And the next voice I hear is my sister’s.
A groggy, hoarse, “Hello,” barely louder than a whisper.
I never thought I’d hear her voice again.I didn’t even know how true that was until this very moment as my throat is all closed up and my eyes are so itchy it’s like they’re full of sand.
But I clear my throat and say, “Hey, baby sister.I hear you’re doing great,” as cheerily as I can.
She scoffs, a faint, wispy sound, but it tells me I’m right all on its own.
“Fine is overstating it,” she says.“But I think I’ll live.And if I never have to go into surgery again, I’ll die happy.”
My heart starts racing again at the thought of her dying.That possibility is still too new, too raw, too possible.I wish she wouldn’t joke about it.But she wouldn’t be Chiara if she didn’t.
“Where are you?”she asks.“Why aren’t you here?Are you OK?”
In the background, I can hear a machine start beeping louder and faster.Must be her heartrate monitor.I shouldn’t upset her.
I glance at Matteo who is still just standing there like he’s made of stone.But stone warms up when the sun shines on it and his gaze is still nothing but cold.
“I’m in LA… with Matteo.Dad is fine too.And Mom and Lidia.Everything is turning out for the better,” I tell her.And Matteo’s gaze turns warmer.In fact, it explodes with all the heat of the sun, just like I’ve gotten used to it doing.Good.Finally.“I’m sorry you’re all alone there.I’ll come as soon as I can.”
That’s a tall promise.One I might never get to keep.Though if the sunshine in Matteo’s eyes is anything to go by, maybe he doesn’t hate me so much for trying to kill him last night that he’ll destroy my life now.
“Good, come soon, I miss you,” Chiara says.Then she scoffs again.“But I’m not exactly alone.My husband’s been here all night apparently.And now that I’m awake he wants to be in the room with me all the time.”
I get the distinct feeling that he just walked in as she says that.It’s a tension that translates even over the phone from all the way across the country.
“Be careful,” I tell her.Wishing I could give her better advice, wishing I could help her.
Because her husband is Angelo Ferro, the man who destroyed our family so that he could take over running the New York Mafia.And he forced her to marry him.He’s too old, too ruthless, too cold, and dark for her.And he’s the one who shot her.
By accident.Sort of, because Chiara leapt in front of the bullet that was meant for our father.But still.
“I’m still waiting for the curse to get rid of him for me,” she says.
“One of them will,” I say and smile.“Either the one hanging over me or the one I cast.”
My curse makes it impossible for any man to marry me, they all die soon after we become engaged.We once feared the curse extended to my two sisters as well.Now we hope it does.But Ferro is still alive, and they’ve been married for a while now.That’s OK, though, because I cursed him again during his wedding to my sister.
“What did you curse him with again?”she asks.
“That he will live a short life full of suffering and die soon and painfully.”
She repeats it and I’m sure it’s for Ferro’s benefit.
“Be careful, Chiara,” I warn her again.I wish she wouldn’t be so brave with him, because Ferro is a very dangerous man.Deadly dangerous.But my sister has never been meek.Not even for her own good.
I hear Tanya’s voice tell her that she should end the call now.
“I am careful,” she says.“Say hi to the fam for me.Tell them I miss them.Tell them I’ll see them again soon.”
“I will,” I promise her.
Then Tanya takes the phone, says goodbye and the line is silent again.After the conversation, the silence is deafening.Because it’s not just silence, it’s the absence of all that is right and good in my world.
Matteo takes the phone from me and slips it into his pocket.
“Happy now?”his voice is sharp, but his eyes are not.
