I pursed my lips as I pressed down my dress and stood up, feeling the cool ground against my feet. I pushed my hair back behind my ear as I waited for him to open the door. There was no food today—it seemed as though it would strictly be visiting Alessandra, which I was fine with. I hadn’t been in the right frame of mind the previous day to go and see her.
My stomach knotted the moment the door swung open and he motioned me to come. I passed through the doorway. My socks were barely able to keep my feet warm as I walked along the ice-cold concrete floor.
I was glad that he wasn’t pushing me down the hall as I walked. Usually, that was something he did, and that I’d slowly grown accustomed to. I could hear his heavy footsteps behind me and feel his eyes on me as I made my way towards my sister’s room.
As we reached the door, he came forward and unlatched it, allowing me to push it open. I smiled meekly at him but then the sound of the metal creaking against the cement caused me to grind my teeth. It penetrated throughout the empty hallway, echoing throughout the walls around us. The air was cool where we were, and there were no windows anywhere. I did see a set of stairs at the end. I wasn’t going to attempt an escape. Not unless Alessandra was growing desperate. I knew that it might lead to death, but I’d do it for her and I know she’d do it for me.
Alessandra was sitting on her bed, staring up at the ceiling as the door opened. Her light blue dress was a stark contrast to her cell, which was all dark greys and browns. She stood out like a light in a tunnel.
A large smile crossed her lips the moment she saw me, and I couldn’t help but return it. I jumped into the room and ran towards her, hoping to use up every minute that we had, every second until I’d be forced out of the room again.
I felt a sense of relief the moment the gray metal door closed and Marcello’s footsteps retracted down the hallway. It had finally happened—we were alone. Just the two of us. Nothing could stop me from taking her in my arms, to squeeze her tightly and never let her go. It always felt like too long when we were apart.
She sighed in my arms and pulled away, tears forming in her eyes as she lifted hers to mine. “How are you? I’m shocked that he let us be alone.”
“So am I. I’m good, or as good as I can be,” I replied, glancing about her room, which was a mirror image to mine. “How have you been? I’m just glad you’re safe.”
“I don’t know how Lucia is. I haven’t seen her yet.”
“Marcello hasn’t mentioned her, either.”
Alessandra wiped away the tears forming in her eyes and bit her lip. “I hope she’s not dead. I mean, I wouldn’t put it past them. Especially after everything that’s happened. I’m just worried, and I can’t help but think the worst.”
“I know how you feel. I’ve been reliving every moment since we got here. Like, I can barely sleep at night lately. It’s like these feelings of impending doom just come over me. It’s fucking awful.”
Alessandra nodded lightly. “I know. It’s been happening to me, too.”
I wondered, then, if I should tell her what was happening. The last thing I wanted was to make her more worried. There was something about the way Marcello acted that was off-putting, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was doing the same thing to her. I wouldn’t put it past him—we were, after all, identical twins. For all I knew he could have had a thing for twins. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had voiced that kind of thing with us, and Marcello did have a perversion about me eating food with my hands, so who knew what else turned him on.
“There’s something I want to tell you, but I’m not sure if I should say.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me. “You know you can tell me anything.”
I took in a deep breath and wrapped my fingers around her hand, hoping that it would help soothe her reaction. “It’s about Marcello. He’s been visiting me, and the only reason I’ve been able to visit you is by doing what he says.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I didn’t want him to overhear me telling you. I wasn’t sure what he would do, or say if he knew that I’d told you about our arrangement.”
She squeezed my hand. “It’s not just you,” she said, causing my heart to skip a beat. “Savio has been visiting me. I’m guessing it’s in the same way that Marcello’s been visiting you. I don’t want to get into the details, though. It’s not something I feel comfortable talking about right now. I hope you understand.”
Somehow, all three of us had been targeted by the Cavetti men. I only hoped that Savio was being kind to Alessandra. It was hard to read her at that moment, but I knew she didn’t want to discuss it.
Then, there was Romeo, who was notorious for being cruel. The Cavetti men had been raised to be monsters, but it didn’t mean they all were. Marcello had been surprising in many ways, but if she was being hurt by Savio, I didn’t want to admit that to her.
“I get it, and I don’t want to go into details either. As long as he’s not hurting you.”
There was a silence that passed between us, which rarely happened. I could remember times when we were together and back at home, enjoying our privileged lives. Everything had changed in an instant, and I still didn’t know why it all happened the way it did.
“Nevermind that. I just wantyouto be careful,” she said, staring into my eyes. “We’re still in danger here, and it’s hard to know what they’ll do next.”
“It just seems so strange.”
“And it is. They’re playing games with us, but you need to play along for now. We just have to survive, which I know we can.”
“I hate the fact that we have to force ourselves to survive.”
She nodded and squeezed my hand harder. “So do I. Have you heard any news about our other siblings? I mean, I’m really worried that something happened to our brothers.”
