Page 122 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
Sophia nudges her nose against my thigh, and I pet her while tears leak down my face and sobs ravage my chest.
The pilot tells me our destination over the PA system. We’re going to be landing at an airstrip on the border of Campana and Lazio. It must be close to where my brother is staying at the moment. The prospect of seeing Dem so soon makes me cry even harder. He must be so worried about me.
My head pounds, and my entire body hurts, right down to my bones.
But I’m alive.
Hard to believe that only a few weeks ago, I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to live. But that was before Giorgio.
He’s changed everything, hasn’t he?
The plane bursts through thick, white clouds, and through my tears, I see an endless blue sky.
CHAPTER30
GIORGIO
By the timeI reach the castello, hours have passed since Mari got on the plane, but my body is still threaded with electric anger, and my hands still shake when I recall the panic in her voice. Being inside this car is the closest I’ve ever come to knowing what a lion feels like caged.
I want to tear Polo apart with my own damn teeth for what he did.
The gate is open. It’s the only obvious sign that something’s wrong as I drive into the yard. The castello and the tower loom before me, their dramatic silhouette all the more ominous now that it’s the scene of Polo’s plot to betray me. I’ve always felt a hint of unease whenever I come back here, but it’s different this time. There’s something final about it.
After I’m done here today, I’m not sure I’ll return.
Small rocks crunch beneath my leather shoes as I make my way to the staff house. I glance around, on high alert, but I don’t expect Polo to be here. He would know to run far away after Martina got away. When I pass the garage, I look inside and see another car is missing—the black Ferrari he’s always loved. Well, that’s the confirmation that he’s on his way to Sal to start his new life.
It’ll be a short one.
The door to the staff house is cracked open, and when I step over the threshold, the air is still and quiet. A chair is knocked over near the center of the room. I swallow, imagining Mari knocking it over as she ran up the stairs looking for safety. She must have been terrified.
Mypiccolinais stronger than she’ll ever know.
Inside the bedroom, I find Tommaso and Allegra.
The thought of Mari finding them like this makes me sick. The sight of their lifeless bodies crushes my chest, but I dig my nails into my palms and use the pain to dampen all other emotions. I don’t have time to linger on this loss.
There’s work to do.
Walking to the edge of the bed, I glance down at their blood-soaked bodies. On Allegra’s chest lies the silver cross that Polo’s always wore around his neck. He must have tossed it onto her body after he killed them. What for? Did he hope it would make God forgive him for his sins? He lived with the two of them for two fucking years. They were good people—kind, hard-working, modest. They didn’t want anything other than to live a quiet life out here.
Something wet trails down my cheek. The moment I feel it, I look at the ceiling and suck in a harsh breath.
There’s no forgiveness waiting for Polo at the end of this.
I pick up the cross and slide it in my pocket. Allegra’s not getting buried with anything that belonged to that fucking snake.
The work that follows is difficult. I could have made it easier on myself by burying them by the castello, but I have it in my head that they should be laid to rest by my mother. So I get a wheelbarrow from the shed and move their bodies deep into the woods.
Then I begin to dig.
With each lift of the shovel, the reality of the situation sinks in deeper and deeper.
Polo was eight when my mother died. She knew about him, but she never told me. It wasn’t until Polo’s mother reached out to me that I found out I had a younger half-brother.
I remember when I first told Tommaso and Allegra about him.
They were happy to get a new face at the castello.
