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.”
“I haven’t heard anything about them.”
There was a tension that seemed to rise in the room the moment we both considered what might have happened to them. I tried not to think of it most days, but it seemed impossible. Now that we were together, with our thoughts toward them, it made me feel sick in my stomach. There was the fear that was always looming over my shoulder, and being there with Alessandra only solidified it. If they’d killed our parents, there was the chance they’d killed our brothers, too. In fact, it was likely that they had.
I felt a shiver sweep over my entire body, causing my hairs to stand on end. Alessandra’s tears continued to stream down her face. I could tell just how upset she was, too. Her face was flushed and I could feel her hands shaking in mine. For all we knew, we were alone in the world. Just the two of us.
I peered back towards the door, nervous that he would be there, ready to interrupt us. I was glad that Marcello had kept his promise each time he took me to see my sister and had finally started giving us privacy.
“You just stay alive, too. Okay?” she said. It was the first time since it had all started that I saw her smile. I felt a warmth in my chest the moment it formed on her lips. It was a small action, but it was reassuring. If we could smile while under such circumstances, then there was still hope.
The door opened behind me and I took her into my arms once more. I held her tightly as she did the same, her arms nearly squeezing the breath from my lungs. His footsteps neared us and I let go slowly, knowing not to prolong the situation or cause him any grief. He’d already let me know that he wouldn’t deal with any more emotional situations like the first time.
I pushed myself off the old bed and wiped away the tears that were forming in my eyes. There was always a sense of emptiness that filled the void of not being able to be near her. I could tell that she felt the same way whenever we were separated. I followed Marcello out of her room and didn’t look back, even though I could hear her crying from where I stood. It hurt more each time, and there was always a certain helplessness that came with it. I had no idea what Savio was doing to her, but I prayed that it was nothing like what Marcello was doing to me.
* * *
I wasn’tsure how to react to him not watching me eat. It was the first time since our agreement had started that there hadn’t been a new twist or turn. That evening, I got to eat in silence and was relieved when I saw that the slit in the door was closed. I could feel his presence looming behind the door, but wasn’t sure how to react to him suddenly being aloof.
I finished the meal, which was a hamburger and fries. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I devoured each part of the meal as quickly as I could. It was hard to even know what it tasted like. I wished I could have left the room and gone to choose the condiments that they’d added to my burger myself. I wanted to leave, even if it was only for a couple of hours, just to do normal things.
I brushed my hair back behind my ear and lifted myself off the cold concrete floor. My knees were shaking from the strain, after almost two weeks of no exercise. The most movement I had was when Marcello walked me down the hall to see my sister, and it wasn’t enough. I bit my lip as I made my way to the old bed, which was still backed into the corner of the room, as though it was an afterthought.
I jumped at the sound of the metal door screeching along the ground. Marcello was silent as he lowered himself to the plate and picked it up from the floor. There wasn’t so much as a crumb left over on the plate. I wiped my lips with shaking hands, unsure of what he’d do the moment he was in the room with me. After everything that had happened, I couldn’t trust him to just leave me alone.
His dark hair fell in front of his eyes as he stood upright. I could feel his eyes hovering over me, as though inspecting me. It reminded me of the first time we met. His white t-shirt seemed to expose every muscle along his wide body, as though it was painted along his chest and arms. I couldn’t help but stare, realizing just how powerful he was. His brothers were small in comparison, and that was saying something.
