Page 11 of Bittersweet Endings
OCTAVIA AGOSTINO
“Where are you going?”
Pausing with my hand on the front door, I turned to Apollo. The bright light in the foyer did little to dwindle my raging headache. “Out.”
He didn’t respond, just stared with a deadpan expression. Yet, something in his eyes told me he was itching to make accusations.
“Jesus Christ.” I sighed, slamming the door and stomping towards him. “If you’ve got something to say, fuckin’ say it.”
“I see your time in captivity enhanced your language. What else did it do for you?”
“Showed me that none of you can protect me so I need to protect myself.” I stood against him, toe-to-toe. “Now. Ask.”
“Why did he let you go?”
There it was. The accusation. Finally spoken aloud while buried beneath a simple question.
Before I could reply, the stairs creaked. And I looked pasthim to see Marco and Sienna watching us, with Lucky and Pops standing just beyond the threshold of the office.
No one said anything. No one had to. They all wanted the same thing. My answer.
“This is fantastic.” I laughed, running a hand down my face. “Why did he let you go?You all want to know why he let me go. How I got back by all outward appearances unscathed. How the beastly Carmine Ragetti didn’t eat me alive. Well, maybe it’s because I’m stronger than you imagined.”
“That wasn’t what I asked,” Apollo stated.
“It was. You just don’t like the answer.” I held my own against him. “A bullet in my arm and a hole in my heart. Look at your faces. Listen to your accusations. Isn’t that revenge? He won. You don’t trust me. Hell, you’re finally realizing that maybe you never knew me.
Lucky stepped forward, his face hardened but his tone soft. “You have to give us something better than that, Tave.”
I sighed, pressing my head to the door. “I know it sounds insane to you, but it’s the truth.”
And thenil diavoloappeared, menacing and calculating. It made acid burn in my throat; the level of mistrust was stifling. The future boss was here and my brother was gone. “So you’re telling me the enemy just decided to hand you back out of the kindness of his heart?” Lucky scoffed. “That family has been after us for years. Carmine uncovered the truth about his uncle, but he just let you go.”
“Not. Kindness.” My voice broke. “Because he knew! He knew I’d fallen for him. Happy? Are you all fucking happy?”
Their faces were a stark contrast of the family who used to adore me. They looked at me like I’d just said the most unforgivable thing in the world. And maybe, to them, it was.
Sometimes the truth hurt. And this truth was ripping me apart from the inside out.
“Fucking hell, Octavia.” It wasn’t pity I saw staring back at me in my brother’s eyes. It was disgust. “Please tell me that’s not true.”
“Like I meant for it to fucking happen, Lucky!” My voice cracked. “Ifoughtit. God, I foughthim. You think I wanted this? To feel anything but hatred for the bastard who took me, pretended to care and then threw me away?” My breath hitched, but I kept going because if I stopped now, I wouldn't start again. I needed to get this out. “After years of hiding, suddenly someone slaughtered the monster under your bed. It was mercy. His protection and the things he said... You start to forget what’s real. And I forgot. I forgot who I was. Who he was. Until it was too late.”
I swallowed hard. It didn’t matter. Nothing I said mattered. Because my family didn’t believe me and the man I loved only wanted me because of my last name. The same name I didn’t ask for.
“He might’ve let me go physically, but emotionally I am dying on the inside. He thought he could keep pulling my strings. He tried to use me to get to you. And when I said no, he threatened my nephew.”
Sienna started crying, but I couldn’t look at her.
“I protected him. Sadly, I can’t say any of you would have given me that same courtesy.”
“How many more are here?” Apollo asked.
I laughed. “I ran them out. They’re gone. But go ahead. Keep looking at me like I’m the traitor. But know this: I choseyou. All of you. Over Carmine. Over Peiro. Over Rick.”
“So,” Lucky snapped, “you expect us to believe that you gave himnothing?”
My chest burned. My hands were shaking. “I can see it in your faces. You’ve already decided.”
