Page 21 of Bound To You
Stefano sits on the chair opposite the couch, staring at the wall. He told Victoria he had business meetings that would take a couple of days. She's unpredictable right now, and after we told her that her informant was wrong, she's gone down a deep hole with her drinking, so we decided to keep her out of the loop for now, especially since we still don’t know why Sofia suffered bruising for years. I have my suspicions but no proof yet, but I'll find it. I'm 98% positive she had a lot to do with most of Sofia's “accidental” injuries. Fuck, I need to torture someone again. It's been two days since I killed Mikhail and a week since I went to the underground fighting ring we run. I need to vent my rage, especially before I see my wife. The last thing I need is to cause her to run again. I rub the tattoo over my left peck. It’s Sofia's name, and dates from the important parts of our relationship.
It's been more than five hours, nearing 8 PM. at night. Where the fuck is he?
"Sweetheart, he'll be back soon. If he's gone this long, it could mean she's agreed to talk to him." My mother rubs my back, and I know she's right. I look at the clock again.
Suddenly, the door opens, making my heart race. We all stand to our feet and turn to look at my brother; his eyes are red-rimmed and glossy. What the fuck?
We all go to him as he bends his head, grabs his hair, and yanks it hard, then screams out in absolute utter pain, "Fuck!"
We all stop to stare at him wide-eyed before he looks at me, his eyes full of despair and devastation as well as a hint of guilt, and my heart fucking stops. No, fuck, this can't be good. I can feel it deep in my gut.
"Brother, the child doesn't belong to her neighbor. The little girl is…hers," he says with a sob.
Stefano walks to the wall near the fireplace, punching it.
I can't breathe. I stand there, looking at my brother. She’s weeping, and all I can focus on is that Sofia had another man's child. I mean, I'll raise her like my own, because Sofia is my wife. No child will get in the way of having her again, and Sofia won't want to leave her, so I'll just have to make do. It'll be my penance for all the hurt I've caused her. It’ll be my punishment and joy to raise another man’s child.
I'll have to kill the man who thought he could touch my wife, though.
I see red; someone touched my fucking wife! And she let him! Hypocritical, I know, but I don't give a fuck. No one touches my fucking wife!
"Son, wha?—"
Alexandr cuts our father off, his next statement causing my knees to buckle and fall to the floor as pain shoots through my chest.
"She's the exact image of us; she's her daddy's little girl. She has his eyes and dark hair…. She's yours brother, and we failed her. We failed them both."
He looks into my eyes, showing me his pain. "She knew who I was, brother, when she noticed me talking to Sofia on the park bench. She jumped out of the sandbox and screamed ‘Dyadya Al’. She hugged me tight, brother."
I sob, grabbing my hair tight, realizing the time I've missed not just with my wife but with my daughter. My daughter, fuck no, this can't be happening. I didn't fuck up so badly that I lost my daughter, too.
Shit, I can't breathe; my chest is tightening.
Stefano sits on the floor, leaning up against the wall near the fireplace. My father is holding my mother in his arms, trying to be strong while she falls apart, knowing she's missed three years of her granddaughter's life, and rage begins to take over, violence wanting to come out.
Sofia took my flesh and blood; she left me knowing she was pregnant. How could she? It doesn't matter what I fucking did; that's my child, and she took her!
Alexandr kneels in front of me when he notices my expression and my hands balled up into fists so tight they've gone white.
He speaks, his throat scratchy from his tears, "We can't be mad about her taking off and running away. You can't be angry with her, brother. She was scared, pregnant, and didn't know what else to do. As far as she was concerned, you didn't love her, and her father sold her for an alliance.
The day she caught you with Candice, brother, that's the day she came to tell you about the baby. She was further along than she thought, and when she heard us talking after the women left, she made the decision to call off the wedding and just let you be a father, but then she learned the baby was a girl and decided to protect her daughter. She planned her escape so your daughter would never have the same fate as her, so she isn't married off for an alliance or betrayed by the people she loves most."
I shake my head, my heart hurting, knowing he's right. I did this; we all did. I broke her, used her, and her family sold her off like cattle. The rest of my family knew and lied to her—people she cared about and loved. We betrayed her; we never should have kept her in the dark.
"What is she like, my daughter?" I whisper, causing my mother to sob harder.
He squeezes my shoulder, and I look up to meet his gaze, his eyes glossy with unshed tears.
"She is amazing brother. They took me back to their apartment. It's small but comfortable, and she showed me all her colorings and toys, and the pictures of our family on the mantel, including a photo of you and Sofia in France at the Eiffel Tower, kissing. Sofia cooked dinner, which she is fucking awesome at, by the way." He chuckles a bit.
I feel pride knowing she kept certain pictures, but I’m jealous because I know if she saw me in that park, she would have bolted.
He continues, knowing the war going on in my head.
"She showed me her room. It's pink with a princess bed, and she showed me the pictures she has near her bed. There's one of us together from your graduation, one of Mom and Dad." Our mother cries even harder, and my father's eyes turn glossier, fighting the tears back. "One of Stefano and Sofia from her graduation."
I hear a sob from near the fireplace. A Mafia don showing his emotions is not heard of, but he's also missed out on everything. He's hurting, too. This is his daughter, his granddaughter, and he knows he's part of the blame, too.