“To talk.”
“You’re off schedule. It isn’t time for our morning visit. Come back tomorrow.”
Aldo’s expression remains stoic. “I wish I could, but this can’t be put off any longer.”
I’m tied to the bed by wires and IVs and, despite the medication, a wicked pain in my leg. I can’t leave, but that doesn’t mean I have to listen. “Fine, talk all you want. I’m going back to sleep.”
As if closing my eyes offers any solace. I still see her, can’t see anything but her, and the stabbing in my chest puts the one in my thigh to shame.
“We have to talk about Lena.”
I turn my face away from my uncle’s voice. “There’s nothing left to say. She’s gone. We killed her.”
“Is that what you think?”
I ignore his question. “I should’ve made her leave. I nevershould’ve let her stay here, never should’ve let her anywhere near Ari.”
“As if she would’ve let you stop her.”
I groan, screwing my eyes closed tight. I love Lena’s defiance. No—loved.
I’m pressing the red button again, desperate for anything to knock me out. Aldo pries it out of my fist and pushes the controls on my bed, forcing me to sit upright. “Stop,figliolo. I’ve let you hide here for days because it seemed necessary for all involved, but now you need to stop and face reality.”
I direct a slew of curses at my uncle, all of which he ignores. When I run out of energy I just say, “Give me one good reason why I should.”
“Because Lena would want you to.”
Well, fuck. Talk about kicking me while I’m down, and saying the one thing that will actually make me listen. I push up against the pillows and stare blankly ahead. “Say what you came to say.”
“Pronto.” Aldo returns to his seat, his demeanor as calm and controlled as always. “I’ve sent Ari to Italy.”
“What?” I can’t hide my astonishment. “He’s not dead? He didn’t die in the explosion?”
“He didn’t, no. Nor did I kill him, if that was going to be your next question.”
“You let him live after what he did?”
Aldo sighs and his mask drops for a moment. He’s weary, heartbroken. Just like me. “What he did to you and Lena was unforgivable, but so is what Marco did to him. After I pulled him from Montecristo and he was patched up enough to talk, Ari revealed just how horribly my brother treated him. His life with Marco was torture. I should never have let him mentor Ari, but it seemed like the right decision at the time. It was the one thing Marco really wanted after I took the position that was supposed to be his. Letting my brother fuck up yours was myfault, Rem. I must take responsibility for that. And, consequently, for what Ari’s done since.”
“What he’sdone?!” I’m shaking with rage, disbelief. “He murdered your daughter, mywife, and you’re taking responsibly by sending him on a fucking trip? That’s your form of justice?”
Aldo gives me a hard look. “I said I’m taking responsibility for his behavior, Remus, not that I’m absolving him of the damage he’s done. I promise that San Luca will be prove adequate punishment for your brother.”
“Nothing you do to him will bring Lena back.”
“No. That depends on you.”
Bring Lena back…
There’s a rushing in my ears as I try to decipher his comment. I can’t make sense of it. “What? Bringing Lena back…depends on…me?”
Aldo nods. “You have a choice, Rem. You can let your need for revenge against your brother take over your life and destroy any chance you have of finding happiness with your wife, or you can let me deal with Aristide as I see fit and, in turn, I’ll place Lena—her life, her safety, her happiness—squarely in your hands.”
I feel feverish and frozen, both at once. My tongue too large for my mouth, my ribcage too tight to contain the riot of my heart. “I don’t understand.”
“Then listen and I’ll explain,” my uncle says, watching me carefully as he relays, from the beginning, how we ended up in this giant fucking mess.
How it took Ari longer than expected to track Lena down, his search stirring up enough whispers that the rumors about her existence reached Aldo.