I went over to the bed and sank down then began to pet Bear with my toes because he’d rolled on his back, exposing his belly. “I don’t know why.”
Kiara sat down beside me. She regarded me for a while. “Amo is an imposing man, and your father is a man who knows what kind of horrible acts some humans are capable of.”
I tilted my head toward her. “I know what humans are capable of.”
I’d seen the men in my family commit said acts almost seven years ago and still often dreamed about it.
“I know. I mean something else.”
“Kiara, I’m not good at this.”
She laughed gently. “Nino’s neither, that’s probably another reason why I’m here.”
“And what’s the first?”
Kiara’s face sobered and a haunted look entered her eyes that I’d never seen before. “This is something that you can’t tell Massimo or Alessio.”
“Okay,” I said slowly.
“When I was a young girl a man from my family sexually abused me, and I hid it from everyone out of fear and shame.”
Without hesitation, I hugged her. She exhaled and briefly hugged me back before she let me pull back again. She patted my cheek. “Thank you.”
I nodded, and slowly it dawned on me what this was about. “Like I told Dad and everyone else, I’m fine. Amo didn’t hurt me in any way. I would tell you and Dad if he had. I know I don’t have to be afraid when I’m in Vegas and I know I don’t have to be ashamed.”
“You wouldn’t keep it a secret to protect him from harm, right? I know you.”
“He wouldn’t be deserving of my protection if he’d done what happened to you.”
Kiara smiled proudly. “That’s good. Your dad will be proud.”
“He’d be prouder if I could defend myself like he always wanted.”
“You aren’t someone who resorts to violence, he’s come to terms with it, and you wouldn’t have had a chance against a man like Amo anyway.”
I nodded. “Have they found Momo yet?”
“No, they’re still looking.”
“I’ll get dressed and join them. And tell Dad, I’m fine. I don’t want war to happen because of me.”
“It won’t,” Kiara said.
Ten minutes later I was dressed and went down to the common room where I found Nino stitching up Nevio. He was talking to Alessio and Massimo while Nino pushed the needle into his flesh. Seeing them, I remembered Kiara asking me not to tell them. I wondered why she didn’t want them to know. They could handle a lot considering what they did at night.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Nevio asked with an arched brow as I headed toward the backyard. Maybe Momo huddled under one of the bushes. He was too careful to go near one of the two pools.
“I’m going to look for Momo.”
“Wait for me. I don’t want you to go alone.”
I sent my brother a disbelieving look. He has always been protective but this was taking it to a new level. “I’ll never find her if you’re by my side, you know that.”
“I’ll come with you,” Dad said as he stepped into the common room. He’d probably been upstairs to give Giulio a lecture. He pointed a warning finger at Nevio. “You’re getting stitched up. If you lose your arm because of an infection, you’ll be in major trouble.”
He strode over to me. Momo didn’t tolerate Dad much better than Nevio but I actually liked the idea of Dad joining me.
With his hand on my shoulder, we stepped out into the backyard. The evening air was brisk and so I wrapped my cardigan tighter around myself, remembering how Amo’s shirt had felt, how it had smelled.