Prologue
Adrian
15 years ago
“I don’t want you to go,” I say, grabbing my mother’s hand as she packs a suitcase for some trip she only told me about ten minutes ago.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” she assures me, ruffling my hair once before disappearing into her closet again to grab more clothes.
“Does Dad know you’re leaving?” I ask because I know something isn’t right. I can feel it deep in my gut. My mother is acting weird, and I need to find out why. Maybe then I can stop her from leaving.
“Of course he does, Adrian. I wouldn’t just go without telling him,” she promises, but her left eye twitches a little, something it always does when she lies.
“Mom, please, stay. At least until Dad gets back,” I beg and pull on her shirt again. She yanks her arm away and grabs both of my shoulders.
“Go ask Tini if she wants to play with the new Carrera track and remote-controlled cars your father got you,” she says, leading me out of her bedroom and toward my sister’s. I knock on Valentina’s door as I look over my shoulder at my mother one last time.
My little sister, the most important person in my life, opens her door to show me she’s wearing one of Dad’s Velocità Rossa baseball caps and a bright smile on her face. She’s holding the remote in her hand, already playing with the gift our father got us.
When I ask if I can join her, she grabs my hand and pulls me into her room, leading me to where the track is set up.
Valentina hands me the other remote and settles down on the ground again, patting the spot next to her to get me to sit with her. Tears fill my eyes as I take a seat, watching my sister’s mop of dirty-blonde curls dance as she wiggles from side to side in excitement. I try to swallow them back down, but they fall when I wrap an arm around her, knowing that I won’t be able to protect her from what’s about to happen.
I won’t be able to protect her from all of the pain our mother will inflict because I can’t even spare myself.
I let the tears fall down my cheeks as I press a kiss to the crown of her head, hating that my little sister will know heartbreak before she even knows what that word means.