I can’t even imagine what the Santoro sins did to Sabina, but I will find out. Before speaking to Lucas, I must know everything and decide the next course of action, but first, I need to comfort Sabina.”
“I’ve always trusted you, mate, and will follow you into the fire if you ask me to.”
“I know that, but the only one that will get burned is Marco Santoro.”
I climbed the stairs to her room and listened by the door for any sound. I hated to hear her cry, but I was ready for anything. Then, instead of the bad, I heard something beautiful. I slowly opened the door to see Sabina sitting on the window seat, holding a small music box in her lap. She was crying, but the only sound was the melody coming from the music box; her tears were silent.
“Hey, that’s beautiful,” I said as I sat beside her. She looked up and smiled through her tears, and closed the box.
“It is. It’s the last piece of music my mother composed. It’s forever sealed in this music box. I blocked it out like the rest of my life until it all came back when Lucas forced me to come home.”
