Twisted Bonds by Cora Reilly

CHAPTER 25

KIARA

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Remo and Nino were thestrongest men we knew, but there was one thing with the power to destroy them still after all these years. Their mother. Serafina knew it as well I did. We had to protect them and our families at any price, but how?

Serafina and I sat on the sofa in the living room, watching over Greta and Nevio as they played on the floor. I rocked Alessio gently in my arms, hoping to get him to sleep.

“We have to find a way to get her before they find out what happened,” she said fiercely.

“The hospital will certainly alert them soon. Something will come up, or one of the other doctors will want confirmation, and Remo will get the call.”

Serafina shook her head, scrunching up her face in despair. “What was he thinking? How could he believe a word she said after what she did to his brothers?”

“He wasn’t born when it happened. For him it’s an abstract scenario he can’t comprehend, but she was there in front of him, crying and begging. She was real and he wanted to help her. You know how much he struggles.”

“Because of what my family did to him.”

I looked into her eyes, wondering if she noticed how Adamo used her to remind himself of the past.  I didn’t think she was aware about the extent of his struggles, maybe none of us was. Adamo had become a master at hiding his addiction, his battles.  “We have to protect them,” I whispered. It was ridiculous, us trying to protect Remo and Nino, but in this case they needed protecting.

“Fabiano is the only one who can help us.”

I traced Alessio’s hairline gently as I held him in my arm. “He’s loyal to Remo. It won’t be easy to convince him to go behind Remo’s back.”

Serafina huffed. “It isn’t betrayal if he protects Remo from himself.”

“I have a feeling he and Remo won’t see it that way.”

“What about Nino? He bases his decision on logic. I bet he would agree with our plan to involve Fabiano.”

“Maybe.” Nino had come so far from the man I first met more than two years ago. He still had trouble with emotions, recognizing them, feeling them, showing them, but we were on a good path, or had been. The thought that this could set him back, it terrified me. When I hadn’t known Nino any other way, his lack of emotions had been tolerable. Now I knew how he could be if he actually felt them. I didn’t think I could survive faked emotions from him ever again.

“But it’s different where their mother is concerned.”

“Fabiano is our only chance. It’s either that or telling Remo and Nino.”

Serafina and I stared into each other’s eyes, and hers like mine filled with tears. “I’ll call Fabiano. We’ve got at last two hours before our husbands will be back.”

They’d sent us a text that they hadn’t found Adamo and would return soon. I dialed Fabiano’s number. He picked up after the second ring. “What’s wrong, Kiara?”

“Can you come over? Serafina and I need to talk to you. Please don’t tell Remo and Nino.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

He stayed true to his promise and stalked into the living room exactly five minutes later, eyes tense with apprehension, one hand on his gun as if he expected an ambush.

Alessio was asleep in my lap by now. Nevio and Greta still sat on their blanket on the floor and played with multi-colored wooden blocks.

“What’s the matter? Did something happen?” Fabiano asked urgently.

Serafina and I exchanged a look and Fabiano grimaced. “That look doesn’t bode well. What’s wrong?”

Serafina stepped up to him and touched his arm. They’d been friends as kids and in the last few months the tension between them after the kidnapping had finally lessened. “You have to swear that you won’t tell Nino or Remo what we’re going to tell you. Not unless we tell you to.”

Fabiano stepped back so Serafina had to drop her hand, his expression hardening. “I betrayed Remo once and I won’t ever do it again.”

“It’s not betrayal if you’re helping them.”

“I owe my Capo the truth. I owe him loyalty.”

“Do you think Kiara or I’d ever do anything to betray our husbands?” Serafina hissed, stepping close to Fabiano. Looking like an angel, she still managed to appear fierce. “You are the only one who can help us save them.”

“From what?” Fabiano asked, becoming intent and tense, ready to go into war to protect his brothers-by-choice.

“From themselves,” I whispered. “Please Fabiano. We need your help.”

“Then tell me what’s the matter.”

“First you’ve got to swear that you’re not going to tell them,” Serafina insisted.

“That’s not going to happen, Serafina.”

Serafina glared then turned and stalked over to Greta and Nevio, who’d stopped playing at Fabiano’s arrival.

Fabiano caught my gaze, his expression questioning. “Kiara.”

I sighed and put Alessio down into his crib before I faced Fabiano.  What choice did we have? We needed his help. Serafina gave a small nod, her lips pinched with worry.

“Their mother has escaped from the hospital.”

Fabiano’s eyes went wide then he shook his head. “Impossible. Remo gave the staff clear instructions. They’d never dare to go against him.”

“He gave them instructions to allow only a Falcone brother to release her.”

Fabiano frowned, then realization set in. “Fuck!” he snarled, causing Greta to drop her wooden block and began crying. He snapped his mouth shut and muttered under his breath. “What the fuck is wrong with the kid? First the fucking drugs, now this.”

Serafina cradled her daughter in her arms and as usual Greta calmed quickly. Fabiano sighed then glanced back toward me. “You realize Remo and Nino won’t rest until they’ve caught her.”

I bent over Alessio who was deep asleep, such a quiet baby when he wasn’t hungry. It hurt my heart to think he’d become that way because in his first weeks his cries had been ignored or been punished with pain. “Not if you catch her before them.”

Fabiano froze. “You want me to hunt her?”

“Hunt her and kill her,” Serafina said as she set Greta back down to Nevio who had begun clanking the blocks together.

Kill her? We hadn’t spoken about that. Serafina gave me a pained look.

“Kiara, don’t look at me like that. You know as well as I do that she’ll always haunt them for as long as she lives. Even now when they’re finally happy, she manages to ruin everything again. I want her gone from their lives once and for all. I want the past to end so we can focus on the future, on our family. I want her dead.”

Serafina was Remo’s wife through and through. She loved fiercely and brutally, and protected her children and Remo relentlessly. I gave a small nod, even as my stomach turned thinking I was deciding about someone’s life. But there was no limit to the length I would go to make sure Alessio and Nino were safe. I hadn’t intervened when Remo had killed Alessio’s birthmother, had I?

“You want me to kill her?” Fabiano asked slowly then laughed darkly. “Remo would never forgive me. Not in one million years if I took that kill from him and Nino. His fucking half-brother killed their father before Remo could. I won’t do that to Remo. If anyone ends that woman, it’ll be the Falcone brothers, not me.”

I closed my eyes. Fabiano wouldn’t budge on the subject.

Serafina stalked toward him. “It’s not just about them anymore. They have children. They have us. They have to be fathers and husbands.”

“Trust me, if they don’t handle her himself, they won’t be men you’ll want to live with.”

Serafina shook her head then whirled around, turning her back to us and slowly sank down beside her kids.

I didn’t say anything, terrified of Nino’s reaction when he found out.  Fabiano stepped up to me, his hands curling over the edge of the crib. “How’s Alessio?”

“Gaining weight and the burns have healed.” I met his gaze. “Do you want children?”

Fabiano smiled, but his eyes were worried. “First, Leona and I need to marry next year ... if that still works out.”

“Do you think Remo and Nino will still be chasing their mother then?” I couldn’t imagine being without Nino for that long. Even if he returned home now and then, their life would be dedicated to the chase and not our family.

“I don’t think so, but it might complicate the planning and everything else. I guess we’ll have to wait for their reaction.” He ran a hand through his hair, mouth tightening. He was as concerned about their reaction to the news as we were. He knew them, had known them a long time before Serafina and I did.

Fabiano strolled over to Serafina and the twins and knelt down beside them. Serafina didn’t look his way, her shoulders stiff. Fabiano handed Greta one wooden block after the other which she took after a moment of consideration and piled them up. Nevio, of course, got up and staggered over to Fabiano, keen eyes on the gun in his holster. Fabiano caught Nevio’s grabby hands. “No.”

That was a word Nevio wasn’t very fond of and his face scrunched up in an indignant cry. Fabiano chuckled, grabbed him and catapulted him up over his head. “One day you’ll be Capo, young man, but until then you’ll hear many no’s.”

Serafina turned to them, smiling slightly despite the tears trailing down her cheeks. Greta crawled over to her and settled in her lap. Feeling sentimental, I picked up Alessio, waking him. He mewled softly, blinking up at me. I pressed a kiss to his cheek and cradled him against my chest. “I’ll feed him.”

I left, heading for the kitchen. There was no reason to panic yet. Maybe Nino and Remo would handle their mother’s disappearance better than we hoped. They’d grown so much since I’d come to live with them.

The past was just that, the past. Right?

After Fabiano had sentRemo a text that he and Nino needed to come home as fast as possible, we waited. Fabiano and Serafina were still on the floor with the twins and I was stretched out on the sofa with Alessio on my chest when Remo and Nino returned. The moment they saw us, they fell silent. Nino’s brows drew together when he saw Fabiano then his eyes moved on to me. My eyes were red and so were Serafina’s.

“What’s going on?” Remo asked Savio, who’d been sitting on the sofa for the last hour, mulling over what we’d told him. Before Savio could reply, Nino walked over to me as I carefully sat up so as not to wake Alessio.

“Kiara? Has anything happened?”

I stood, then linked my hand with Nino’s. Serafina stayed on the floor with the twins, regarding Remo as if he was a ticking bomb. Fabiano rose to his feet, and I shivered, fearing what lay ahead.

I said, “Your mother escaped from the hospital. We don’t know where she is.”

Nino’s fingers became slack, something haunted flickering in his eyes, and his gaze went to Remo, who was frozen except for the look on his face. He looked the man I’d been scared of in the beginning.

“What?” The word reverberated with the promise of punishment, with pure unfiltered hatred.

“Adamo went to visit her and she tricked him into getting her out. When he wasn’t paying attention, she ran.”

“I still can’t believe this shit,” Savio breathed. He wasn’t as shaken as his brothers. Even though they’d told him about the events of that fateful day, he at least couldn’t remember them.

Remo curled his hands into fists and lowered his face to glare at the floor, shoulders shaking. Nino still hadn’t moved. The look on his face wasn’t any less unsettling than Remo’s.

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know,” I said, not taking my eyes off Nino’s beautifully cold face. “He wanted to catch her so you’d forgive him.”

Nino let out a choked scoff.

“What are you going to do now?” Savio asked.

“Catch her. Kill her,” Remo said in a low voice as he watched Greta and Nevio on the floor. He knelt and touched their heads.

“You’re going to hunt her?” I touched Nino’s chest.

“We have to.”

“I could hunt her and bring her to you,” Fabiano suggested, and I could have hugged him. My relief was short-lived seeing Nino’s and Remo’s expressions.

“No, not this time, Fabiano,” Nino said.

Remo leaned forward and kissed his twins, then staggered back to his feet. He pulled Serafina against him who pressed her lips together.

“She needs to die.”

“I know,” she said.

“When will you leave?” I asked.

Nino glanced at his brother. “Right away.”

Remo sighed. “She could still be close. I don’t want to give her time to leave our territory, or refresh old contacts.”

Serafina looked at Remo. “Old contacts?”

“When we took over, we killed most of our father’s men and the men who deemed themselves worthy of ruling over the Camorra, but we didn’t get all of them. Some of those cowards ran off. We thought they were in Mexico or Europe, but they  found refuge in Outfit territory.”

“We should head out to the mental hospital first, look through her things,” Nino said. He sounded cold, effective and his eyes were emotionless.

“Do you want me to come?” Savio asked quietly.

“You and Fabiano stay here and keep watch,” Remo said.

Serafina shook her head. “Remo.”

“No,” he growled. “This ends now. We will end it once and for all.”

“I’ll grab a few things,” Nino said. Taking Alessio, I followed him up to the bedroom. He stuffed a few clothes into a backpack, then another knife and gun in addition to the bowie knife and gun strapped to his chest. I touched his arm and peered up at him. A battle was raging in his eyes, cold against pain, hatred with love, then nothing again. “Don’t worry,” he said simply.

“How can I not?”

Serafina’s eyes heldthe same trepidation I felt. It was a miracle that men like Remo and Nino could love us in the first place, that they could control the demons that had a hold of them. Now I feared that this could be the tipping point for both of them. A catalyst that might snuff out their humanity.

We’d all gathered in the driveway to see them off.

“You’ll return as often as possible, right?”

Nino lowered his head. “Yes. This will be over soon.” I wanted to find consolation in the gray calm of his eyes but they were guarded and cold.

“Don’t lose yourself in the chase,” I begged. “We need you.”

Nino regarded me, then Alessio sleeping against my chest in his sling. “I lost myself many years ago and am still finding myself every day.”

I touched his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat against my palm, trying to find calm and solace in it. Today it didn’t work.

“Will you return to me as the man you are now or as the man you were when we first met?” I loved him, would always love him even if he returned to the emotionless man from the past, I couldn’t not love him.

Nino rubbed his thumb along my cheek. “I will return to you.”

I swallowed, grateful that he kept his promise not to lie to me and at the same time wishing he had. “And we’ll wait for you. Please return quickly. I love you so much.”

“And I love you no matter how I return.” Nino kissed my mouth then pressed a kiss to Alessio’s forehead before he turned and headed for the car.

Serafina’s expression was a mix of anger and despair as she talked to Remo but he shook his head once more, grabbed her face almost roughly and kissed her. Then he got down to one knee and bowed down so he was on eyelevel with Nevio and kissed his forehead. He straightened, went over to Savio who held Greta and kissed her forehead as well. Then Remo gave Savio a nod, which he returned with a determined expression.

They drove off. I let out a choked gasp and closed my eyes. Someone touched my shoulder and I found Fabiano beside me.

“Kiara, they will get through this. I’ve lived so many horrors with them, fought so many battles, faced so many enemies, people who thought they could beat us, but Remo and Nino are still standing and those people aren’t.”

“I know they’ll come out of this as the victors,” I said firmly. “But I’m worried what it’ll take to get there.”

“Nothing worth having comes easy or without a fight,” Fabiano murmured.

I nodded, then glanced at Serafina and saw the same determination. We were willing to fight because what we had was worth everything.