Page 50 of Leave Me (Touch of Death 2)
“Is she dead?” she asks.
“No.” I dump Gabriella in the back seat, and her body slumps over. “They’re right behind me.”
She gets in, and I take a seat up front. “No shit. Not like they could have missed your presence.” She slams her foot on the gas pedal, and the car lurches forward, the entire frame trembling violently as she speeds down the rough track.
I release a long breath. “Really? I couldn’t exactly scale the fence with her.”
She glances over her shoulder at the unconscious mafia queen, and I really wish she’d focus on the road. “Bianchi evidently doesn’t like her as much as the sister.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I mumble. “Adelina doesn’t look much better.” There’s a long beat of silence, and I kick myself for saying it.
“You saw Adelina?” The accusation in her tone is as loud as her words.
“I didn’t know where Gabriella was being kept. I couldn’t exactly search the whole house. I thought Adelina would know if her sister was there. She did.”
In my periphery, I see Una turn her head and stare at me. She really should look at the road; nevertheless, my gaze remains fixed forward, refusing to acknowledge her. “And that’s the only reason?”
“Yes. I assure you. I am indifferent to Adelina Ricci.”
The car shudders and jolts over the dusty track until we finally hit smooth asphalt. We turn onto the main road, but the pace only picks up. We can’t relax yet. Bianchi’s control will be far-reaching.
“You know, I never wanted you to be indifferent to her, Sasha,” Una says, seemingly out of the blue.
“No, you were right. I let her affect me, and I shouldn’t have.”
She sighs heavily. “We aren’t soldiers anymore. We’re more than just a kill list.”
Are we? I’m not sure I will ever be more than an Elite, or ex-Elite. Una is a mother, a partner, a soldier, an assassin. She can wear different faces and master each one—that was always her gift. I have never been able to adapt in the same way. Ever since we left the Elite, I often feel like a soldier without a commander, looking to Una to fill that void. But she’s moved on; she’s adapted.
“I don’t know how not to be a soldier.”
“You were for her. She was good for you.”
“You hate her.”
“No, I hate that she endangered our family. I hate that you chose her over us.” Her head tips back against the headrest, and her arms straighten as she grips the steering wheel. “I hate that you were shown a glimmer of normal, of…emotion, only to have it torn away. And I hate that she made that choice willingly.”
“So, you hate her,” I say on a smile.
“No, brother. I just love you.” She clears her throat. “Don’t be indifferent. Love is supposed to hurt. How else do you know it’s real?” Her words come too late.
I don’t want any part of love or the weakness it brings. I don’t wish to be at the whims of another person’s choices, forced to suffer in the aftermath. Adelina has taught me that you cannot control another’s actions, and so to leave your fate in the hands of someone else is nothing short of stupidity. My mind knows it’s foolish, and yet, as I close my eyes, all I see is the shadowy silhouette of a princess in a tower, wishing she could be saved.
The sun is high in the sky before Gabriella finally wakes up, and when she does, I struggle to look at her. Gone is the fiery daughter of a mafia lord, and in her place is a broken little girl who has never truly seen violence. And if Enrique did this to her in only forty-eight hours… My mind concocts nightmares about Adelina’s fate. I close the lid on that train of thought, locking it up once more.
Her eyes are still black with bruises though less swollen now. She sits in the huge chair that adorns her father’s former desk with Lorenzo lingering behind her as though he’s ready to jump to her every need.
Una glances at me, then back to Gabriella. The girl’s distant gaze remains fixed on the scarred wooden surface of the desk, and a single tear breaks free, tracking down her cheeks.
“Gabriella?” I ask, and she blinks, her dazed eyes drifting to me. “You need to tell us anything you know. Anything that could help us…”
“I…” She blinks several times. “I walked right into it. He set a trap, and I…I’m so stupid,” she chokes.
“What trap?” Una asks cautiously.
“I was fed information. He wanted me to take his shipment, so he had cause to kill me.” Her horrified gaze meets mine, and she shakes her head. “Without me, the mantle will fall to Adelina. He’ll marry her and control everything.”
“Adelina wouldn’t marry him if he killed you,” I say.
