Chapter Twenty-Two
Seraphina
I hadn’t felt safe in a long time.
Not truly. Not in the way that let me breathe without bracing for impact from whatever Dorian had planned for me next.
But this morning, when I opened my eyes to the white linen curtains and the fragrance of rosemary drifting in from the garden, something inside me shifted.
For the first time in a long time, I felt relief.
I was back in the States at the Puglisi estate, tucked behind wrought-iron gates, thousands of miles, and an ocean away from Greece.
My sister insisted this was the safest place I could be, and I couldn’t agree more.
The walls were thick, the staff vetted, and the security detail rotated like clockwork.
And while there was nowhere Dorian couldn’t find me, at least here he couldn’t get to me even if he did. But something gnawed at me.
Sergio.
I hadn’t heard from him.
No calls. No messages. Nothing. And I didn’t like the way it made me feel. Not after everything that had happened. Not after the way he looked at me before he left, like he needed to memorize my face just in case it was the last time he might see me. I didn’t like the silence.
I stood on the balcony, watching the breeze stir the oak trees. The warm sun against my skin didn’t reach the chill inside my chest.
I pulled my phone from my pocket again, hoping that this time I saw something different. Still nothing.
I told myself he was just making sure Finley was alright. That he would reach out once Finley was out of the woods. But the quiet stretched too long. And I knew deep down the silence was because he went after Dorian. I wanted Dorian dead, but I wanted Sergio alive more.
The door opening drew my attention, and I looked over my shoulder. My heart soared. He had finally come back, and I could stop worrying. But when Phoenix came in, my happiness disappeared. Not that I wasn’t happy to see my sister, I just wanted to see Sergio to make sure he was alright.
She shut the door behind her then came to stand next to me on the balcony. “I haven’t heard anything yet,” she said before I even asked.
I let out a sigh.
“It’s okay to be worried about him, Seraphina.”
I looked at my sister, and she smiled when she looked at me. “You’re team Sergio, now?”
“Never. He’s an asshole. He almost got you killed and was the reason my son was taken by a maniac. He will always be on my shit list. But he got you away from Dorian, and for that he has my gratitude.”
I focused back on the view. “I still love him.”
“I know you do. But…”
“But I can’t trust him.”
“No, you can’t but trust can be built or repaired.”
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience?”
Phoenix gripped the wrought-iron railing, her eyes sweeping across the estate’s manicured lawns.
The gardens bloomed in perfect symmetry.
The roses too red, the hedges too precise, and the fountains sounded in the gentle breeze.
It was breathtaking to witness such beauty.
But beneath the ivy and marble, beneath the perfection that only the eye could see, the soil remembered the bloodshed that made this family as powerful as it was.
Every stone path had been laid, every blossom that bloomed was only here because of a favor owed, or a life taken.
“Trust is something Gianni, and I have worked on since high school. Sometimes trust is broken. It’s just a consequence of dealing with the Puglisi men.”
“How can I ever get past what he did?”
“I can’t help you with that Sera. But if you want to be with him, you can’t hold what happened over his head. Let it go. If you don’t, it will ruin both of you.”
“You know Sergio came to my engagement party to stop it?”
Phoenix nodded, her expression unreadable.
“You don’t seem surprised?”
“He’s a Puglisi,” she said. “They don’t ask. They take what they want, and Sergio wouldn’t have wanted you to marry anyone other than him. The man’s obsessed with you. Always has been.” She tilted her head, looking at me. “What happened?”
“I convinced him to let me go. But I didn’t have a choice,” I said, the words bitter on my tongue.
She turned, leaning back against the railing, with her arms folded over her chest. “And why was that?”
I stared out at the gardens. There was so much beauty in the world, intertwined with blood and secrets. No one knew why I married Dorian. Not really. They believed the story I gave them. The polished lie wrapped in rainbows and butterflies. But it was all fake. A lie crafted to keep others safe.
“It’s done and over with now, Sera,” she said, her voice quieter than before. “Dorian is in the past now. Getting everything out there will help you move forward.”
“Are you speaking from experience again?”
She chuckled. “Always. You’ve been right there with me. My life hasn’t been perfect. Full of bullshit because of a man, so I understand. You can tell me the truth.”
She didn’t move or blink just waited.
“At first, Dorian swept me off my feet. I thought he was a good guy, different from Sergio. But things changed.”
“He hid who he was from you,” she said more as a statement, than a question.
I nodded. She understood because her now deceased first husband, Lio D’Amico, had done the same thing to her.
That was one thing I could say about Sergio. What you saw was what you got. To me he was the loving, kind man, who worshipped the ground I walked on. But to everyone else he was ruthless, uncaring. Even to his family, although he loved them in his own way, he cared more about himself.
“The abuse started off verbal,” I said. “He’d bring up Sergio, the Puglisi’s.
It was always when he had too much to drink.
Like he couldn’t stand the thought of me ever belonging to someone else, especially Sergio.
Then he’d cry, beg me to forgive him, swear it would never happen again.
And I…” I swallowed hard. “I forgave him. Over and over like an idiot.”
Phoenix’s gaze didn’t waver. “You weren’t an idiot, Sera. You wanted to love him. That doesn’t make you weak. Men like him twist things until you can’t tell where the bruises end and the guilt begins.”
I didn’t respond. We could agree to disagree, but I wouldn’t argue with Phoenix. I’d watched her struggle with Lio, seen the same warning signs with Dorian, and still walked straight into the same storm.
“It got worse,” I said. “The verbal abuse came even when he was sober. And then one day, he didn’t just yell.
” I looked down at my hands, remembering the way they trembled anytime he got angry.
“He hit me, then rape me. And once that line was crossed, it was like he couldn’t stop. He enjoyed it too much.”
The silence between us stretched. It was heavy and raw.
“He threatened to come after the Puglisi’s. That meant you, Giancarlo, Gianni…”
“And Sergio,” she said, finishing my sentence.
I nodded. “And Sergio. So, I told him I’d marry him if he left my family alone. Then I convinced Sergio that if he didn’t let me go, it would start a war. That his family could be harmed. He could be harmed.”
“You know he didn’t walk away for us, right?” Phoenix asked. “Sergio didn’t give a damn if Dorian went after the family. He walked away for you. He walked away because he didn’t want you to face the consequences of his actions.”
“I know.”
She squeezed my hand. “I don’t like him, but you love him. And as much as it pains me to say it, he loves you, too.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I didn’t think I’d ever doubted Sergio’s feelings for me. What I doubted was whether he could put me first or would I always play second to his ambitions.
“Anyway, whatever you decide, I’ll stand behind you.”
“I don’t know what I want to do.”
She pulled me into her arms, squeezing me.
“But you do. Your mind just has to catch up to your heart. But if it doesn’t, I’m still going to be here with you. Always remember that.”