Page 33 of The Fates We Tame

Leonardo laughs.

I can’t bring myself to do anything. It’s taking too much effort to talk as if I didn’t just overhear them in the parking lot talking about effectively trafficking me to another country for the good of our family.

After the crash, I barely knew anything about my life, but my family was the one thing I assumed I could trust. Now, I know I can’t, and I remember what Theo said when we were outside.

We need to listen. Learn everything. Ask as many questions as you feel like you can.

“So, where in Sicily are we going?”

“We’re going to land in Palermo and stay there for a few days,” Leo says. “We have business there, so you can shop and sightsee.”

“And after?”

“To our place just outside Trapani,” Luca replies. “The point is to get you some sun, some fresh, clean, salty air. You need a vacation, even if it’s from recovery.”

I smile again because I’m supposed to. This is all too much. I start to feel sick, can feel my palms growing sweaty.

“You know, I think the fall winded me a little,” I say. “I feel like I’d be better seeing one of the physical therapists to make sure I didn’t do anything a little more serious. I’ll message you later. Okay?”

“Of course,” Leonardo says, standing before kissing both my cheeks. “We can be ready when you are.”

Luca studies me for a moment. The professional liar can obviously see I’m lying too. But I can’t change that.

“Be well,” Luca says.

I watch the two of them head toward the exit. Their silhouettes match. Tailored suits and lean frames. The sharp click of their highly polished dress shoes on the parquet floor keeps the same beat. They are strangers.

“Sophia.”

I jump at my name and turn, unable to ease my heart rate even as I take Theo in. He’s such a contrast to the men who just left. Rough but honest. Tattooed and dressed in a frayed hoodie.

The relief I feel at the sight of him is immeasurable.

“I’m going to run to the back to see if I can overhear them say anything else,” Theo continues. He hands me a key card. “Go to my room and wait for me there. I doubt they’d be so foolish, but if they suspect anything, they may act. You know how pissed Dawn was two days ago about the party, but she did nothing about it out of fear.”

He tells me the room number, then disappears down the hallway.

Tears sting my eyes.

I don’t feel safe anymore, even here, my second home for all this time. My whole body hurts; my head spins. Following Theo’s instructions, I go to his room. It makes sense to hide here. My brothers know my room number, my hallway, the staff, my physio, what treatment rooms I typically use. I bet Leo could ask for a key card from Dawn, and she’d give him one.

At this, the tears fall. I swipe them away viciously. I don’t have time for self-pity. I need to feel safe first. Then I can allow myself the luxury of wondering what the hell is happening to my life.

I step carefully up to Theo’s room and open the door. The room is plush like mine, but where I have done things to make my room homey, Theo has few personal effects. A book sits on the bedside table, a biography of a decorated military veteran. A laptop sits on his desk.

A part of me wants to pry, to learn more about the man I’m trusting.

I look up, and the mirror is right there in front of me. I snap my eye patch over my head and force myself to stare at my reflection. It’s not going to get easier.

I suddenly understand what my therapist has been saying about self-acceptance. I take in the indentation where the elastic presses against my skin. The scaly red line where the bottom of the patch rubs no matter how much petroleum jelly I put on my cheek. The red eye socket and the eyelid with eyelashes.

My prosthetic eye with its fake iris designed to match my original eye, yet it doesn’t.

I lie down on Theo’s bed and curl up tight. His pillow smells of him. Musky and soft. Panic washes over me in waves. I need a plan to make money. A job, of sorts. And I need a place tolive that is safe and secure, which effectively rules out any of my friends. I have to assume my family will know them.

And I need to figure it out quickly.

But it’s so overwhelming.