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I was only a young girl, dressed in my favorite tutu, when I came to the realization that the men in my family were like the monsters in the scary movies that Nevio loved to watch. And a piece of my heart broke.
I’d always loved the dark. I sought the nooks and crevices of our mansion to hide when the world around me became too much,
Dad always said we needed to face our fears or they’d control us.
“If you always give up control like that when you torture, then you won’t get any useful information out of them,”
“Maybe you are blind to the truth, Angel. But I am not. Maybe you cannot see or won’t see that our son is a monster. I don’t have to turn him into one. He’s messed up and I’m trying to channel his monster before
it goes rampant in a way none of us want. For fuck’s sake, look at him.”
“You need to learn when to stop, when to control yourself.”
how pitch-black Nevio’s longing really was.
“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 love you, Dad.” Dad pressed a kiss to my temple. “I love you more than life itself, Mia Cara. Never forget that.”
It was only fitting that I should fall in love with a man who was just as bad, as brutal, as cruel as the men who’d raised me.
“Love is for dreamers or weaklings. I’m neither.”
“I’m not scared of people, they only make me anxious. And I’m not scared of you because…” She searched my face for longer than was appropriate but I didn’t mind her curiosity. “…because I just know deep down that I don’t have to fear you.”
Her eyes settled on my face. “I never thought about kissing someone. But I think with you I could imagine having my first kiss one day.”
“Considering what kind of man I am and the sins I’ve committed, I don’t know why I deserve a daughter like you.”
“One of these days we’ll lure you to the dark side,”
“I belong with the people I love. I don’t fear the dark.”
And suddenly I realized that only Amo could fill the void in me that I’d never known I had.
How could I ever get used to it when our time was so limited?
“Do not ask a man like me about right or wrong, Greta. The only thing I can tell you is that nothing has ever felt as right as kissing you.”
“I’m not hers, won’t ever be. In the few moments we’ve shared I’ve already been more yours than I’ve ever been anyone else’s.”
“I’m a very bad man, Greta. Do not mistake me for anything else.”
“Don’t you ever dare thinking this. You are everything.”
“When is love wrong?”
“Love and logic don’t go together, do they?”
“Before Kiara there was calm and then suddenly there was chaos. It was frustrating at first but then I learned to enjoy it.”
I bit my lip. Amo quieted the chaos in my head. Maybe this, too, was a sign.
I touched my heart. “No,” I said firmly. “I can feel that it’s true. I fell in love, and it felt wondrous.”
“I’m crying because my heart’s already broken before it ever really got the chance to experience love.”
“How can my feelings for someone be the reason for war?”
But our love would be our ruin.
“This doesn’t hurt as badly as you not choosing me.”
I’m scared of my heart, of the havoc it can wreak.”
“Because I’m Greta Falcone and he’s Amo Vitiello.”
If you really love Amo, you shouldn’t let him go too quickly.”
“I know you and Amo don’t know each other. But what does your gut tell you? Do you think you love him?”
“You love your brother, we all do, but you can’t hold back your life for him. Not forever.”
“Leaving my family, it was an impossible choice until it wasn’t, until only one choice remained.”
My God. Who would have thought love was so destructive?
I’d grown up among cruel men. But fate was so much crueler than any of them. Amo Vitiello was my soulmate… …and now married to another woman.
“Greta doesn’t need to marry to be a queen. Only by existing, she’s shining brighter than most ever will,” Remo said in a harsh voice.
“Don’t allow them to kill each other, Amo, please. Don’t let what’s between us cause a war. It’s too precious to be the reason for something this horrendous.”
“I want to go home, Nevio,” I whispered, shivering, rubbing my arms. I
Nevio’s frenzy
“No,” I said, still patting the dog’s neck. “Don’t argue. My darkness spilled over. It wasn’t you.”
Was it Nevio’s darkness? Or was it mine?
“That’s what makes the difference, mia cara. You acted out of kindness even if your actions were anything but.”
My feelings for Amo hadn’t vanished in weeks or months, my heartbreak was still as potent as it had been in the beginning. It didn’t make sense.
Maybe I’d lost more than my heart when I’d given up Amo, maybe a part of me had been woken by the anguish of his loss that should stay hidden.
“I thought hearing your voice would help quiet the chaos in my head. It did in the past.”
