Page 107 of Always Mine
“Just be gentle with her.”
He nods stoically and I know he’ll stick to his word.
Chapter seventy-five
In The Name Of The Father
Marco
Beepingandwhirringechoin my ears. It feels far away, like I’m swimming under water and being drawn towards the sound up on the shore. The closer I get, the sharper the sounds get, until my own groans as I try to move my body mix with the rhythmic hissing, whirring, and beeping that bounce around me.
I’m trying to open my eyes, but the effort is almost too much, and I’m just about to give up when I hear her sweet voice, the same one filled with light and hope and something else. Raw desperation. I manage to get them unstuck. The face of the angel who dragged me back from the brink of darkness beams her light into me once more. She’s makeup-free and her hair is pulled off her face, the bits that have escaped acting as telling signs of where she’s been scraping her fingertips through it anxiously. Silent tears stream down her face, her chest heaving with the sobs she’s trying her best to contain.
“Don’t cry, Kitten,” I croak out. My throat burns, and I go to lift a hand to her face, but the tubes attached feel like ten-ton weights, and the effort is too much. Instead, Sophia leans down and kisses myforehead. I revel in the comfort of her familiar touch, the warmth of my own tears cascading down my cheeks.
“You can tickherooff your bingo card, Marco-Boy,” she says, trying to use humor to mask the horror of what she witnessed. I laugh weakly, but that quickly turns into a pained groan.
My parents walk in then with two doctors. One introduces himself as Dr. Solano, the trauma surgeon, and the other is his attending. A nurse checks my vitals and writes on my chart. I fix my stare on Dr. Solano, trying not to become distracted by the huddled and bone-tired forms of my parents standing behind him.
“The operation went well, Mr. Marrone. We removed the bullet successfully, and while you did experience a significant amount of blood loss, you’re extremely lucky that the bullet missed your major arteries and vital organs, so there’s no other permanent damage. We’ll keep you here for at least a week to ensure we manage your pain and risk of infection,” he explains. “We’d also like you to start some physical therapy while you’re here and advise you speak to one of our therapists. You’ve gone through a significant trauma, and there’s a strong chance you’ll experience PTSD. That goes for you too, Sophia. Don’t be too proud to lean on your support system—I can tell by the waiting room filled with your friends and family you’re lucky to have a solid one. Rest up, and I’ll be back around in a few hours.”
Sophia doesn’t drop my hand the whole time, her touch soothing and grounding all at once.
When he leaves, the suffocating heaviness of unspoken words blankets the room. My parents approach the bed tentatively, like they’re petrified. I stretch my free arm towards them as best I can to silently tell them it’s okay. Then they both break, their tears of relief and remorse mixing with my own. My mom strokes my face, murmuring “I love you” and “Sorry” like a chant. My dad wraps one arm around her waist to support her swaying body and uses his free hand to wrap his fingers around mine.
“Dad. Mom. Is what Chiara said true? How…What does this mean?” I whisper.
They share a look and nod their heads. They both look so broken, the toll of carrying that secret for almost thirty years etched into both their faces. Regardless of the conversation we’re about to have and the shock I’m grappling with, I remind myself these are the two people who raised me and supported me in everything. I am the man I am today thanks to Samuel, and the example of love, care, and patience he’s always shown. At the very least, I owe him the chance to explain his side of the bombshell Chiara dropped.Stay calm and listen to all the facts with a level head first, son. Then make your call.Even now, it’s his words of advice ringing in my ears.
Chapter seventy-six
Day Of Reckoning
Marco
I’mexhausted,inpain,and in need of rest. But more than that, I need answers. In a few short hours, my whole damn world shifted on its axis. My dad pulls up a chair and places it by my side, while my mom perches on the edge of the bed, her hand still in his.
“I can give you guys some privacy,” says Sophia, moving to stand.
“Stay,” instructs my mom. “You’re family. But more than that, you’re my son’s soulmate. Without you, his heart doesn’t beat. You’re lucky if you find that kind of love once in your life.”
Then, looking at my dad with reverence shining in her warm brown eyes, she continues, “I was blessed to have found it twice.”
She nods at my dad, giving him the go ahead to try and explain how we got here.
“I always knew the moment of truth would come for us. In some ways, I have held my breath for the last twenty-nine years, never sure of when the day of reckoning would come. And yet, I had no idea it would happen like this. That the revelation would be both a saving grace and shot straight to the heart,” my dad explains, anguish written all over his face. “I’ve never felt more helpless than I did tonight seeing your body crumple to the floor from selflesslytaking a bullet for the woman you love.” He exhales deeply from his nose. “The irony is not lost on me that the first and last time I saw your biological father, he too was lying in a pool of his own blood. The brutality of that day still haunts me, and after last night, I have another haunting memory to sit right alongside it.” He scrubs a hand down his face before continuing. “It’s never mattered to me if you were biologically mine. The moment I made a promise to a young Italian man named Roberto in a hole-in-the-wall espresso bar that I would look after his soulmate and their unborn child, you became mine. You and your mother became my family.”
He continues, “I never had much time for relationships back then anyway. My time was best spent providing private security for elite New York families and their clients and anyone else with the means to pay for the level of security my company offered. My story with your mother may have had a tragic start, but it has bloomed into the most powerful testament of love.”
He places his hand on the one my mom has entwined with mine, desperate for us all to be connected. “You two are the only people who make me feel like an honorable man in a way fortune, prestige, and success never could,” he explains.
I don’t have the words or the energy to ask questions or demand more explanation, so I let my parents unload all the secrets and regrets they’ve carried all these years.
“I’m sorry I failed you as a mother by keeping something this profound from you,” my mother’s small voice begins. “So many times over the years, I wanted to tell you. But Roberto’s dying wish was that you were kept away from the world he grew up in. He didn’t want his family name to drag you back into a life he was trying to break free from. One where life was not valued unless what you had to offer was of value to the family and their soulless business dealings. Roberto and I were young, just eighteen when I found out I was pregnant with you, but we loved each other deeply. It was love at first sight when he came into my family’s restaurant where I was waiting tables. I didn’t know it at the time, but the night I saw him for the first time, he had been sent to roughup my dad. To be honest, my dad wasn’t a good man. He was obsessed with power and wealth and ruthless in his pursuit of it. He was a soldier for the opposing mob family to Roberto’s, one that was hated by the other mob families because they had very little regard for playing by the rules that been established across all the families. They crossed lines everyone knew were off-limits. And then there was us. Star-crossed lovers, I guess you could say. That day, he let my dad off the hook, but when my dad found out a few months later I had been seeing Roberto behind his back, he gripped me hard enough to leave marks. Roberto was furious. He was also disillusioned with life in the Mafia, and we dreamed about running away together to start a new life.” She swipes the tears away, a faraway look on her face. It’s clear to me that even though it was cut short, my mom shared a deep love with Roberto. “When I became pregnant, he was more resolute than ever, especially because my dad’s mean streak was getting worse. The day Samuel ran into Roberto, he had just dropped me off at an exclusive luxury estate owned by a family who owed him a favor. The older couple promised to keep me safe. And the plan was for him to return after he tied up one last loose end. He never made it back.”
My mom’s face takes on a faraway look, like she’s gone back to that day where her entire life changed overnight. Sophia hasn’t stopped stroking my hair the whole time, her touch tethering me to this life-changing moment for more reasons than one. What does this new revelation mean for us? Is it just another challenge stacking up against us?
“Samuel, honey, you should explain what happened next,” my mum murmurs.