That was what we agreed on. The names Leo Bellomo and Ravenna Berlusconi would belong on tombstones. He’d be the man Don Bellomo killed to protect his wife and other son as the myth had it. And I’d be the Mob bitch who eventually got what she deserved. But to ourselves and our families, we’d be very much alive in their memories and their hearts, while we built a new life for ourselves in the Canaries. They’d find solace in our absence, knowing we’d finally found love and peace in each other away from all the blood and hate, where we’d start over with new names and professions, leaving our sins behind, moving only forward from now on.
“Is this your final decision?” Don Bellomo asked.
With a confident smile, Leo nodded.
“There’s something you need to know first,” Don Bellomo said, and my heart shrank. A secret revealed at a crucial time could be nothing but ominous. “Anastasia…she’s not dead.”
The world spun around me, and my knees gave. I held tight on the wall, afraid to fall and give away my hiding place. I couldn’t let them know I was listening, especially not now. I had to know how Leo would react to the news without knowing I was around.
“I found her after you shot her,” Don Bellomo added. “She was still alive. I helped her and gave her money to disappear.”
Leo faltered back a couple of steps, his breath catching. The he clasped his hands behind his head and pressed his forearms tightly over his temples. “Why are you telling me this? Why now?”
“You have to know that you didn’t kill either of your girlfriends. You can’t run because of it anymore. At the same time, if you expect to have a new life with Ravenna, you have to be sure you’re over the old one.”
Leo crouched down, his head lifting heavenwards. “Sia is alive. All this fucking time she’s alive.”
“I know where she lives and who she lives with. I can tell you, but only if you want me to.”
No. No. Please, don’t. Please, don’t take him away from me. I can’t live without him anymore. He’s mine. Mine. MINE!Please, Leo, don’t. Don’t ask. Don’t leave me. Don’t.
With every heavy breath Leo took, I held mine, my tears running free.Please don’t say it. Please.
“I… Fuck,” he mumbled. “Well, is she happy?”
My head jerked with a gasp. I placed a hand on my chest to contain my galloping heart, feeling as if it was going to explode. That was the last thing I’d ever expected to hear from Leo now. He didn’t ask for her address. He didn’t want to track her down or pursue her or finish what he started. He only asked if she was happy. Without him.
“Yes,” his father answered.
Leo nodded once and rose to his feet. Then he nodded again to himself, inserting his hands in his pockets and started down the hall. “Good for her.”
“That’s it?”
Leo glanced at his father over his shoulder. “Si, Papà. That’s it.”
“Then I hope you’ll be happy, too.”
“I know I’ll be. I already am.” Leo rounded the corner across from where I was hiding, and I couldn’t make myself invisible anymore. I needed him. I needed his physical touch surrounding me, and I needed him to feel me.
When he saw me, his lips stretched with a grin. I ran and threw myself into his embrace. He dug his fingers into my hair and took my lips into his in a scorching kiss. “Did you hear it all?”
I nodded, unable to hold back the tears.
“Do you hear this, too, baby? The silence in my head,” he said.
I heard it as loud as I heard the silence in mine.
“Do you still think I’m like my father?” he asked.
“No. I’ve always known you’re your own person, Leo. Anything I’ve said before was to wake you up from the delusions. You were never a clone or a replacement, not to me. There’s no one like you. You, too, are my everything.”
He smiled. “You were right about the void, baby. Just like you silence the screams, no one can ever fill that void but you. With Sia and Angel, I was obsessed. They were fantasies I created but could have never become real. Our bond is stronger than any obsession. With you, I’m in love.” He kissed me again. “Nothing could ever feel more real.”
*****
Thanks for Reading, Playlist and Epilogue!
I’m utterly devastated and heartbroken Forbidden Cruel Italians series has ended. I’ve lived with these characters for almost two years, and now I feel like a piece of me is gone.
