Page 163 of Mine Again
Isa sighs, eyes fixed on the sky.
“I’m not sure,” she says. “This is one hell of a roller coaster. One minute I’m in the pits of despair, then I’m suddenly climbing again, feeling lighter. But…”
She turns her head toward me, eyes clouded with doubt.
“But Luca, I’m afraid of the next drop. I’m not sure how much more I can take. My whole life seems like a web of deceit and manipulation. I still don’t know what’s real anymore.”
I slide my arm beneath her neck and ease her closer until her head rests against my shoulder.
We lie like that in silence, watching the clouds in the sky wander past in the breeze.
“I’ll be right there with you through every turn and fall,” I say quietly. “You won’t have to face any of it alone.”
I mean every word. But even I know it sounds like a promise I shouldn’t make.
We’ve been here before. But I’m determined never to let history repeat itself.
Isa relaxes against me, not in surrender, but something close to trust.
We keep our eyes on the sky, but I can tell her mind isn’t resting.
Her fingers twitch against my ribs, her body tensing up again.
The silence stretches. When she speaks next, there’s a slight tremble in her voice.
“When were youactuallycoming back for me?”
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Luca
It’s the question I’ve been dreading most.
Of course, it had to come up. I expected it. But still, it burns a hole straight through me.
Because no matter how reasonable or true my answer is, it will probably never be enough.
I glance at Isa, reaching for her hand and threading our fingers together. She lets me, but her eyes stay on the clouds, like she’s bracing herself for whatever truth comes next.
I let out a humorless laugh.
“Right after the job in Brazil, I planned to come for you,” I say. “It had been on the books for months, even before your father was killed.”
I pause, letting the memories settle.
“When I heard what happened to him, I wanted to come for you right then. But Brazil was looming, and taking you with me was out of the question. Not to a location crawling with criminals and guns on every corner.
“Leaving you behind felt equally wrong. So I told myself you’d be safer with your family. That I’d come for you the moment the job was done.”
I glance at her, my voice quieter now.
“And I did. Though not under the circumstances I had imagined.”
I squeeze her hand, but she doesn’t look at me.
“Isa, I was constantly searching for a way to come for you sooner. I went over every possibility, trying to find a path that would get me back to you.
“But every conclusion was the same. If I got you out of Sicily, it would have put your whole family in danger. You’d never have risked your sisters’ lives, and neither would I.”
