Page 308 of When We Fall: Part Two
“How could I? He was taken from me before I could.”
He said nothing, opting to drink more.
“Just answer me. Do you love her?”
“I don’t even know what to call this feeling. Love. Obsession. Madness. It all blurs together. All I know is that she’s gone, and something inside me is tearing itself apart. Every breath burns with the thought of her not being safe. It’s like my heart learned to beat for her, and now that she’s missing, it’s punishing me for every time I don’t find her. It happened so fast and became so all-consuming that I’m just… afraid.” He drank again before looking at me. “Is that love, Alessandro?”
Fuck.
“Yes,” I whispered. “That’s love.”
He let out a soft sound and drank again. “She loves you.”
“I think she loves you, too,” I muttered.
“What will we all do? Share her?”
I tensed at his words. “You don’t like to share.”
“Nor you.”
I laughed sadly at that. “You got me there.”
He poured me a glass and pushed it at me. “Drink until it makes sense.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then we’re both fucked, I’d say.”
We drank in silence for a long time before his phone buzzed. He stared down at the message before darkening the screen.
“Matteo?” I asked.
“No. My son.”
“Levin.”
He nodded. “He’s unhappy with me. We’re trying to work it out.”
“He found out about Rosalie, huh?”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “My other son is alive, but I’m sure you knew that.”
I froze at his words. “H-How did you know? Did Levin tell you?”
“Rosalie,” he answered. “I want to see him. I tried to save him, you know? When he was dating the Vasiliev girl. I tried. I thought I had, but he was always smart.” He sighed. “I fucked up with my boys. I need to repair those relationships before I attempt anything else. I am not a good partner for anyone at this time. I was going to tell Rosalie the night she was taken.”
“You were breaking it off with her?”
He nodded. “It was the right move. She made me realize I needed to get my shit together. That I was given a second chance and needed to take it, but I told her I wanted to keep her. It wasn’t a lie.”
“And then what? Once you figure out the family things?”
“I don’t know. I guess I had hoped the universe would bless me with her. She told me once that if it’s meant to be, it will. We were discussing a book she wanted, but wouldn’t let me buy for her. She said if it were meant to be hers, it would be.” He chuckled softly. “I’m applying it to my life.”
He got to his feet and clapped me on the shoulder. “You’d be good for her, Alessandro. Let this shit go and take her away fromhere. She’s a good girl and deserves the world. Give it to her. And if you can’t, I have a suspicion Matteo will.”
“What does that mean?” I frowned at his words.
