By Fate I Conquer (Sins of the Fathers, #4)

by Cora Reilly

“Mia cara, drop the knife.”

Both Dad and Nino looked at me as if I was about to break.

Light chased me as Dad and Nino tried to catch me and turned on the lamps hanging from the low ceiling. But I turned one corner after the other, never slowing.

Soon the dark and quiet took effect and my pulse slowed, and then later the whooshing in my ears settled down as well. Sweet oblivion.

“Can you imagine how scared she must be?” Leona said, sounding heartbroken.

Despite what I’d seen him do, a part of me wanted to go to my brother. He’d always been the person who consoled and protected me.

I put my ear against Aurora’s door. It was quiet inside except for her soft humming. Without knocking, I slipped in.

Aurora sat on the floor surrounded by her Barbies and was playing, her back turned to me.

“I don’t know. Will you help me?”

“Greta and I aren’t close. I tried but she’s with the boys, not with me and Carlotta.”

“Greta is different. It’s not about you, all right?”

Greta is different

I didn’t move. I knew I was different. I didn’t like being around people that weren’t my family.

Too many people made me anxious. I never minded ...

But now I wondered if I’d hurt Aurora by bein...

I was too thin, a constant worry of Mom.

“I really don’t have time to play dolls right now,” Nevio muttered as he followed Aurora into the room.

“I’m sorry, but I had to get him. He was going mad from worry about you,”

“What?” Nevio said then fell silent. “Fuck.”

He moved toward the bed and fell to his knees then peered under the bed. His face filled with relief and ...

Worrying my brother always made ...

He reached for me but I tensed and backed away. His expression transformed with realization and pain, which felt like a stab in my heart. He lowered his arm and stretched out on ...

looked at Nevio, at the dark eyes that were mine too, only the look in them was different.

Where my face was soft, Nevio’s was harsh. Where I was thin and short, he was tall and already muscled from fight training and parkour.

Where I despised violence, Nevi...

“Are you scared of me now?” he asked in a strangled tone.

Deep down I had always known what Nevio was. I had felt it. But I hadn’t quite understood the enormity of it,

how pitch-black Nevio’s longing...

What I’d seen him and Dad and Nino do, had opened my eyes to a brutal truth ...

“I fear what you’re capable of. I fear for the people who’ll cross your path in an unfortunate moment.” “That’s how nature works, you know?” he murmured. “There’s dark and light, there must be. Maybe it’s the same with twins, but it wasn’t split evenly between us. I got all the darkness and you got all the light.”

“I like the dark, Greta. I belong there.”

“Very few people can bear what I am,” he said quietly. “I can.” Nevio searched my eyes. “You ran from it.”

“Not from your darkness. From…” I shuddered, remembering everything. Tears stung my eyes once more.

“I won’t ever run from you, Nevio. I’ll always be at your side, no matter what.” “You swear?” “I swear.”

Aurora leaned against the wall in the corridor and she straightened when she saw us and gave me an apologetic look before she smiled at Nevio.

He nodded at her. “I owe you.”

looked over my shoulder, mouthing Thank you at Aurora who still stood where we’d left her. Then she disappeared from view as Nevio led me downstairs.

Nevio didn’t stop until we arrived in the common room area where most of my family had gathered.

Alessio and Massimo lounged on the sofa while Nino and Savio sat across f...

Dad was pacing the room, and Kiara was consoling Mom wh...

“Where the fuck have you been?” Dad muttered, then his eyes settled on me as I stepp...

Silence fell in t...

Mom stepped out of Kiara’s embrace, her blue eyes scanning me from head to toe, horror mixing with relief. She rushed toward me and pressed me against her chest in a ...

my eyes were directed at the rest of the room. Nevio headed over to Dad, clapping Massimo’s and Alessio’s hand on the way. He said somet...

Dad’s eyes locked on mine, and I felt a...

Mom gasped, reaching out to stop my fall. But my knees hit the floor before she could grab hold of my arms. Dad crossed the room in a blink and knelt beside me.

“When have you last eaten?” he asked in a low voice.

“She’s dehydrated. I can tell from her skin,” Nino said as he stopped beside us.

“I want to feel your pulse, Greta,” Nino explained calmly.

“You stay here,” Dad said. “Why?” Nevio groaned. “Stay.”