26. Sarah
Sarah
Ipush Katie’s bedroom door open slowly. The second she sees me, she’s off the bed.
She crashes into me so hard I have to catch my balance, her arms wrapping around me as a sob tears out of her.
I hold her against me without saying a word, rubbing a hand up and down her back while she cries into my shoulder.
“Sarah,” she chokes out. “It’s awful.”
After a long moment, she finally pulls away. I take her hand and guide her back to the bed. We sit side by side, and she wipes at her face with trembling hands, trying to catch her breath.
When she finally looks at me, her eyes are red and swollen.
“He’s in the mafia, Sarah.”
Another sob catches in her throat.
“Not just in the mafia.” She shakes her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. “He’s the one in charge.”
I close my eyes, but I don’t say anything.
The silence stretches between us. When I finally open my eyes again, Katie’s staring at me. Her breathing hitches as she searches my face, trying to understand why I’m not reacting.
“Sarah?” she asks quietly.
I still don’t answer. Her brows knit together as she sits back on the bed, confusion beginning to push through the grief.
“What’s going on?” she asks. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
I rub my eyes, and she catches my hand.
“Are you engaged?” she asks, almost defensively.
“Yes,” I whisper.
I look away from her.
I knew this moment was coming the second Michael called Luca this morning.
I never imagined it would look like this.
I thought I’d have time. Time to figure out how to tell her.
Time to soften it somehow. Instead, she’s sitting in front of me with swollen eyes and a broken heart, and I’m about to make it worse.
“Oh my God,” Katie breathes as she pushes herself off the bed. “You know.”
“Katie.” I reach for her.
She jerks away before I can touch her.
“Get the fuck out.”
“Katie, please—“
“Get the fuck out of my room!”
Her voice cracks so hard it barely sounds like her.
“Please, listen to me.”
“What?” she screams.
I reach for her hand anyway. She shoves me back with both hands.
“What could you possibly fucking say?” Tears stream down her face as she shakes her head at me. “You knew what Michael is.”
My throat closes.
“And if Michael’s in the mafia...” Her breathing turns ragged. “...then Luca is too.”
I can’t make myself look away from her.
“Am I right?” she screams.
Every part of me wants to lie. Just this once. Just long enough for her to breathe. But I can’t do that to her again.
“Yes.”
She staggers back a step like I’d hit her.
“Oh my God.”
Her hand flies to her mouth, another sob ripping through her chest.
“How long?” she chokes out. “How long have you known?”
I squeeze my eyes shut.
“A month.”
The words barely leave my mouth before something in her completely breaks. Her knees give out beneath her.
“Katie.”
She hits the floor hard, another sob ripping out of her as she folds in on herself.
“How could you do this to me?”
My own tears spill over as I drop to my knees in front of her.
“Katie,” I choke out. “I wasn’t supposed to know.”
“But you did.” She looks up at me, her face soaked with tears. “You fucking did.”
Every word feels like another knife.
“You let me believe a lie.” Her voice cracks so violently I barely recognize it. “You sat there with me. You laughed with me. You let me talk about him, and you knew.”
“I couldn’t tell you.”
“You didn’t even try!”
“I wanted to.”
“When?”
She shakes her head so hard strands of hair stick to her wet cheeks.
“When were you going to tell me, Sarah? Next week? Next month? After I married him? After I had his fucking babies?”
Each question hits harder than the last because I don’t have an answer.
“I couldn’t,” I whisper.
“You could.”
She pounds a fist against the floor.
“You chose him.”
The words knock the air out of my lungs.
“Katie...”
“You chose him over me.”
She stares at me for a second before pushing herself off the floor. She’s shaking so hard she has to steady herself against the bed.
“I’m a fucking prisoner, Sarah.” She lets out a broken laugh, tears still streaming down her face. “Do you understand that? I can’t leave.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
She looks at me like I should already know the answer.
“Someone could kill me.” Her voice cracks again. “One of Michael’s enemies. Do you understand that?”
The room feels impossibly small.
“I can’t just pack a bag and leave.” She shakes her head. “I don’t get to decide that anymore.”
“Katie...”
“I’m trapped.” She presses a trembling hand against her chest like she can’t catch her breath. “I’m stuck here with him.”
The weight of what she’s saying crashes over me. When Luca told me the truth, I chose to stay. Katie never got that choice.
She sinks down onto the edge of the bed, staring at the floor.
“I was going to marry him.”
The words are so quiet I almost don’t hear them.
“I thought...” Her voice catches. She presses the heels of her hands against her eyes before looking back at me. “I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him.”
My chest caves in.
“I still love him.”
A sob breaks through her.
“How the fuck do I still love him?”
I don’t have an answer.
“I know what he is now.” Tears stream down her face as she shakes her head. “I know what he’s done.”
She looks at me, completely shattered.
“And I still love him.”
Her face crumples.
“What the fuck does that say about me?”
I can’t stand there and do nothing. I step toward her.
“Katie.”
The second I reach for her, she slaps my hand away.
“Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Katie, please.”
“No.”
Her voice is low, shaking with rage.
“You don’t get to fucking comfort me.”
Tears spill faster down my cheeks.
“I’m so sorry.”
“You don’t get to be sorry.”
She wipes furiously at her face.
“For a month, you knew.”
“I wasn’t allowed to—“
“I don’t give a fuck!”
The words tear through the room.
“I don’t care what Luca told you. I don’t care what Michael told you. I don’t care who asked you to keep it a secret.”
She shakes her head, trying and failing to catch her breath.
“You were supposed to be my best friend. I trusted you.”
Her voice breaks.
“I trusted you more than anyone.”
“I still am your best friend.”
“No.”
She looks me dead in the eye.
“Get out.”
“Katie...”
“Get the fuck out.”
I don’t move. She screams.
“GET THE FUCK OUT!”
I don’t say another word. There’s nothing left to say.
I turn and walk out of the room, pulling the door shut behind me before her sobs can follow me into the hallway.
They do anyway. I wipe at my face as I hurry toward the staircase, but it doesn’t matter. The tears keep coming. My chest aches so badly it feels impossible to breathe.
By the time I reach the bottom of the stairs, Luca and Michael are standing in the foyer waiting for me.
Luca’s eyes find mine immediately. I stop in front of him, trying to swallow around the lump in my throat.
“I want to go home.”
He nods.
“Okay.”
He reaches for my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. Behind him, Michael takes a step toward me.
“Sarah—“
I shake my head before he can finish.
“Please.”
My voice breaks.
“Just...leave me alone.”
The words stop him in his tracks. I don’t look at him again.
Luca’s thumb brushes across the back of my hand.
Michael’s gaze stays on the staircase for a long moment before he looks at Luca.
“Take her home.”
Luca gives a single nod.
“I’ll call you later.”
Michael doesn’t answer right away. He closes his eyes for the briefest second before looking back toward the second floor.
“Take care of her.”
“I will.”