Page 59 of Forbidden

She stares at me a moment longer, then turns toward the door. “Go home, Adriano. She’s fine without you tonight.” The screen creaks as she pushes it open, leaving me standing there, alone with the weight of everything she said.

I climb back into my car and drive away. Gianna’s right about one thing, Penelope’s better than me, purer somehow. But I’m selfish. Always have been. I want her anyway, even if it’s wrong. Even if it costs us both. I start the engine, the roar drowning out the silence, but not the gnawing it brings. What if love isn’t enough? What if I’m the storm she can’t survive? I drive off, the question gnawing at me, unanswered.

Chapter 21

Penelope

I sit on the edge of my bed, staring at the cracked paint on the wall. My heart aches, a dull, nagging pain that won’t quit. I miss him. Adriano. His rough hands, his voice, the way he looks at me like I’m the only thing keeping him sane. We have been apart a few days, him taking care of Henry and Ricci mess and me trying to find some normalcy in my life. We are together but we agreed to take this slow and see how it goes.

But damn, I’m a wreck without him.

The door creaks open. Gianna steps in, her arms crossed, eyes sharp. She flops onto the chair by my desk, kicking her boots up on the edge. Her bump is now very visible, and she and Gerald are still arguing about baby names but she is very excited.

“You look like shit,” she says, crossing her arms.

“Thanks,” I mutter, slumping back. “You’re a ray of sunshine too.”

Her mouth tugs into something like a smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Adriano came by today.”

My heart stumbles, a hard thud against my ribs. I sit up and grab the cushion. “What? When?”

“Yeah a few hours ago while you were helping me with Gerald at the market.” She runs a hand through her hair, tugging at the ends. “Showed up all brooding and pissed off, asking for you. I told him to get lost.”

Anger flares hot in my throat. “Why the hell would you do that?”

“Because I don’t trust him with you!” She stands, pacing the room, her bare feet slapping the floor. “I’ve always knownsomething was going on. Back when you were kids, you’d stare at him like he hung the moon. Those weird questions about him to Sophia, the way you’d blush when he walked in. I saw it, Pen. I just hoped you’d grow out of it.”

I shoot to my feet, fists balled. “You don’t get to decide who I see. He’s not some monster out to ruin me.”

“Isn’t he?” She stops, facing me, eyes blazing. “He’s a killer, Pen. A fucking drug lord. You think I don’t hear the stories? Guys strung up, bleeding out because they crossed him? And you’re over here pining like he’s some prince charming.”

“He’s more than that,” I snap, stepping closer. “You don’t know him like I do.”

“I know enough.” Her voice dips. “I saw what losing Sophia did to him. To you. He’s a wreck, and you’re my sister. My only damn family left. I can’t watch you drown in his mess.”

Sophia’s face flashes in my mind and I swallow hard, shoving it down. “I’m not drowning. I’m choosing him.”

Gianna’s eyes glisten. “Choosing him? After everything? I was there, Pen. That night she died, I held you while you screamed her name. You think I don’t see how you blame yourself? How he does too? You’re both so fucked up over her, and now you’re screwing each other like it’ll fix it.”

“Stop it,” I hiss, my voice trembling. “You don’t get it. He’s the only one who makes it hurt less.”

She steps closer, grabbing my shoulders, fingers digging in. “And what about the history between you guys? Everything that’s happened to us because you both crossed lines you weren’t supposed to? Dad, Mom, Sophia?”

Dad’s screams echo in my skull, the prison bars, blood on concrete, him gone because of my mess with the neighbor’s son. Mom’s blank stare, lost to dementia, blaming me in silence. Sophia’s broken body on the road, her eyes empty because I pushed her too far that night. I stagger back, my legs shaky.

“Don’t you dare throw that at me,” I choke out, voice splintering.

“I have to! Shit, Pen. You’re my sister. I just want you safe. Happy. Not tangled up with some guy who leaves bodies in his wake. You think Dad would’ve wanted this? Mom’s losing her mind because of the chaos you dragged us into, and Sophia—she died hating you. You’re both cursed, and I’m scared it’ll take you too.”

Tears burn my eyes, spilling hot down my cheeks. “I didn’t mean for any of it. You think I don’t carry that? Every fucking day, I see her bleeding out, hear her voice calling me a slut. Dad’s dead because I screwed up, Mom’s gone because I broke her. But Adriano—he’s the only thing that makes it bearable.”

Gianna’s face crumples, her hands dropping to her sides. “Fuck, Pen. I know you’re hurting. I feel it too. But he’s not the fix. He’s the fire that keeps burning us down.”

“No,” I say, voice raw, stepping closer. “He’s the only one who gets it. The guilt, the pain and he carries it too. I love him, Gianna. That’s why I’m falling apart. Not because he’s ruining me, but because I need him to breathe.”

She stares at me with wet eyes. “He said he loves you too. Kept talking about how he’d die for you. I didn’t believe him at first, but the way he stood there, like he’d do anything to get to you, it looked real. And it terrified me.”

My breath catches, a sob tearing free. “He said that?”

---