Page 150 of Mine Again
“Shhh,” I murmur. “Farfalla, I’ve got you.”
I cradle her tighter, one hand at the back of her head, the other wrapped protectively around her spine. I wish I could take her pain into me, carry it for her, and burn it out of existence.
“Isa,” I whisper. “Breathe, baby. Please. Talk to me.”
But she can’t. Her whole body is convulsing. Shaking.
And all I can do is hold her through it.
I don’t know how long we sit like that. My legs are numb. My spine aches. But I won’t let go.
Some dark, fractured part of me clings to the way she’s melted into me, because for the first time in years, she’s here. Real.Mine.
Eventually, her sobs slow. Her breathing evens out, but her fingers stay latched to my back.
Without lifting her head, she whispers, “You and I… we’re really just puppets.”
Her voice is so hollow, so devoid of hope.
“I’ve never been more than a chess piece on someone else’s board. Moved around at their will. No matter the cost.”
She sniffs, her breath stuttering.
“First by my father, the one man who should have loved and protected his children, but didn’t. And when he was gone, I thought I was finally choosing for myself… but I wasn’t. I was being played on a new board. By someone I didn’t even know existed.”
She draws a shaky breath.
“I… I f-feel like I d-don’t matter.”
New tears fall, soaking into my skin.
“Insignificant. Ex-p-pendable. M-my life isn’t even m-mine.”
Her shoulders jerk again. “I don’t know w-w-what’s real anymore. W-w-what to believe. What t-to t-t-trust.”
The final word is lost in a sob that sounds like it’s tearing her apart.
I cup her face. My thumbs brush away the tears.
My voice doesn’t waver. Only one thing matters now.
“Us,” I say.
Just that.
I ease her back to look at her. Her face is blotchy and soaked, hereyes swollen and broken and so damn lost.
“You and I are real.”
My eyes hold hers.
“Sometimes it feels like that’s the only real thing in this world.”
Chapter Fifty-Five
Isabella
Luca’s fingers caress my cheeks, his eyes so earnest.
