I should have opened that door.
I should have said the words.
I should have stayed.
Blinking back tears, I stared out the window, watching the scenery fly by in one big blur. “I was young. Naïve. Stupid. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Antonio didn’t respond. I was expecting him to agree with me, to tell me that I was incredibly stupid and selfish for making the decision I did. But he didn’t. It sort of gave me the impression that maybe, just maybe, he understood. That he agreed.
“Antonio?”
He looked at me.
“Take care of him. It’s going to take Dante a long time to come to terms with everything, so he’ll need someone to help him through it.”
The atmosphere around us was so heavy, it felt like there was a ten-ton boulder hanging over us inside Antonio’s tiny sportscar. Because of one mistake, one wrong decision, I had caused a lot of people to carry unwanted burdens today.
Antonio.
Kate.
Dante.
Lucio.
I smiled. “Lucio sure knows how to act.” I tried to play it down, tried to cast some light in the darkness.
Antonio nodded with a smirk. “He’s one talented SOB, that’s for sure.”
“Thank you for allowing him to protect my sister.”
He shrugged. “We can’t afford for them to be alone and unprotected right now. Not until…” He looked my way with an immense amount of pity in his eyes.
I smiled bravely. “Until I’m back with Matteo.”
Antonio made a sharp turn to the right. “I totally get why you prefer Dante not being part of this plan. But fuck, I wish we could have told him.”
“It’s the only way. As you said, he’ll understand once he finds out the truth. And if everything goes the way we plan, it will be before sundown today.”
“Maybe if we—”
“No.” I stopped him before he could continue his sentence. “I will not be the cause of a war between you and them.”
“As my brother said the other day, we’ve been at war with the Mancusos for years now.”
I turned in my seat, determined to get my point across. “If I don’t go back, Matteo won’t stop until he’s destroyed everyone I love.”
“But this isn’t about you, Layla. It’s about Dante. About us. It’s never been about you. You are just a pawn he’s using to put our family in checkmate. It’s Dante they want to destroy. It’s our family they want to wipe out. Even if you go back and give your life in order to stop all of this, it won’t. It will never stop.”
“I know this war between you and the Mancusos will probably never end, but I will no longer be used as a weapon to torture Dante. You and I both know Dante will put himself in harm’s way as long as Matteo has me. Your brother will never stop, and I’ve been the cause of Dante’s pain for too long.” I shook my head as tears welled up. “No more. No more, Antonio. I can’t do it anymore.”
When I looked up, Antonino’s eyebrows almost reached his hairline as he pieced it together. “No.”
“Yes. It’s the only way. I can’t stop the war, but I can stop Matteo from torturing Dante.”
Antonio swerved the car to the side before turning back onto the road. “You can’t do this, Layla. It will kill Dante.”
I smiled halfheartedly. “He’ll have a new reason to live.”