“You’d be correct,” Cassie said.
I didn’t have to look around the house to tell Camillo had beefed up security. There were men walking along the beach out back, which told me they were probably scattered all along the island. The chef put a small plate of eggs and buttered toast in front of Ana as the boys sat down at the table, and I took the opportunity to escort Camillo to the front door.
I grabbed his lapels and looked up into his light blue eyes.
“Remember your promise,” I said.
“Always.”
He kissed me sweetly, like he had upstairs. His body stepped into me while his free arm wrapped around my back, and suddenly, I wanted all of him. His lips undulated against mine in a slow dance, and all I wanted him to do was press me against the wall and connect his body with mine.
But all I could do was pull away, smoothing my hands over his broad chest while I memorized every last bit of him I could.
“Please come back,” I said, whispering.
He dipped his lips to the shell of my ear, causing my eyes to flutter closed as I bit back a moan.
“I promise.”
And just like that, he was gone. I went back to the breakfast table and felt Cassie’s eyes on me the entire time, but I was determined to distract the boys. We ran around on the island and they didn’t seem to care about the men with guns strapped to their hips. Cassie stuck close to me, and I could tell her eyes were constantly scanning the tree lines. Over the next couple of days, I didn’t really sleep much. I tossed and turned, and eventually, I started sleeping in Camillo’s room just to breathe in his scent.
I tried calling him a few times, but he never answered, and he never called back.
I had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to communicate with me, but it didn’t stop me from being upset with him. The worry was eating me alive, and I cursed him for being reckless and for putting our family in this position. I was upset, frightened, and sick with anxiety. I could hardly eat, and I slept even less. Eventually, Cassie tried to intervene with sleeping pills she found who-knows-where.
But I waved her off. I needed to keep my wits about me, for the kids, for Cassie, and for Camillo, if he ever came back.
The boys continued to make memories, and Ana continued to enjoy running around in the surf . Every once in a while, Cassie would take the kids, and it would give me a chance to venture around the island. I stood in Camillo’s secret dungeon and fingered the chains he had once harnessed me in. I walked back and found the hidden waterfall, allowing myself to soak in the hot spring as tears fell down my face.
All I wanted was for Camillo to be back. All I wanted was to be a family again.
“Please come back to me,” I said through my sobs. “Please come home.”
CHAPTER THIRTY – CAMILLO
I am going home again. Home to my family.
As I traveled back to the Poconos, back to the cabin Junior and I had called home for months, I realized exactly what was going on. I saw the black sedans with the tinted windows. I saw the surveillance on my cabin. I saw people who were walking back and forth in my house, tearing it apart and destroying the furniture.
I was far outnumbered and, so I alerted the police to what was going on and watched as the raid went down. I told them to come up without their lights and sirens on if they wanted to catch them in the act I watched from my car on top of a hill as the firefight began, smirking as the police officers downed each of my enemies with lethal force.
When I flew back to Italy, I did so in a suit. I wanted them to know I was coming for business. I wanted them to know I wanted to talk. I sat in cafes and sipped teas from my youth, relishing in thoughts of losing myself in Rose’s body when I got back to the island.
My security team kept updating me on the condition of my family, and every time they told me they were okay, I could breathe a sigh of relief. I could tell myself I was doing this for the greater good. That if I had to break my promise, it would not be in vain.
Though I knew breaking my promise to Rose would mean I would lose her forever.
And just like I expected, things went sideways on me. I followed cars and familiar faces into alleyways. I drove along the back roads of Italy, passing run-down vineyards still trying to breathe life in their soil while the vines withered and died. The DelVecchio family owned most of the countryside of Italy, running all the wineries as they saw fit and robbing these families of their much-needed wealth. My family owned most of the city areas, where the DelVecchio family eventually wanted to take over.