Page 43 of Shattered Choices

We lay in bed, Salvatore resting his head on his hand, his other hand playing with a lock of my hair.

“So, you want to tell me about yourfriend,Pino?”

I laugh at the mocking way he saidfriend. “Are you jealous?”

He shrugs. “Why would I be jealous? I’m the one sleeping in your bed, not him. I just don’t like the idea of him following you around the whole day and how much time you spend with him.”

I lay my hand on his chest. “Well, he is a friend. He’s like the brother I never had. We were basically raised together.”

He chuckles. “If he’s like a brother to you, why are you marrying him?”

I exhale and turn onto my back. Since we’re having a deep conversation, I may as well be honest with him. “We had a pact when we were kids and that was the only reason I had thecourage to come back here. There is nothing but sibling love between us. He loves another girl who he lost because of this life. Before I asked him to go through with our pact, he was determined not to marry.”

“May I remind you that you are still married to me?”

I smile. Because for the first time, being reminded that I’m still his wife is not bringing bad memories but good ones. I turn to him and smirk. “Maybe I like being reminded.”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “No. You are not escaping this conversation.”

I exhale. “Well, I did send you divorce papers, and we had a plan, so I could soften my father’s heart into accepting me back. The plan worked, even if it wasn’t completely necessary.” I look into the distance. “My father didn’t kill my mother. It was just an idea I had in my head. A story my mind created without knowing the whole truth.”

“What was the truth?” Salvatore raises a questioning brow.

“She was the one who pulled the trigger. She killed herself so my father didn’t have to choose between her and his duty.”

“Why would he have to choose?”

“Because she wanted to leave him and take me with her. She didn’t want me to live a miserable life with Sabatini. The rest, you know.”

“I understand.” He doesn’t say anything else, but the look in his eyes turns murderous at the mention of Sabatini.

I study his hard face. “You didn’t catch him, did you?”

“No. He disappeared into thin air. But we’re watching for his whereabouts. There’s a ten million bounty on his head and still nothing.”

I look him in the eyes. “Promise me you will find him and make him pay.”

He wraps a hand behind my neck, leaving just inches between us. “I promise I will hunt him down and find him no matter how long it takes.”

I smile and snuggle into his arms before I fall asleep and dream about the life I may have if we did things differently. If I didn’t lose my precious baby.

When I wake up, Salvatore is gone, but my rose is in his place with a note.

Think of me, my love.

Until tonight,

Love, Salvatore

It was easy for us to fall into the same routine every night. It was easy to have him for myself every night for weeks and not think about the consequences. To be all giddy and wait for the night to fall so I could go home and wait for him to sneak into my room.

So easy that I never thought that I would have choices to make.

Choices I wasn’t ready for.

nineteen

Salvatore

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