Falling Angel | a Mafia Story

Chapter XIII

"Before you leave you must know you are beloved,

and before you leave remember I was with you"

The next morning the dress had been stored away, just like my mind's fleeting urge to be close to Antonio again. To give into the devil's call, even if I would pay with my soul.

But the little voice of reason in my head won and for my own mental health I had promised myself to stop thinking about last night's dance.

Easier said than done...

The events of last night seemingly hadn't had as big an impact upon Antonio as it had upon me, because when I passed by him the following evening as I brought Dario's dinner upstairs, he only shot me a quick glance. There was no trace of any emotion on his face; it was back to being as unreadable as ever, and I felt foolish for the blood that rushed to my cheeks as he walked past.

So, I followed his example and answered his blank face with a curd nod before disappearing into Dario's room, my heart fluttering slightly in my chest. But my spinning thoughts were quickly subdued as I entered Dario's room.

Because I was overcome with I astonishment as I saw him standing by the window, looking out onto the garden before he turned towards me with a broad smile, pointing at his leg.

"Look at this," he exclaimed, clearly surprised himself that the wounded leg carried his body weight, "I'm walking!"

He was more leaning against the windowsill and I could tell that he was placing most of the pressure onto his good leg, but the fact that he stood upright and had made it from the bed to the window was a huge turning point for his recovery.

However, the relief of seeing Dario get better by the day was dampened by watching Lottie get worse.

It was almost like the life she was steadily losing was absorbed by him, and even though I was glad to see him up and about walking again I couldn't ignore the irritated feeling in my guts from time to time.

I knew it wasn't his fault that Lottie was losing her battle against the cancer, but seeing people celebrate the recovery of their kinsman, while this little girl was slowly dying, stirred my anger.

The only person that wasn't celebrating was Antonio. He had started becoming more secluded and spent most of the days in his study. He was avoiding his people, not joining them for the meals and declaring plans and orders through Lorenzo, who, while Dario was still on rest, had taken over the position of Antonio's right hand man.

Instead, he took his meals with Lottie, joining her for company and card games when she had the strength to play.

I had gotten used to entering her room and being greeted by his amber eyes, watching like a hawk over everything I did that concerned her care. Every change of drug dose, every adjustment of her pillow, even monitoring the amounts of food she managed to keep down.

It was both tiring and endearing seeing him invested in something so human, and even though I was still frightened by his unpredictable manner, I had started being calmer in his presence and even tolerated him staying when I was reading to Lottie in the evenings.

However, I could not deny the demons that were growing inside of him with the ongoing presence of the little girl.

He would never let her see, always keeping them caged and tamed around her innocence, but once she was asleep at night, they would fight their way out casting a shadow over Antonio's spirit.

He appeared to relive all the sorrow of his late sister's passing every time he laid eyes on the young girl that we all knew would eventually meet the same end.