The hot sun beat down on me, so I found a tree and sat against its trunk, trying to process what the hell had just happened. I pulled myself together with a reminder that I had survived a bombing, I had killed a man, and I had Elio, and I knew he would find me. He always found me.
I lowered my head to my knees, closed my eyes, and tried to hatch a plan. Tears fell, but I stayed strong and worked out some possible solutions, but all required me to walk too far in the heat. Thankfully, I still had my boots on, and the sun was starting to set. At least I could walk in the dark and it would be cooler.
I must have been exhausted, because I woke up at the sound of tires on dirt. I jolted awake.
“Sienna?” I blinked to see Ugo racing toward me in the headlights. The sun was just going down. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” I nodded as I jumped up. I’d never been happier to see him than I was right then.
“Is she okay?” Elenora came racing up behind him, swallowing me up in her arms. “Oh, my god, Sienna, did they hurt you?”
“I’m fine.” I let a wave of relief wash over me, pushing the pain from my cheek away. “How did you find me?”
“I tracked your phone when I heard your conversation in the car.” Ugo gave my arm a warm pat. “I lost track of you at one point, but we weren’t too far behind. I’m just glad we got to you before it was too dark.”
“Can you drive me to the bus station? I want to go back to my apartment.” I’d had enough of all of this for one lifetime. Elio could come there to find me, and we could work stuff out from the safely of my own place.
“You can’t.” Elenora sighed. “If you do, they’ll find you.”
“Save it.” I held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear that anymore. I’m not safe anywhere, so I’ll take my chances.”
“No.” She took my hand and placed something in it. “You don’t understand. This goes deeper than you think.”
I eyed the red velvet bag and knew another secret lay inside. Slowly, I released the strings and opened the bag, and a wave of nausea and confusion washed over me. The headlights caught its grooves, and I felt my entire world tilt.
“Sienna, I couldn’t share this until now…”
“No.” I held it up between my fingertips as the soft fabric dropped to the ground. I wanted nothing to do with it. I knew exactly what it was. “Take it back.”
“Sweetheart,” she leaned forward and held my face in her hands, “it’s yours. You had the truth all along, but you just didn’t realize what it meant.”
“How would I?” I muttered.
I glanced at Ugo, who looked upset for me, and then over at Oscar, who looked away, obviously uncomfortable.
I pushed her away and ran into the field, feeling like I was about to explode. When I couldn’t handle it anymore, I grabbed my head, leaned back, and let out an Earth-shattering cry.
“Hey,” Ugo came closer with his hands in his pockets, “I’m sorry it was presented to you this way, but you have to know it’s not something easy to just bring up.”
I held up a hand for him to stop. I couldn’t handle any more tonight.
“Will you take me back to Elio’s?”
“Sure.” He nodded for me to follow him back to the car.
My mama watched me from the corner of her eye, no doubt wondering how lost I felt right now. I thought I had felt the lowest of lows, but I was wrong once again. It was a sick joke that life was playing with me. It fed off my pain and heartache and tested my will to keep going. The only thing that kept me from running into the woods and never looking back was the tiny hope that perhaps now Elio and I could be okay. Yes, there would be a ton to work out, but we could do it because at the end of the day we loved one another. Surely that would be enough. It had to be.
“I would like you to come back to the hotel.” Mama placed her soft hand over my tight fist as we approached the turnoff to the Capris’ estate, “I would feel a little better if you were with me rather than with them.” Her tone was back to its old way, dripping hate for the Capris. I wanted to snap at her gall for being so insensitive at a time like this. Besides, The Finder had already planted doubt about her within me, and also about one of the Santoro bothers. I covered my face to stop from screaming and wondering which way was up and which way was down. I cleared my head and listened to my heart, listening to where it wanted to be.
“I want to be with Elio tonight.”
“Sienna, I really think you should—”
“Ugo, pull over,” I hissed, cutting her off, and Ugo immediately stopped the car. I opened my door then turned to her. “I’m tired of people telling me what I should do. Thank you for finding me tonight, but if it’s all the same to you, I want to forget about the rest.” I slammed the door and headed toward the gates that were just around the bend.
“Sienna!” Ugo got out of the car and chased after me.
“Please, Ugo, I just need some—”