“Well, that depends on Liana. What doyouwant to do?”
She lets out a sigh and turns her head to look out the window. “It’s not right that he took her away from me,” she mutters so low I’m not sure she wanted us to hear. But I do, and it lights the fire of rage inside me. I clench my hand around the steering wheel, whitening the knuckles on my fingers.
“She said she has a lot to think about—understandably so—and that she’ll reach out to me when she figures out what she’s going to do.”
“There’s just one itty bitty problem with that,” Gui says.
“Yeah, what’re we going to do about Ignazio? It’s only a matter of time before he catches us,” Gio says.
“Then we’ll handle him,” I say.
Liana whips her head in my direction, and I feel her eyes boring into the side of my face. “What does that mean?” she asks.
“Exactly how it sounds. We will defend ourselves if it comes down to it.”
“But, Massi, it would be the three of you against however many men Ignazio has. We would be outnumbered.”
“Ehh, don’t you worry about the numbers, little sis. We can handle whatever Ignazio sends our way,” Gui says.
Liana keeps her sharp gaze on me, so I finally glance over at her. Concern consumes her eyes. “I don’t like that plan, Massi,” she mumbles.
I take her hand in mine and place it on my lap, giving it a light squeeze. “You don’t have anything to worry about,mia moglie. We’re not going to let anything happen to you or your mom.”
“But what aboutyou? What about your brothers? If anything were to happen to any of you, I wouldn’t be able to liv?—”
“Nothing will happen. I promise you that,” I say.
“You can’t make a promise like that,” she mutters, and I lift her hand, placing a small kiss on each of her knuckles.
“I can if I mean it.”
“You can’t predict the future, Massi. This is getting very serious. We’re treading dangerous waters still being here.”
“I promise you, Liana.Nothingwill happen to any of us.Any of us.”
She pauses, studying me for a moment, then gives me a small nod and sits back in her seat.
“I’m not sure how long my mom needs to figure out what she wants to do, but if she decides to stay with him, I’m not sure I can just return to New York like none of this happened. He’s a monster for what he did to my family. Forcing myself to walk out of that spa knowing she’s going to return to him was already difficult enough.”
“We can always take her with us. Against her will if needed,” Gui says.
“Do we really thinkthat’sa good idea?” Gio asks.
If Liana wants us to do that, then I’ll do it, no questions asked, but as I gaze at her while she stares out the window, something tells me that option is not on the table.
“I don’t think forcing her is the answer. She’s already been forced for the past decade of her life. I just need her to…”
“To what,mia moglie?”
She glances back at me. “I just need her to remember. She had a dream—more so a memory—about me and my dad, which is why she believes what I told her about her previous life. I’m sure she’s questioning everything with Ignazio, but I think if she can just start remembering more, it’ll push her over to completely leave this life she had here and come home with us.” She glances back out the window. “But I don’t know how long that could take.”
“Then we’ll stay here until it does.”
“Massi, you guys can’t?—”
“There’s no discussion, Liana. We’re not leaving Sicily until your mom comes with us. We’ll figure it out.”
52
