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“Well, Father spoke to Don Moretti, but I guess the don didn’t seem overly concerned about doing something. He just said he would speak with his son.” Maria shrugs, dunking the washcloth back into the quickly graying water and rinsing more rock dust from it. “Are you going to tell me what this is all about?” she asks, gesturing to the warm bowl of water she’s using to help clean me up, then sweeping her arm to take me in as well.
I sigh, letting my shoulders settle as I wonder just how much I should tell her. In the end, Maria’s my sister, and she’s the only person I have to really talk to. And I need to talk to someone.
“Things have been… hard since I left home,” I admit, not really wanting to get into the details of my wedding night with my sister. I’m still working through the conflicting emotions of what happened that night—how Leo took me on the patio for everyone to see, how I still found it arousing. It mortifies me to know I could come multiple times, even when he was so demeaning.
“Does he hurt you?” Maria demands, her tone fiercely protective.
“No,” I insist. “I mean, I don’t know. He makes me cry a lot, I guess. But it’s not like I expected this to be easy, you know? And I didn’t have much choice. In truth, though, in the little bit of time we’ve spent together, for most of it, he’s been quite… nice,” I confess, thinking about how he cared for me last night, both at dinner and after we got home. “He even apologized for what he’s done to hurt me,” I admit, considering our exchange in the garden once again.
Then I shake my head, dropping my eyes to my lap.
Finished cleaning me up, Maria sets the dirty bowl of water aside and comes to sit beside me, giving me her full attention. “But?” she prompts.
“But I just can’t seem to trust him. Every time I think we might be heading in the right direction, Leo does something that throws me completely off balance.”
Maria raises her eyebrows, her eyes patient as she waits for me to explain.
“I was out walking in the woods behind the house today,” I say, then take a deep, fortifying breath as I prepare myself to say it out loud for the first time. “And I came across Leo with several of his men. They had several of Don Valencia’s men rounded up, and… He executed someone today, Maria. I don’t know why. Leo just… shot him.” I breathe the last part, then glance nervously toward the door.
“Holy shit,” she says, the cuss word catching me by surprise.
We don’t normally curse, as Mother says it’s not ladylike. But it’s certainly fitting for the situation.
“Yeah. Which was terrifying. So I panicked and ran, and he came chasing after me.”
Maria’s face looks stricken this time.
“Of course, I had no idea where I was going, and I literally ran right off a cliff.”
“You what?!” she shouts, jumping up from my bed.
“Shhh,” I calm her urgently, glancing toward the door. I have no clue how much of this I would be allowed to tell her, and I don’t want Leo to send her away.
She glances toward the door as well, then settles back onto the mattress beside me.
“Long story short, a bunch of tree roots saved my fall.” Not wanting to stress her out further, I cut to the chase. “That’s how I sprained my ankle. I got all tangled up, and it stopped me about ten feet from the top.”
“Jesus. How did you get back up?”
“That’s what’s so confusing,” I confess, my brows pressing into a frown. “Even after Leo chased me, he came down to help. He literally scaled a cliff wall, just free climbed it, to cut me free from the roots.”
Maria releases a low whistle. “Well, I’m glad you’re still alive. Do you think he intended to kill you? You know… before you fell?”
“I don’t know,” I murmur. The same question had been plaguing me for a while now. “But he seemed genuinely concerned about my welfare when the doctor was here. And after watching Leo during my ultrasound, I don’t think he’ll do anything to me as long as I’m carrying his child.”
“That doesn’t give me much peace of mind,” Maria says dryly.
“Well, it gives me the time I need. I’m working on a plan that might remove the Morettis from the equation completely,” I glance nervously toward the door yet again.
Maria sighs, as though she already suspected as much. “Just promise me you’ll be careful, Tia. I can’t bear the thought of something happening to you.”
“I won’t let anything happen to me or the baby,” I assure her, holding her gaze. We sit in silence for a moment, the weight of the conversation settling over us.
“I’ve missed you, Tia,” Maria says finally, giving me a soft smile.
“I’ve missed you too!” A pang of longing hits my chest, and I pull my sister into a hug. “You want me to call for some dinner?” I suggest.
“I’m starved,” she agrees.
