43. Wynter
Wynter
I stared at the dark ceiling.
Bas was here. In the same city as me. I overheard Uncle talk to the Nikolaev men. Sasha wanted to move me tonight. Uncle wanted to wait until tomorrow and not alarm Mom.
Too late.
Just as I predicted, all it took was one glance at Basilio and Dante DiLustro for her to recognize them. She lost her shit and Uncle had to sedate her. Fucking sedate her . What in the fuck would happen if she knew I had fallen for one of them?
Sasha and I walked her out of the building and got her into the car. Then I helped her into her room and tucked her into bed.
“Is it him, Star?” she kept whispering. “He came back.”
“No, Mom,” I soothed her as her eyelids grew heavy. “You’re safe. He’s not here.”
Now I laid in my bed, unable to find rest. I should be scared, but I wasn’t. I should be surprised to see him again; I wasn’t. For that moment, when I stood in front of him, his spicy scent wrapping around me, I felt whole again.
God, to feel so much for someone couldn’t be healthy. Yet, I feared there was no cure. Deep down, I’d hoped he’d find me. Why? Maybe because I was a damn glutton for punishment. It wasn’t as if I could get a happily-ever-after with him.
The look on my mother’s face when she looked at Bas was heart wrenching. I could see the ghosts plaguing her, swirling all around her. When your boyfriend’s father shoots your mother, it pretty much nulls your chances at a future. Right?
And then there was the issue of his deceit. I was an idiot to feel anything for him at all. So damn stupid.
Yet, I couldn’t forget that moment our eyes connected. A simple glance from him could light me on fire and melt my soul. In the most consuming kind of way.
I shifted on the bed again, exhaustion heavy in my bones. Weeks and months of constant training were hard, but now it was all over. And again, I couldn’t get my rest.
I had no clue what I’d do with myself. I needed to keep myself busy. Eventually, the school would keep me and the girls busy, but it’d be a while before that happened. Until then, I’d have to find a way to keep myself busy. I couldn’t stand to have all this time to think.
Like now.
I felt tired, but my mind refused to calm. Thoughts whirled in my mind and they all revolved around him . Basilio DiLustro.
There had to be something wrong with me because a twisted part of me craved him. The son of the man who destroyed my mother.
The man I fell in love with. I knew he was a DiLustro when I asked him for help. I knew he was a killer. A criminal. None of it mattered to me, because I saw the man worth loving behind it all.
Until his father. Until the unknown past came knocking on the door. Until Bas’ betrayal.
If I had known, I would have kept my distance. I would have fought the attraction. I wouldn’t have gotten close to Bas. I wouldn’t have fallen for him
My mind mocked that unspoken statement.
“I wouldn’t have,” I protested in a whisper to the dark, empty room. The truth was that the attraction to him had been so damn different and curiously exciting. Such a new, unfamiliar feeling.
Yes, I had gotten good at lying to myself. Somewhere deep down, I knew the road would have always led me to Basilio DiLustro.
“Talking to yourself, principessa?” A familiar deep voice rasped. I shot out of bed to find two dark figures over my bed.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed. My heart beat hard and my lungs struggled to get air into them.
“You’re going to fulfill your promise, principessa.”
I opened my mouth to scream but before a sound could break through a hand covered my mouth, muffling it. With wide eyes, I watched him push a syringe into my neck. I attempted to struggle, my vision turning fuzzy.
My eyes locked on Bas’ blurry face with disbelief.
“I told you I’d always follow,” he whispered.
The last thing I remembered was a familiar spicy scent in my nose, filling my lungs and my eyes closed as darkness crept in.
Then there was nothing but an abyss.