When She Falls (The Fallen, #3)(21)

I bite down on my lips. Mamma’s anxiety has gotten worse and worse. The ordeal with Vale is Mamma’s biggest failure, at least in her eyes. It destabilized her. Made her hyper vigilant, especially where Cleo is concerned.

“This is a difficult time for her.”

“Don’t.” Cleo’s voice hardens. “Don’t make excuses for her.”

“I’m trying to be sympathetic. It’s been a difficult year for all of us.”

Cleo makes a dismissive sound and peers over the cliff.

My heart rate spikes.

I reach out instinctively, grabbing her elbow. I don’t let go even when she takes a small step back.

“I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this, Gem. Sometimes, I feel almost a perverse kind of jealousy.” She turns her head sideways, looking at me. “Soon you’ll be moving out of our prison of a house and moving in with your husband. And me? I have no escape. No end in sight. I know Rafaele sucks, but I’m pretty sure he won’t fucking hover like Mamma. He’ll have better things to do.”

“One can hope,” I say warily. “So what, you want to get married now? For the longest time, you said you wouldn’t marry anyone they chose for you.”

Her expression crumples. “I don’t know what I want. Hence the idea with the cliff.”

Gently, I pull her farther away from the edge. She glances down at where I’m holding her biceps and lets out a humorless laugh. “Relax. I’m joking. Kind of. But I might turn serious if I don’t get a break from her.” She looks up at the sky. “I really need a break,” she mutters to the birds. “Can you cover for me?”

Hesitation sweeps through me. I swear, if I had a penny every time I heard those five words from my sister, I’d be richer than Papà. “Cover for you how?”

“I’m going to go for a walk. I’ve circled this property a dozen times since we arrived. I need a change of scenery.” She turns and gives me an expectant look.

“Cleo, we’re in a foreign country. This isn’t safe.”

“It’s an island. It’s not like I can go very far,” she says, pulling her arm out of my grip.

I don’t even get a chance to argue before she’s walking away.

“Cleo!” Panic rises inside of me. I jog to catch up to her. “Hold on. I never agreed.”

“You will though, won’t you?” she begs, her eyes wide and pleading. “Gem, I’m serious.”

The image of her standing on the edge of that cliff flashes in front of my eyes.

I sigh and scan her skimpy outfit. “Do you even have your phone on you?

She shows me her purse. “In here. If anything comes up, I’ll call.”

“Where are our guards?” They’re literally here to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

“They were dozing off in the kitchen when I left the house.”

Papà’s going to be furious if he finds out.

“There are Damiano’s guards as well,” I say.

She snorts. “Please, those guys are nothing. They’re watching people coming in, not going out. I’ll be back in an hour.”

I watch her retreating back and bouncing curls and let out a groan.

Damn it. Will she be all right?

In New York, I’m never too worried about Cleo being able to watch out for herself. She’s surprisingly street smart when she needs to be. But we’re not in New York, so maybe I should go with her. Although, if anyone comes looking and can’t find either of us, they’ll sound the alarm.

I better stay.

I drag my fingers through my hair and glance around. What am I supposed to say to Mamma if she asks me where Cleo went? Back home, I have a list of go-to excuses. She’s at the sauna. She went to the gym. She forgot something at the mall.

Here, I’ve got nothing.

They’ll be so angry if they find out I let her go. I don’t have to wonder about what Papà will do. These days, he doesn’t need much of an excuse to raise a hand to me.

I need to stay out of everyone’s way until she’s back.

I carve a path around the house and head toward a grove of dense bushes. There’s a bench there overlooking the water. It’s a place I can hide until Cleo gets back.

Sitting down, I drag my sweaty palms over my jean clad thighs. Tiredness weighs down my eyelids.

I had way too much to drink last night. Ras didn’t pour the alcohol down my throat, but I blame him for it anyway. It’s like he discovered a manual for getting under my skin. I can’t seem to get his words out of my head, no matter how hard I try.

“You’re sacrificing your future, and you don’t even know what you’re sacrificing it for.”

He doesn’t understand. Ras has no idea the kind of trouble my family is in back home.

Do you?

I gnaw on my lip. The other families could choose to move on us at any time. The only reason they haven’t is because they know we’re joining forces with the Messeros.

After what you did to the Riccis, wouldn’t the other families think twice about messing with you? A little voice in my head asks.

That might have been true at one point, but not now. We spent so much on that fight, and we don’t have any reserves left. It’s why Papà’s terrified. He needs this alliance with Rafaele.