Twenty
DARIO
It’s been ten minutes since Liana finally let sleep consume her and gave in to the sleeping pills Kat forced down her throat.
When I refused to let her stay with her brother, she protested and in turn, forced my hand. It took me, Maze and Remi to carry her out as she thrashed against our grip on her. I locked all six of us, including Red, in my room until Kat convinced her that after some rest she’d be better, and relinquished her fight.
“How is this even possible?” Maze whispers, his head in his hands.
“I don’t know,” I sigh, rubbing my forehead. “Liana knows two of our longest-kept prisoners. The more suitable question is ‘why’.”
“Repeat it again,” Red asks. “What were the exact words she said to you?”
I huff out an exasperated sigh. “I can’t say it verbatim because it’s been hours since we were down there, but she recognised the tattoos before anything. I mean, she couldn’t have recognised their faces because Silas is a sick and twisted fuck. Not even their family would recognise them in the state they’re in right now.”
“This changes nothing though, right?” Remi asks with desperation in his voice.
“It changes nothing,” I agree. “They’re here for a reason, and until we get an answer, they’ll stay here.”
Kat scoffs, drawing my attention to her. “She gets no say in this?”
I shake my head. “Whatever she knew about them back then… it doesn’t matter. Her brother, if he even is her brother, has been here for four years. We know he was in cahoots with the second guy and they both tried to make our compound crumble, but they failed. Until we find out, she can hate me all she wants, but they’re staying put.”
“Then let her talk to them,” she counters, firing her words like bullets. “Let her talk to them. She knows them and they’ll listen to her more than they ever did you or anyone else.”
“You don’t understand, Katerina. You didn’t see how she reacted. I won’t be the one to put her through that kind of pain again.”
“No, you don’t understand,” she whisper-yells as if trying to keep her voice low to protect Liana’s sleep. “She knows they’re down there now. If you don’t grant her entry, she’ll do it anyway, whether you like it or not.”
I sigh and run my fingers through my hair; my annoyance is evident.
I know she’s right—I mean, that’s what I would do. If someone tells me not to do something, I’ll do it without hesitation. But something tells me that I shouldn’t let her down there again, or in the soldiers’ house at all. Then again, it’ll cause a never-ending argument if I don’t. She’s a feisty, stubborn little thing, and if I keep her away from them, she’ll only grow to hate me and hold one hell of a grudge, one that she’ll carry to her grave.
∞∞∞
Everyone’s still here, in my room—Kat’s worried for Liana and sympathetic to her situation, still refusing to see my side. Maze’s sole purpose is to comfort his wife, afraid it’s too much stress for her to handle. Red’s been asleep for two hours, clearly not as wound up as the rest of us. And Remi has been pacing for a lengthy amount of time, replaying that night in his mind like a broken record on repeat. He’s trying to break it apart piece by piece to ensure he didn’t miss or overlook anything. No matter how much I reassure him, he refuses to terminate his train of thought; it’s how he always gets when he puts his mind to something.
“Remi, you’ve got to stop that, man. I can’t focus on anything with your irradic pacing and when you’re mumbling to yourself like a lunatic…,” I trail off, stopping him in his tracks.
“It doesn’t make fucking sense,” he replies, coming over to sit next to me on the floor beside the bed.
I refuse to take my eyes off Liana. The fear that if I look away for even a moment, she’ll be gone is real. It’s a strange feeling, but all I know for sure is that I can’t let her out of my sight. Not now, maybe not ever. It’s as if she’s become a beam of sunshine to thaw my icy heart, and it’s making me rethink absolutely fucking everything I ever thought I knew.
“I didn’t miss anything, Dario, I fucking swear I didn’t,” he continues. “Every single piece of evidence we collected was concrete—it tied them both to the treason or whatever the fuck they were planning. Why couldn’t I find out what they were here for? This shit doesn’t add up. I swear I didn’t miss anything, but I must’ve; it’s the only thing that makes sense right now.”
“Don’t overthink it,” I admonish him. “When she wakes up, we’ll question her, see what she knows about her brother and his friend. If we get a picture of what they were like, it could lead us in the right direction.”
“And if she knows nothing?” he asks, venom shooting from his tongue.
“He’s her brother, damn it. She must know something—anything.”
“He’s her older brother,” he corrects me. “He wouldn’t tell her shit. He would’ve worn a facade and he would’ve done it with pride. No man would ever bring his younger sister into his mess, not one with a conscience, at least.”
“What makes you think he has one?”
“All men have one to some extent. If she knows her brother at all, then she’ll believe anything he says as if it's gospel.”
“She told me a few days ago that she and her brother hadn’t spoken in years because of her father. She wanted him at the wedding—”
A breathy laugh slips free from him. “That isn’t happening, Dario. He’s been here for three years and he’s told us nothing. He’s most likely sleeping or unconscious now; he’ll be out for hours. Three days isn’t enough time for her to get him to spill his secrets, and if by some miracle it is, it wouldn’t make any difference.”
He inhales, filling his lungs to capacity and rubs his face. “I know what it’s like to be in a hellhole, one similar to the one they’re currently in, and I know how it fucking destroys you. If at first your captors don’t succeed, they’ll find new and creative ways to break you down little by little until they finally succeed in what they want.”
“They didn’t break you,” I tell him, unrelenting. “You stayed strong and we found you. They were unsuccessful in their mission.”
“But they broke me in ways I could never explain in words,” he expresses, a slight croak in his tone. “You found me before they could inflict any real damage, but them? They’ve been here long enough that what we’ve done should’ve broken them—should’ve, but didn’t. I don’t think I need to tell you that it can only mean they were trained to show no weakness, to cut ties with their families to save them from the heartache of their death or so their families wouldn’t become their downfall. They were programmed into a weapon of their creator’s own design, intended to be used against people like us. While they might’ve been good people before, I guarantee you they aren’t anymore.”
“You don’t know shit about them,” Liana says, her voice weak and it draws both of our attention. “Ace was the kind of person that cared, like, he actually cared what you had to say. He made me realise that I did in fact have a voice and I wasn’t destined to live in my father’s or brother’s shadow my entire life. He was a great, kind and thoughtful person and you can’t convince me otherwise.”
She pushes herself up from her position on the bed and continues. “And my brother? He was the best man I ever knew. I lost him when my father decided that old-fashioned thinking was more important than his own son’s happiness. But he would never do anything to harm anyone. Whatever you think they did, I can promise you, they didn’t. They were the greatest men I knew.” Her voice is louder now, the words filled with anger, startling everyone awake.
Remi stands, clenching his fists at his sides. “You notice how you only used past tense there? ‘He made,’ ‘He was,’ ‘They were,’ ‘I knew’… Your words have proven that you did know them in the past, but you no longer do. Not the way you think, anyway.” He flexes his fingers. “ Ace , as you called him, has been here for three years, while your brother has been here for four… Time, torture and torment change people, Liana. The sooner you realise they aren’t the men you once knew, the better.”
He turns to head for the door, but she stops him. “I’ve known them both considerably longer than you assholes have kept them here for. You’ve got your own picture of them painted in your mind, and I have mine. Believe what you will and I’ll do the same.”
He huffs, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him.
“Keep your brother on a leash, Dario; he’s making it difficult for me to see him in a better light.”
“He’s feeding on his anger, Liana, exactly as you are. You’re not as different as you think you are.”
“You’ve told me time and time again that we don’t know each other—that hasn’t changed, so stop trying to convince yourself otherwise. It’s an unhealthy mindset for you to have.”
“He’s right,” Kat says, placing a soft hand on Liana’s shoulder that she roughly pulls away from. “Remi has been through hell and back, and then some, just like everyone in this room; he’s dealing with it the way he taught himself to. Don’t take his words personally, Lia. He means well, but he’s… doubting himself right now.”
“I don’t care what he’s doubting or thinking or even doing with his stupid, small-minded life, but he’s a prick who needs to learn when to shut his fucking mouth. He deals with shit one way and I deal with it another; we clash like sun and rain, like prey and predator… like life and death. He needs to understand that sometimes what he says hurts people and I don’t think he realises that until it’s too late.”
“One day, that smart mouth of yours is going to get you killed,” Red says, glaring at her.
“Do you want another kick to the balls?” she answers. “Because I could really use the release.”
He squints at her, biting his tongue. He flips her off—a childish action he uses regularly.
“Real mature,” she mutters, pushing herself off the bed. “Don’t fucking follow me, Dario,” she warns through gritted teeth.
“We’re not done, Liana,” I answer, pulling myself off the floor.
“Yes, we are,” she spits. “I don’t want you or your fucked-up family. I thought I did. I thought you were all I had, but what you showed me—what I now know you’re capable of—I want no fucking part of it. I’d rather go back to a father who has proved he never loved me than stay with a man incapable of showing remorse or guilt for his actions.”
“Liana—”
“NO!” she screams, her voice cracking with the simple syllable. “You did this! You ruined any good we were meant to have. There’s no turning back now, Dario. You have to fucking own what you’ve done, not try to sweet-talk your way out of it.”
“Everyone out. Now,” I demand.
Without trying to argue, they all scatter. Red flips Lia off again.
Before she can reach the door, I stop her, my arms finding their way to her waist and pulling her back towards me. Our bodies clash, and for a split second, she doesn’t fight.
“You wanted everyone out, right?” I hum my response. “So let. me. go.” Her words are short and filled with venom.
“Never, little one,” I whisper into her ear. “You can hate me all you like, but when we discover the truth, one of us will be proven right, and until then, you’ll listen to what I have to say.”
“Absolutely fucking not,” she says, continuing to thrash in my grasp. “Let me go!”
“I will never let you go, Liana. You’re mine—mine to keep, mine to love and mine to fuck. You’re staying exactly where you belong with me in my house. You belong in this family, whether you believe it or not.”
“You’re a sick bastard, Dario Vitale. You don’t get to have me anymore. You lost that privilege the second you strung them up like puppets.”
I set her back down, spin her around to face me and pick her back up, our faces inches apart. “That was years ago, darling, we didn’t even know each other then.”
“No, we didn’t, and that’s how long we’ve been destined to never work out. You broke us before we even began, preventing us from actually having a chance together.” I can almost see the cogs turning in her head, her heart telling her one thing but her head taking the lead.
“You’re lying to me, little one; I can see it in your eyes.”