HIS BUTTERFLY (BETWEEN TWO DONS) のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 71 - チャプター 80

"The cruelest thing about wanting a life that isn't yours is how clearly you can see exactly what it would look like."DANTEThe meeting runs forty minutes longer than it should.By the time I shake the last hand and walk the last Don to his car and watch the last black vehicle disappear down the estate's long driveway, my jaw aches from holding the same composed expression for three hours straight and I want nothing more than coffee and quiet.I loosen my tie as I walk back through the main entrance. Nico falls into step beside me briefly, already running through the afternoon's outcomes in that efficient way he has — who committed, who hedged, who needs more pressure, who is already secured.I let him talk. I process it. I give the necessary responses.But my mind is already elsewhere.It keeps doing that lately.Finding its way back to them.—----------------------Everywhere was quiet, really quiet. I couldn't hear Isabella constantly fighting with luca or laughing at a stupid jok

“SOAK MY HAND LIKE A GOOD GIRL.”SOFIA.Although Dante seemed to act like everything was okay, I knew he hated seeing my kiss Marco even if it was an accident. He even broke the glass in his hand. I really didn’t mean to drop the paper and kiss Marco and I don’t think he meant to do so either, but now all I could think about was the injury on Dante’s hand and what he was planning. The family gathering at Marco’s parents’ house was still in full swing when my phone vibrated in my clutch. I excused myself from the conversation with one of Marco’s aunts, heart already sinking as I slipped into the quieter hallway near the powder room.Dante’s text glowed on the screen.Grand Palace Hotel. Presidential suite. Now.A second message followed almost immediately.**If you aren’t standing in front of me in ten minutes, I will put a bullet in Marco’s head. Don’t test me tonight, Sofia.**My stomach dropped. I knew that tone, even through text. He wasn’t bluffing. Not after what he’d witnessed

"THERE IS NO FEAR IN THIS WORLD LIKE THE FEAR OF LOSING YOUR CHILD."SOFIAEverything happens too fast.One minute I am on the floor in front of Isabella holding her carefully against me, feeling her breathe, telling myself she is okay she is right here she is okay.And then the doctor comes back into the room and his face is different from when I walked in and something about the way he looks at Marco first, the way doctors look at the person they have decided is in charge before they deliver something difficult, makes my stomach drop before he has said a single word."We need to get her to the hospital." His voice is calm and measured and I hate it. I hate how calm it is. "The bump on her head is more significant than we initially assessed. There is swelling and the amount of blood she has lost concerns me. This is beyond what we can manage here.""Blood?" My voice comes out strange. Too high. "What do you mean blood? Where — where is she bleeding?""There was a laceration at the ba

"SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING STANDING BETWEEN YOU AND FALLING APART COMPLETELY IS ONE PERSON WHO REFUSES TO LET YOU."SOFIAThe waiting room chair is the most uncomfortable thing I have ever sat in.I have been in it for forty minutes now and I feel every one of those minutes in my back, my shoulders, the stiff way I am holding myself because if I let my body relax even slightly I think I will slide straight onto the floor and not get back up.Marco got us both coffee at some point. Mine is sitting on the small table beside me untouched and cold now. I cannot imagine putting anything in my mouth. I can not imagine doing anything that normal people do in normal moments because this is not a normal moment and my daughter is behind those doors and the coffee can sit there until it turns to dust for all I care.Marco is a few seats down, his elbows on his knees, his phone in his hands. He has made several calls — quietly, efficiently, the way Marco does everything. Notifying people. Arranging

"THE TRUTH HAS A WAY OF MAKING ITSELF KNOWN WHETHER YOU ARE READY FOR IT OR NOT."SOFIADante has been gone for maybe ten minutes.Coffee, he said. He was going to find me coffee and something to eat because I hadn't eaten since this morning and he noticed even though I didn't say anything about it. He just stood up and said stay here in that quiet way of his that isn't really a request and went to find the hospital cafeteria.I watched him go and then I turned back to the double doors and went back to staring at them.That is mostly what I have been doing for the past two hours.Staring at those doors and breathing and trying not to think too far in any direction because every direction I think in leads somewhere that makes the fear worse.The waiting room has emptied out slightly. The young couple from earlier are gone — I hope that means they got good news. The chairs around me are mostly vacant now, just a few other people scattered around the edges of the room doing their own ver