Page 56 of The Forever One

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” My tone is pitchy, much like his, but nothing stops us from saying what needs to be said to one another.

Petal is cuddled into Marco’s side as they stand beside us and I know all this can’t be good for the baby, I just can’t seem to find the right function to help anything though.

“Come here, gorgeous.” I open my arm to bring Petal into our hug and we stand there for I don’t know how long. This seems good enough for now. It’s all I can offer them.

“Marco, you guys need to get going. We can’t hold off calling the cops any longer.”

“Grazie, Enzo.” A warm palm lands on my shoulder and Marco whispers into my ear, “We have to go, Tesoro.”

I don’t want to leave.

Ignoring him, I squeeze Ev and Petal a little tighter.

“I would do anything in the world for you but we really need to go, Baby.”

Petal pulls away first, nodding like a voice of reason who understands exactly what she needs to do. I never wanted any of this for them. They don’t deserve an ounce of the pain they’re suffering. I make a vow to remind myself to have a talk with Ev about the whole Volpe thing soon. It’s not that I’ve been keeping it from him but it’s difficult to find a good time to talk about your whole family living a secret life.

It was difficult enough to tell them about mine.

With her arm around her husband’s waist, Petal gives me a sad smile. “Beautiful girl, you know everything happens for a reason. And as shitty as this is now, you know we all have something to learn from this.” Petal swearing is always a shock, but hearing it now only hammers home what she’s trying to say. “We’ll find a way through this.” She squeezes Ev’s side as tears trickle down his cheeks and steps forward, grabbing my cheeks and kissing my head before moving back into her husband’s side.

Her strength is astounding and I nod as she and Ev head back inside. Enzo is hovering behind us, silently urging us to go and get into the waiting car.

But I can’t do it. As the front door closes behind Everest and Petal, my knees buckle beneath me. I fall to the ground, Marco moving quickly to stop me from hurting myself, and gently grip Kai’s hand.

“I can’t leave him alone, Marco. I can’t…”

“I know, Tesoro.”

He doesn’t say anything else as he slides an arm under my knees, the other across my back, and lifts me. My strength has been zapped away and I don’t even have the energy to fight him. I know he’s doing what he needs to, which is why I wrap my arms around his neck.

Kai’s body slowly gets farther and farther away from us as Marco walks away with me in his arms. It’s one of the most painful moments of my life and I’m going to allow myself the time to suffer this loss.

For once, I’m going to rely on the man who loves me with all his heart and let myself break.

If only for a little while.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

MARCO

River fell asleep in the car on the drive back from her brother’s house. No doubt, her body crashed into protective mode from the inconsolable sobs that racked her entire body as her head rested against my shoulder.

The only thing I could do was wrap my arms around her shaking shoulders and squeeze her against me as tightly as humanly possible.

Once we arrive home, I carry her sleeping body into our bedroom and lay her down on the couch in the corner of our large bedroom. Her face is blotchy, eyes swollen, even with her lids closed, lips puffy and wet from her tears. Worse than everything is the fact that, just like me, she’s covered in Kai’s blood and I can’t let her see that when she wakes up.

Making quick work of undressing myself, I send out a quick text to Stefano asking him to bring me a garbage bag. We’re not keeping these clothes. If I could, I would burn them to ashes. Hell, if I could I would go back in time and shoot that motherfucker before he ever got the chance to take out his gun.

Enzo is keeping me informed of any news he may have in real time. He knows me well. I need information to stay sane and I refuse to have nothing for River the minute she wakes up.

A light knock distracts me from my wife’s sleeping form. Taking the bag, I thank Stefano. Before I can close the door, he stops me with a hand on the knob.

“Come sta la signora? Cosa posso fare per aiutare?” A soft smile graces my lips at worry swimming in Stefano’s eyes. River has become like a daughter to him and wanting to do something to help her makes complete sense.

“If there’s anything, I promise I’ll let you know.” Stefano nods, bows his head slightly and steps back.