Page 62 of Pretty Poison

A weak laugh slips from my lips as I swipe angry tears from my eyes before they have the chance to slip free. “You were supposed to protect me from this exact situation. You were supposed to intervene as best you could, so I, at least, felt loved in some sense of the word, but instead, you left without a trace. I didn’t know if you were alive or dead, and if it wasn’t for this situation with Dario, I still wouldn’t know. He cared about meenough to show me what it was he did for a living, which led me straight to you, and all you care about is my phrasing of words?”

“You have to understand—”

“Understand what, Apollo? That the only man who has proven to love me time and time again is someone I met a couple of weeks ago? It wasn’t my father, the person who was supposed to love and care for me through any situation. It wasn’t my big brother who left me to deal with him alone to chase his boyfriend and not even try to make amends with him after storming out like a little bitch. No, Dario fixed everything that you two broke.”

“Liana!” Ace’s loud voice echoes around the concrete chamber. “That’s enough!”

“It’s not enough, Savio. It’ll never be enough!” I spit before turning back to Apollo. “To understand my pain, you have to live through it yourself. But every single decision you ever made, including leaving me with a man who broke my heart, led me to Dario and for that I suppose I should be grateful. But how could I ever be grateful for having to grow up without you there?”

“Liana—”

“No, don’t you dare apologise. We both know you meant every single word you said… I just really wish you didn’t. I wish you could take it all back, because the last thing I wanted was to have an argument with you. I wanted you to see the real me, the person you knew before you left, rather than the woman I’m becoming by being a Vitale wife. But you couldn’t help yourself, could you? You couldn’t let me relish in what could’ve been. You had to ruin it.”

“Don’t you dare open your mouth unless you understand what she’s saying, Apollo,” Dario’s voice commands from behind me.

I spin around on my heels, his face comforting me. I didn’t hear him come in, but now that he’s here, I don’t feel quite so tense any longer.

“I know this is a difficult situation you’re in, but be glad you’re dealing with her and not me or any of my brothers. I’m sure you understand how they work by now?” They both say nothing, nodding their heads to his words. “Then be glad that Liana still loves you both. If I had it my way, she wouldn’t step foot in here again because you’ve upset her. But she’s her own person who still loves both of you, and she’d have my balls if I prevented her from coming down here. But I swear to fucking God, if you so much as make her heart hurt like this again, I will kill you both without a single ounce of hesitation. And I really don’t want to do that, because she’ll hate me for the rest of her life. And I’m sure you know her love is enough.”

“I’m okay,” I breathe, glancing up at him.

His lips turn into a heartfelt smile and he inches closer, placing a comforting hand on the small of my back. “Go ahead,” he says. “Finish telling them what you came here to say.”

I swallow back the lump in my throat and wipe away the tears that have since slipped free. “I need you two to try and remember anything about the aliases you pointed out. No matter how small or irrelevant it may seem, I need you to tell us everything.”

“Fine,” Apollo says, sitting himself down on the floor. “Alfonso Barone was a sketchy guy I only met once. I could tell he was old and had a beer belly, but not much else. He wore a long trench coat and a mask, so his facial features and what he wore were hidden. I figured it made it easier to deal with him because if I’d seen his face, I might’ve punched it once or twice.”

“His mask slipped once, though,” Ace chimes in. “The only thing I could see was a small scar on his forehead. It looked fresh.”

“Okay, what about Armando Giordano?”

“I got a better look at him,” Apollo adds with a smile. “He was slim and clothes always looked so dishevelled. His hair was always well kept though.”

“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?” I screech in disbelief.

“We told you we didn’t know much,” Savio shrugs.

“Think back,” I urge. “Close your eyes and think back—”

“What good will that do?” Apollo scoffs. “We’ve told you all we know.”

“What good will it do?” I retort. “I want to exonerate you two, to release you so at least the people you love know you’re alright. Don’t you want to at least know that they’re okay too?”

Savio immediately averts his eyes from me, staring up at the corner of the ceiling as if it’ll make me go away. He’s a strong guy; I know that much for sure, but the death of his family is something that still haunts him. The memory of finding them makes it almost impossible to get past it.

“I know your family would want you to get out of here alive, Ace.”

“What do you know?” he scoffs, a breathy laugh slipping free. “They’re dead and they’re not coming back, Liana. I know you know that. Don’t make me relive it by mentioning them.”

I offer a tight-lipped smile, silently apologising.

Taking a deep breath, as if to compose himself, Ace closes his eyes. “It was a year after our last encounter with Alfonso that wemet Armando. He was strange and kept to himself, almost like he didn’t want to give too much of himself away.”

“Is there anything you remember about his appearance, or did he disguise himself too?”

He shakes his head, his eyes squeezing tighter. “He preferred to stay in the shadows. He never wore anything to hide himself as far as I could tell.” His head twists slightly and his brows furrow.

“Wait,” Apollo says, his face mimicking Ace’s. “He had a scar.”

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