A Touch of Sin |18+|

48

ALANI

Immediately, the worst case scenario came to mind.

Valerio took my hand, leading me to sit down at the kitchen counter. I kept my eyes on him, my brows pinched into a curious frown.

Once seated, Valerio took both my hands and clasped his own over it—the action sweet and gentle but it hardly calmed down the apprehension I felt.

If Valerio killed his own brother, how on earth does one comfort him?

"Alonzo is still alive," Valerio murmured and honestly—he didn't sound too happy about it. "I don't know why, but he is and he's accepted the help."

My back straightened, all my attention on Valerio and his soft eyes.

"He did?"

He nodded. "After I got past my anger, we had a talk. The most decent one in ages, but it might just be him masking his true self to avoid consequences. At least that's what the doctor says."

"There's a chance he might be faking it?" I asked.

"All his answers were so..." Valerio trailed off, the mental wheels in his head turning as he tried to find a word until he settled for, "Prepared."

Valerio nodded, sucking his lower lip into his mouth into his mouth. "Yeah, prepared. Calculated. As if he knew what I wanted to hear."

My shoulders dropped, the annoyance creeping in. Just when I thought we were making progress.

"He apologises for everything," Valerio said, lifting his head to meet my gaze. "He apologises for blaming me. He apologises for everything he said to you. He apologised to my father for being a terrible son and he asked for forgiveness like he's reading off a fucking script."

"What are you going to do about it?" I questioned, my tone soft and hesitant.

"I don't know," he said. "It's not my problem anymore. Whether he's faking or not, he's flying to Sweden right now. I made sure he got on that plane and was well aware that the next few months of his life is going to be in a treatment facility. Longer if he doesn't behave."

"Sweden?" I repeated, my eyebrows raising in shock.

"Yeah," Valerio muttered. "There's a hospital that caters to addicts and mental health patients. I've been looking into it for a while now and I know a doctor who'll report back to me if Alonzo is showing any improvement, or deterioration. But besides that, my parents are the only ones staying in contact with him."

I stared at him for a while. "You were looking at hospitals for him?"

Oh, Valerio. After the amount of times Alonzo stabbed him in the back, he continued to look into places that were capable of giving Alonzo the help he needed.

I had no doubt that he wouldn't have done it for anyone else other than his brother.

"Yeah," Valerio murmured. "For months now. I told myself I was going to get him help if he did it voluntarily. I didn't tell him the other option."

I ran my hand over his shoulder, trying my best to comfort him. "And if he pretends to be better just so he can leave?"

"There's a doctor there," Valerio said. "One of the best in the world. She deals with compulsive liars, narcissists and patients who are good at pretending to be okay just to be free. There's someone for every issue he has, but it's all up to him."

Valerio's grip on me never faltered but the more he explained, the more relieved he looked. In a few hours, Alonzo was going to be out of the country. I didn't know how long for, but I hoped that Valerio would never have to deal with him again.