His hold tightens fractionally, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear. “Some people are broken. Their damage runs so deep they can only destroy what’s good around them.”
But Sabrina is my sister. My blood. The one who was supposed to be there when everyone else was gone.
“I feel so stupid,” I whisper, pulling back to look at him through swollen eyes. “So blind. I should have known—”
“No,” Raffaele cuts me off, his voice firm as he cups my face between his hands. “This is not your fault. Never think that. You saw the best in her because that’s who you are. Because you’re good, Alina. Genuinely good in a way few people are.”
I shake my head, unable to accept his words even as I desperately want to believe them. The yacht rocks beneath us, a reminder that we’re floating in the middle of nowhere while my world collapses around me.
My sister wants me dead. And now I have to live with that knowledge for the rest of my life.
For the next few hours, I cling to Raffaele while sobbing and screaming out my heartache. Once I have no more tears left to shed, I feel cold. Not chilly. No, this is the kind of cold that seeps beneath skin, sinew, and even muscle, to settle in your very marrow.
Sitting up, I wipe at my dried tears with the back of my hand, trying to gather the shattered pieces of myself. Each breath feels like drawing air through broken glass.
Sabrina, my own sister, conspired to have me killed.
The knowledge sits like poison in my veins, corroding everything I thought I knew. Reaching for the phone, Raffaele wordlessly hands it to me. I scroll through the messages until I find the one my mind keeps playing on a loop.
Sabrina: Just make sure she doesn’t come back. She’s the reason my dad’s dead. I want fucking revenge!!
She’s said this before… ‘my dad.’
When… when… oh. It was at Mr. Clark’s office, wasn’t it? Why does it feel more significant now?
“Alina.” Raffaele’s voice tears me from my thoughts.
“Yes?”
Looking at him, there’s something in his eyes—a cold finality that tells me there’s more to this conversation. More decisions to be made. More pain to endure.
“There’s something else you need to know,” Raffaele says, his thumb brushing across my lips. His touch is gentle, but his eyes have hardened into emerald stone. “Sabrina will be waiting for us when we return to Cleveland.”
My head snaps up, confusion cutting through the fog of betrayal. “What do you mean, waiting for us?”
“I spoke with Matteo while you were sleeping.” Raffaele’s voice is matter-of-fact, as if discussing dinner plans. “My family is bringing her in. Keeping hersecureuntil we arrive.”
A cold dread spreads through my chest. The way he says secure makes it clear this isn’t a friendly family reunion he’s arranging. “So she’ll be okay?” I ask, my voice trembling traitorously. Even after everything I’ve just learned, I can’t stop the instinctive concern.
Raffaele’s lips curve into something too sharp to be a smile. “My family won’t hurt her… much.”
The pause between those last two words hangs in the air like a guillotine blade.
“But,” he continues, meeting my gaze directly. “After we speak with her, I won’t let her live.”
The words hit me like physical blows. Each one distinct and brutal in its clarity. Won’t. Let. Her. Live.
“You’re going to kill my sister.” It’s not a question. My voice sounds foreign to my own ears, hollow and distant.
“Yes.” No hesitation. No softening. Just cold, immovable certainty.
I push away from him, needing space, needing air. The movement sends pain shooting through my healing skull, but I welcome it. The physical discomfort is easier to process than the emotional maelstrom tearing me apart.
“Alina.” Raffaele doesn’t reach for me, respecting the distance I’ve created. “I will never—never—allow anyone who threatens you to live. That’s who I am. That’s what it means to be mine.”
“She’s my sister,” I whisper, the words catching in my throat. “My only family.”
“Family doesn’t try to have you murdered.” His voice remains steady, reasonable. “Family doesn’t conspire with strangers to end your life. What she did—what she wanted to happen to you—that’s unforgivable.”
