Chapter Thirty-Five
Sabrina
The first light of morning spread slowly across the field, turning the sky from black to muted shades of blue and gold.
I hadn't slept. Every time exhaustion threatened to pull me under, the voices from the night before dragged me back.
Around me, Asher, Mario and Lillian had eventually fallen asleep where they'd sat beside me. None of them had left. They had stayed until there was nothing left for me to say, and eventually exhaustion had claimed them too.
Lillian's hoodie still rested around my shoulders, and one of her hands remained loosely around my wrist, as though she'd fallen asleep trying to remind me I wasn't alone.
My phone had been vibrating throughout the night.
Dad. Mum. My brothers. Nonno.
They had spent hours trying to reach me.
I'd promised Dad I'd answer my phone. I'd promised I'd come home before it got late.
Instead, I'd disappeared.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and stared at the missed calls. There were too many to count.
“I should've called them,” I murmured.
Lillian stirred beside me and opened her eyes.
“They're going to care that you're okay, not that you broke a promise.”
“I broke both of them.”
She pushed herself upright, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Sabrina, your family has spent the entire night worrying about you. They're going to be relieved when they see you.”
I looked across the field.
“I don't know what I'm going to tell them.”
“You don't have to tell them everything right now.”
Before I could answer, Asher stirred. He reached for his phone and squinted at the screen.
“Morning, Dad.”
Sean's voice was loud enough that I could hear the urgency in it, even though I couldn't make out every word. Asher listened for a few seconds before sighing.
“Yeah.”
Another pause.
“We're coming now.”
He ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“My dad says we'd better head back.”
Mario sat up, still half asleep. “Why?”
A faint smile tugged at Asher's mouth.
“Apparently there's a very angry Italian family standing outside our front door demanding to know where we've disappeared to.”
Under any other circumstances, I probably would have laughed.
Instead, my stomach tightened.
I had no idea what they would say when I walked through that door.
The journey back to the island passed in near silence. Asher kept his attention on the road, Mario stared absently out of the passenger window, and Lillian remained beside me in the back seat, close enough that our shoulders brushed whenever the car rounded a corner.
No one asked what I was thinking. They already knew.
The island came into view just after midday, and before long Asher turned onto the familiar road leading towards the Donovan estate. The closer we drew to the house, the tighter my chest became.
In a few moments, I'd see Dario.
The thought alone made something inside me ache.
The tyres crunched against the gravel as we turned into the driveway. Almost instinctively, my eyes searched the house.
I found him immediately.
Dario stood at the front window, barely tall enough to see over the sill. His little hands rested against the glass as he peered outside. The moment he recognised the car, his face lit up.
He disappeared from the window before we'd even stopped.
My vision blurred.
Asher pulled the handbrake, and before anyone had the chance to say a word, I pushed open the door and climbed out.
The front door burst open.
“Bina!”
His voice carried across the driveway, bright with excitement as he raced towards me with all the determination his four-year-old legs could manage. He stumbled once, caught himself and kept running.
My knees gave way before he even reached me.
I dropped down just as he threw himself into my arms, catching him instinctively and pulling him against my chest. The force of the hug almost knocked me backwards, but I didn't care. I wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I dared.
My hand settled against his back, the faded 13 on my wrist disappearing beneath his little jumper.
He was here, alive and safe.
For the first time since last night, I let myself breathe.
I buried my face against the top of his head, holding him close while everything I'd been carrying threatened to surface again.
Dario shifted in my arms and reached up with both hands, gently holding my face.
“Bina?”
His little brow furrowed as he looked at me.
“Did somebody hurt you?”
My throat tightened.
“No,” I whispered.
He continued studying me with complete seriousness.
“Promise?”
For a moment, I couldn't answer. Eventually, I nodded.
“I promise.”
His face scrunched up.
“Then why are you crying?”
“There's just something in my eyes.”
Dario stared at me.
“I don't believe you.”
A small smile touched my lips despite the tears.
“I know.”
Without another question, he wrapped his tiny arms around my neck again, hugging me with all the strength his little body could manage.
Behind us, the rest of the family had gathered on the porch.
Dad was the first person I looked at. The relief on his face lasted only a heartbeat before concern replaced it.
His eyes moved over me slowly, taking in my tear-stained face, the exhaustion I hadn't managed to hide and the way I clung to Dario as though I was afraid someone might take him away if I let go.
Mum's hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh, sweetheart...”
She was beside me a heartbeat later, one hand finding the back of my head while the other rested gently against my shoulder.
She didn't ask what had happened.
She simply held me.
Another sob escaped before I could stop it.
Dad followed a moment later, his hand settling carefully against my back.
Sean watched us quietly before looking towards everyone else.
“I think we should go inside.”
His voice remained calm, but there was an authority behind it that immediately settled the gathering.
No one argued.
Even Carlo, who normally would have tried to lighten the mood with a joke, remained silent. His usual grin was gone, replaced by an expression I had never seen on him before. He looked frightened, not for himself, but for me.
That realisation hurt almost as much as everything else.
Dad offered me a hand.
“You don't have to walk on your own.”
I looked at it for a moment before taking it. He helped me to my feet while I kept Dario balanced on my hip, unwilling to let him go even for a second.
Nobody commented on it. Nobody suggested putting him down. Somehow, they all understood.
Together, we walked towards the house.
The house felt strangely quiet as we stepped inside.
Usually, someone was talking over someone else.
Carlo would be complaining about something, Matteo would be laughing at him, Leonardo would tell them both to shut up, and Nonna would threaten to throw them all out if they didn't lower their voices.
Today, none of that happened.
I lowered myself onto the sofa, and Dario immediately climbed onto my lap. He tucked himself against my side, one small arm wrapped around my waist.
Truthfully, I didn't want him anywhere else.
Mum sat beside me and rested a hand against my back, slowly rubbing comforting circles between my shoulders. Dad remained nearby, his eyes never leaving me.
The rest of the room filled quietly. Sean leaned against the kitchen doorway with his arms folded across his chest, while Asher, Mario and Lillian stayed close. My brothers spread themselves around the room, each of them watching me with an expression I'd never seen before.
Even Carlo wasn't joking. He kept opening his mouth as though he wanted to say something before deciding against it, and somehow that hurt more than any attempt at humour ever could.
Dario shifted until he could see my face properly. Using the sleeve of his jumper, he carefully wiped another tear from beneath my eye.
“Is it still there?”
I frowned. “What?”
“The thing in your eye.”
Despite everything, the corner of my mouth lifted.
“I think so.”
He frowned harder.
“It must be really big.”
A quiet laugh escaped me.
“I guess it is.”
He studied me with complete seriousness.
“I still don't believe you.”
“No?”
He shook his head.
“You said something was in your eye, but you're crying. You only cry when you're sad.”
My heart broke all over again.
I pulled him closer until his cheek rested against my chest, and he wrapped both little arms around my neck without another word.
“I know,” I whispered.
“I don't like you being sad.”
“Neither do I.”
For several moments, nobody spoke. The only sound in the room was Dario's slow breathing as he continued holding onto me.
Eventually, I lifted my head and looked towards Dad.
“Dad...”
Every conversation around the room stopped.
“I owe you an apology.”
Dad crossed the room and sat on the coffee table opposite me.
“You don't owe me anything.”
“I do.”
I looked down at Dario before forcing myself to meet Dad's eyes.
“I promised I'd answer my phone. I promised I'd come straight home.” I lowered my eyes. “I broke both of those promises.”
Dad studied me for a moment.
“Do you know what yesterday was like for us?”
I swallowed.
“I can imagine.”
“No.”
There wasn't any anger in his voice. Only exhaustion.
“When you stopped answering your phone, I called Asher. He wasn't answering either, so I called Mario.”
Mario rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding everyone's eyes.
“He didn't answer either.”
Dad's gaze shifted briefly towards Lillian.
“Then I called Lillian.”
She lowered her head.
“When none of the four of you answered...” He paused, taking a slow breath. “I started thinking about every possibility a father never wants to think about.”
Guilt settled heavily in my chest.
“I'm sorry.”
Dad reached forward and gently took my free hand.
“I know.”
His thumb brushed softly across my knuckles before he met my eyes.
“I wasn't angry, Sabrina.”
I frowned.
“I was terrified.”
Those three words carried more weight than anything else he'd said.
“I've already lost seventeen years with you,” he continued, his voice cracking for the first time. “I couldn't bear the thought of losing you again.”
Something inside me finally gave way.
Another tear slipped down my cheek.
“I'm so sorry.”
Dad didn't answer. He simply stood, leaned forward and wrapped both me and Dario in his arms.
Neither of us let go.
Mum rested a comforting hand against my shoulder while Nonna quietly crossed the room and smoothed my hair back from my face.
Across the room, Carlo cleared his throat.
“You scared the life out of us.”
His voice was softer than I'd ever heard it.
“I've never seen Dad like that.”
He tried to smile, but it never quite reached his eyes.
“We were about ten minutes away from searching every inch of New York.”
Leonardo nodded once.
“We would've found you.”
There wasn't an ounce of arrogance in his voice – only certainty.
Matteo folded his arms.
“You don't get to disappear like that again.”
It sounded like an order.
I knew better.
It was love.
I looked around the room. Every face was turned towards me, not searching for answers, just making sure I was still here.
I wasn't okay. Not yet.
But for the first time in a very long time, I didn't have to carry it alone.