Page 159 of Breaking Rosalind
She was withdrawn and absorbed in her phone, the same way Benito gets when he’s fixated on his device. At the time, I thought this was a strange reaction to grief until Roman got arrested outside the funeral house.
That night, she drove out of the gates, leaving only a note. It said her marriage to Dad had been a mistake she’d regretted, and she was going to correct that by joining Tommy Galliano.
I found a second letter beneath my pillow, explaining that she had gone to join my biological father. She wanted to warn me in case someone spilled my secret, but added I should join her in New Jersey.
That was it. No further explanation, just a sentence telling me I wasn’t Enzo Montesano’s son. I called Mom, but her phone had been disconnected. I wanted to leave for New Jersey, but the cops had just charged Roman for murder.
When we got the news of her wedding to Tommy Galliano, I thought he was my father. Mom didn’t respond to any of my emails or to the letters I sent to Galliano’s mansion. I saw her on that bastard’s arm in the society pages, looking happier than she’d ever been with Dad.
She took her reasons for cheating on Dad to the grave, and I was determined to forget about the contents of her note until Matty Galliano sent me a letter, explaining that he was my biological father. Now, that twisted bastard is trying to turn my brothers against me by making me look like a liability and a mad dog.
“I can’t believe you,” Miranda’s sharp voice slices through my thoughts. “I already saw the worst of what you did. Why can’t you just tell me why you killed them in cold blood?”
Leaning into Rosalind’s side, I murmur, “Tell her.”
Rosalind shakes her head.
A lump forms in my throat. It’s not my place to tell Miranda, especially when I only have a fraction of the story. I know the pain of having only slivers of the truth and to be haunted by unanswered questions.
Miranda rises off her seat to sit at my other side. “Can’t you share what she told you?”
I wrap an arm around her narrow shoulders. “The last couple of weeks have been rough. Just give her time.”
While the little girl cries into my chest, I stare at Rosalind’s profile. She’s so lost in her thoughts that she hasn’t noticed Miranda is taking comfort from her captor.
Sighing, I make a solemn vow to protect them both from the machinations of Matty Galliano… and from myself.
SIXTY-TWO
ROSALIND
Blurting the truth to Cesare was a blessing and a curse. He’s helping me get Miranda out of state, away from her father and the Moirai, but he’s determined to interfere with my most precious relationship.
There wasn’t much time to rebuild my bond with Miranda after I rescued her from Mom and Matteo. Gunther was furious that I’d taken company equipment for a side-quest instead of reporting to him after my first mission.
Miranda still saw me as a monster when I enrolled her at school and for years afterward. I’d hoped the memory of that day would fade with time, but she only built up walls.
I knew there was a chance I would be the villain of her story and hoped to abduct her without shedding blood, but so much went wrong, and I had to adapt.
Leaving Miranda behind to get molested by her father wasn’t an option, considering her uncle is also a pimp. I couldn’t let her fall into the same trap I did and become another sex toy.
Cesare gives Miranda’s shoulder an absent pat, but his attention is fixated on me. He wants me to lay my secrets bare and expose the wounds of my past when I can’t even utter the words.
Miranda isn’t the only one who’s built walls around her heart. Mine are a fortress of festering corpses, broken skeletons, and shame. Even if I wanted to talk, my mouth couldn’t form the words.
I can’t let her know she’s the daughter of two monsters. I also can’t allow her to know her father never died.
A tense silence falls across the back of the limo that continues as we walk through the airport. I glance around, my senses on high alert. Every face that passes could be a threat, especially if Matteo or his men have followed Cesare.
Miranda walks by my side, staring straight ahead and avoiding eye contact. I wonder what the hell Cesare could have said to her in such a short amount of time to form such a deep attachment. The loudspeakers overhead announce flight departures in a cacophony of languages that drown out those thoughts.
Matteo spent months paying me special attention, remembering the little things that made me feel special. He eroded the boundaries bit by bit until he became my entire world. Years passed before I realized what was happening was abusive, and by then it was already too late.
Up ahead are signs to the airport lockers, one of the many locations where Britt and I left items necessary for escaping the Moirai. I guide Miranda toward them, and Cesare follows, his posture also rigid.
After retrieving the bag containing our IDs, I steer Miranda to the ladies’ bathroom and usher her inside.
The door closes behind us, muffling the sounds of the airport.