Page 105 of Forgive Me, Father

“She never speaks English?”I asked quietly, watching the curve of his jaw as he drove.

A smile curled at the corner of his mouth.“That’s the first time I’ve heard her do it.Ever.”

His tone was soft, reverent almost, but his eyes stayed locked on the road ahead.Even now, he drove like he was guarding a secret.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot,” he said with a smirk.“That’s how you Americans say it, right?”

I laughed.“Yeah, we do.Okay, does she really vanish for a whole year and just reappear like a ghost every birthday?”

He chuckled, the sound low and fond.“She does.My Nonno, for all his power and admiration, kept her in a cage.”

“A cage?”My eyes widened.“Like an actual?—”

“No,” he interrupted with a laugh.“Figure of speech, Cami.But yes, controlled.Watched.Like she belonged to the legacy instead of herself.”

I nodded slowly, letting that sink in.

“So after he passed, she finally got her freedom.Not that Mavis likes it.”

“Your aunt?”

He gave a curt nod.“She tries to control everything.But Nonna—she finds a way to slip the leash.Every damn year.”

I smiled.“Luigi thinks it’s Roberto helping her disappear.But I don’t know, after today?I think it’s Luigi.I saw the way she looked at him.”

Alfonso raised a brow.“Luigi?”

“You didn’t see them together.She adores him.”

He let out a small laugh.“The fruitcake?”

The way he said it made me laugh harder.“What?”

“Please tell me you know that he is different.”

“I picked up on it.But that is not what I mean.She loves him.”

“I got news for you.My Nonna loves all her grandbabies.Even the dark ones.It’s not Luigi.”

I let out a mock gasp.“So you know who helps her disappear?”

He chuckled, like he was setting a secret finally free.“She deserves the escape, Cami.”

“Wait.”I narrowed my eyes.“You?”

He glanced at me sideways, full of mischief, but he didn’t reply.

“It’s really you?”I pushed a bit harder.

“Yes, why is it so hard to believe?Believe me, I would do it too.My family is big, overpowering, and demanding.”

That was the sweetest thing I’d ever heard.

“If you want,” he added casually, “you can come with me in a week.”

My smile stretched wide.“Does anyone know it’s you?”

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