AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The relief hits me so hard it almost knocks me over.
Gia’s going to be okay. No one else is going to know the truth, and she can continue living her life as normally as possible. The forebodingfor nowshe added doesn’t scare me. That’s future Gia and Siena’s problem, and if there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s acting now and worrying about the repercussions later. I’ve convinced Zia Stella to keep the secret, and the more time that passes between what happened with Stan and the present, the more likely that people will lose interest in it. Plus, even if she did tell people, there’s no evidence to prove her claim, and I can always deal with that threat if it really comes down to it. But I’d rather it not come to that. We’re in a small enough town that people still gossip about Florence when she hasn’t lived in this town since before I was born, so I don’t want gossip about us spreading that will make Gia’s life here harder than it already is.
Because I need the clarification, I ask, “Not even Dario?”
Her molars grind before she agrees, “No, not even your father.”
Throwing myself at her while jumping up and down seems a bit excessive, so I contain my knee-jerk reaction and settle for an understanding but enthusiastic nod.
“But heisgoing to find out about what Gia did to his car, and he’s not going to be happy.”
The thought of his reaction, imagining him looming over a cowering Gia, bursts my happy bubble. “I know.”
Her eyes, still hard and unreadable, search my face, then she sighs, and her expression softens. “I’ll try to talk to him and calm him down before he does something really stupid, but he never really listens to me or cares about my opinion. We’re not exactly close. Hell, I’ve seen him more in the past few months you girls have been here than in the rest of the thirty-eight years I’ve been alive, and he’s barely even home. So, don’t get your hopes up, but I’ll see what I can do.”
A lump forms in my throat. “Thanks, Zia Stella, Gia could use the help.” I’m not sure it’ll do much, but it means a lot that she’ll try, that shewantsto try. It means a lot that she’s only hanging around her insufferable brother because of me and Gia. I never considered that she was only coming over as often as she does because of us, and that she never did it before we came to King City. Maybe I should’ve realized it sooner, since it’s not like she ever really talks to Dario, and he doesn’t seem particularly close to her.
To know that she’s putting in the effort to see us makes me want to bury my head in her shoulder and cry.
“I should go talk to Gia,” Zia Stella says, trying to wrangle her hair into a neater bun. “She’s probably worried sick.”
She is. She’s stressing really badly after everything that’s happened, and knowing that prompts me to say,
“You know, Gia may act tough and try to seem cool and like she doesn’t care, but really, she’s just a little girl desperate for love from a mother or a mother figure.”
She blinks at me like she has no idea where this is going or why I’m bringing it up. And maybe I shouldn’t say anything, but this weight on my shoulders is so freaking heavy, and I can’t keep doing everything on my own.
I think I can trust Zia Stella, especially after tonight’s revelations, and especially after she looked at me like she saw me, like she knew me well enough to know I was covering for Gia. Plus, I think she’ll genuinely look out for Gia’s best interests. With that in mind, I continue,
“Gia was so upset at disappointing you, someone I think she sees as a mother figure, that she tried to run away from home tonight. That’s why she borrowed Dario’s car.”
A little gasp is the only noise Zia Stella makes, so I continue candidly, “Florence and Aunt Julie were awful, and you know Dario’s not winning any father of the year awards, but Gia really looks up to you. So please keep that in mind when talking to her tonight. What you think of her means a lot to Gia, and I don’t want you to hurt her.”
The unexpected confession seems to really hit Zia Stella. She’s frozen to the spot as her eyes glisten with unshed tears.
“You . . .” She takes a moment to gather her thoughts.
“You really think Gia looks up to me like that?”
I nod. “She does.”
She swallows and recovers her composure, clearing her throat and straightening her clothes. Avoiding my eyes, she busies herself with collecting her things. “Well, I . . . um . . .
I understand. I’m going to go talk to her now. Try to get some sleep, Siena.” When she meets my eyes, her own seem raw and vulnerable. “Thank you for telling me.”
Thank you for keeping our secretorDon’t make me regretitdon’t seem like the appropriate responses right now, so instead I say, “Good night, Zia Stella.”
She heads to the stairs, and there’s a frantic scampering above us as Gia scrambles to get into bed, no doubt having spent the last twenty minutes with her ear pressed to her door. Zia Stella and I exchange brief amused glances before she goes upstairs, and that’s when I know Gia is going to be okay. No matter what happens to me today, tomorrow, years from now, Gia will always have Zia Stella, and the thought that I don’t have to do this alone anymore helps me take the first full, real breath of the day.
Nineteen
It’s a dark and gloomy Saturday morning when Dario’s taxi pulls up in front of the curb, like the weather was warning me of his arrival. I slept like shit and woke up early enough to learn Zia Stella had to go back to work, and therefore no one warned Dario before he walked in and was blindsided. The wind carries his curses through my cracked-open window even over the slight rain. I listen as he tries—and fails—multiple times to call Zia Stella and find outwhere the fuck my car is and what thefuck happened to my garage!
I was kind of hoping Zia Stella would get to him before this happened, or that she could at least be here for moral support while we get ripped to shreds.
My bedroom door opens, and Gia peeks her head in.
Her pixie hair sticks up in all different directions, and the oversized concert T-shirt she wears as a pajama shirt slides off a narrow shoulder. “Dario’s home.”
