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MARIA

The third Romano brother pulled off his shades and revealed his matching hazel eyes to his brothers. My jaw hung open in shock to see how much he had grown. I recognised him instantly; Dante may have gotten older but he still had his small, genial face. The gentleness in his eyes hadn't left him. He still had that sweet look about him, that confident and relaxed vibe around him. However, that had quickly shattered at the sight of Leonardo and I.

There was no time for greetings.

He lightly let out a sound of disbelief, glancing between the two of us in astonishment and bafflement.

"Why is Vincenzo passed out on the floor? And why are you stood there like the Hulk?" Dante's puzzled voice questioned in slight concern. Then his muddled eyes landed on me and expanded. "And—Maria?" His eyes were filled with shock at the sight of me. "Who made you cry?"

I blinked away my tears, quickly wiping my cheeks. Then he more seriously asked Leonardo as his eyes flickered back to him, "why are your hands bleeding? Did you—"
Leonardo was already storming past Dante to the living room.

I let out a breath before my legs quickly continued to follow. Dante stared at the two of us incredulously, his lips separated.

"Stop Leonardo," was all I could say in a panic.

Dante's arms reached out and pushed Leonardo away from Vincenzo's body as the three of us entered the living room. "What are you doing, stop fratello {brother}!" He firmly told Leonardo, pushing his chest. "Maria, what's going on? Shit, Leonardo, you've almost beat him to death!" Dante recognised in shock as he blocked Leonardo from getting any closer to Vincenzo. "Is he dead?"

"He fucked Elisa!" Leonardo rasped, battling against Dante's arm barrier. Then he began revealing to Dante in broken phases what he had just found out, "Amalia—a fucking paternity test!" Leonardo was so enraged he could barely even form full sentences for Dante to fully understand. Dante glanced over at his brother as he began to piece the picture together, his face instantly falling once he realised what had happened.

I quickly moved around, pulling a stand of hair behind my ear as I knelt down beside Vincenzo, avoiding all the glass he was laying on. Letting out a defeated exhalation of worry, my eyes ran all over his battered state; he was already turning black and blue, his red lips were busted and his eyes already reacting to the pain in swelling up, still knocked out. Blood was splattered all over his face. I gently shook his shoulder, "Vince," I tried before quickly leaning down to hear him breathe. I then placed my hand on his chest. I let out a sigh of relief at his breathing rhythm, his chest rising and falling.

"Vince? Vince?" I desperately continued, my eyebrows creasing at his lack of response. I felt my heart hammer against my ribcage the more I kept trying to get any response from Vincenzo. Then Leonardo lashed out at me, snapping, "if you fucking stay here with him, don't bother coming to me after." I turned to face him, a look of indignation on my face.

"Doing this isn't going to change what's happened, Leonardo!" I couldn't help but retort, my hand still on Vincenzo's shoulder. I let out a frustrated huff, "you have every right to be upset but don't do shit that you will regret later on."

"You think I'll regret this?" Leonardo sarcastically shot back, no longer fighting against Dante. His cold eyes set on mine.

"Leonardo—" Dante was about to interrupt cautiously, recognising his brother's lack of reflection before speaking.

"No. I don't," I shot back before stating, "but you will regret how you've been towards me today." We held our glares on our faces, though inside all I felt like doing was bursting into tears.

The moment he left, storming out without a single word to me, I turned to Vincenzo and shook him as if he was a dead person. "Vincenzo? Vincenzo?" When one eye eventually opened, I let out a loud sigh of relief again, my heart immediately relaxing.

He coughed out specks of blood that splattered onto his cracked lips before wincing, his bloodied face creasing in pain as he left out a strained groan.

"Vince," I let out, feeling utterly helpless and drained.

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The hospital staff wearing their various different colours of position and rank, walked back and forth with their notes in their hands or moving medical machines into different rooms. The hospital was a lot busier that day, a constant sound of overlapping voices filled my ears. Hospitals were just so white, the walls were bland and the floors were squeaky clean. My hands intertwined together as I took in my surroundings; I was never a fan of hospitals.

It was already getting dark out, I sighed as I thought about Leonardo. I had been stuck in the hospital a lot longer than I had expected which meant Leonardo had been out of sight for hours. I frowned as I glanced at my phone. His phone was still turned off and like he had clearly said, I was the last person he wanted to speak to. I knew once I'd get home the air between us would be extremely tense. There was a lot to unfold that I didn't want to confront.

Dante shut the door of Vincenzo's hospital room before releasing a loud sigh and coming to sit beside me on the plastic seats outside. Vincenzo was conscious on the way to the hospital but passed out after getting seen by a doctor the Romanos trusted. He was badly beaten; a smashed nose, broken ribs, dislocated shoulder and that wasn't even all of it. And yet, Vincenzo somehow said that he wasn't that bad. That the way Leonardo had hit him was barely anything compared to Leonardo was capable of, that he had been lucky for even keeping his life. Leonardo could do much worse.

He had hardly said a thing other than, 'I deserved it.' I was concerned the whole time, my entire mind was scrambled about Vincenzo's condition but he wasn't.

My eyes lifted from my hands, that I had just washed, and met Dante's soft eyes. I finally could smile at him as he said, "I can't believe we met again this way." He gently chuckled before his arms opened and I reciprocated a soft laugh before hugging him back, feeling at ease in his friendly arms. His head rested on my shoulder as he deeply inhaled, saying, "I'm glad you're okay."

We broke apart and I nodded, feeling slightly emotional at the sight of the grown man who I left as a little boy. "You still have a baby face," I told him and he gave me a surprised look before chuckling again. His warm eyes sparkled, Dante looked refreshed, as if he had been on a well-needed holiday that renewed his strength.

He smiled before telling me, "seeing you has suddenly made me feel nostalgic. I hate the past but," Dante let out a sigh before nodding to himself, adding, "I miss how we all used to be. When you were here, when Cristiano was too." I nodded understanding his feelings, a thoughtful and short silence held between us. The mention of Cristiano brought him into my mind, how we all used to be together, happy.

"I heard you went away. Are you staying for long?" I asked, still feeling some heaviness on my chest. Dante shook his head, "I came back to sort something out but I'm leaving now."

"Now?" I repeated in astonishment. We hadn't even had a chance to catch up in the midst of all that had been happening. Dante nodded with a chuckle at my reaction. "I'll come back. Just not yet. I was only supposed to be here for a couple of hours. I didn't expect to come back to..." Dante sighed, his eyes on Vincenzo's hospital room door.
I smiled knowingly, looking down at my hands with a small sigh. "I hope when you come back we can have a proper reunion."

"Me too. I heard about everything," Dante mentioned before further adding, "you and Leonardo, I saw the articles. What happened to you a few months ago and. ..and Sienna." My wide eyes lifted to meet his swiftly, my heart dropping. I was already afraid of his reaction.

I slowly began, "Dante, I'm sorry that I
kept—"

He waved his hand. Dante still held that gentle look in his warm eyes. "At first I was really confused and upset but seeing you..."He pressed his lips together and did a small nod. "I know your intentions weren't intentionally bad. It's just shit, isn't it? Life." He had always been like that, quite carefree. He chuckled at my remorseful face, "don't worry about it. There's bigger things to be more concerned about and at least she's alive. Somewhere." I still didn't feel fully relieved at his forgiveness despite his genuine acceptance of the truth.

Then his eyes flicked over to his watch after it vibrated, inhaling through his teeth. Then he gave me a look that relayed that it was time for him to leave. I was curious about Dante, what he did, how he was always so chilled, why he had been gone for so long. But instead, I said as he stood, "I'll be waiting, Dante. Waiting until you come back and tell me all about what you've been doing." He grinned, a heart warming look on his kind face. He always had such a sweet smile.

"Take care of yourself, Maria," Dante sincerely advised me, his eyes gazing into mine as he put his phone into his back pocket. "And don't stress about anything." He shrugged, maintaining his relaxed grin.

"Everything always works out in the end."

That was what stuck with me until I made it home.

It was pitch black when I got back both outside and inside the dark apartment. I stepped in and switched on the light after the front door shut before me. Leonardo's harsh words from earlier were still hanging in my mind.

'Don't bother coming to me after.'

A cold chill ran down my spine as I walked in, uneasy as to what I could walk into. I was wearing my clothes again, a ruched bust cami dress Rosa had gotten me, still remembering the look on his face when he saw me wearing Vincenzo's clothes. I would never forget that horrible gaze. Uncomfortably, I swallowed and took off my shoes before making my way around the house.

He wasn't in his office, the kitchen, the bathroom. I instinctively somehow knew he'd be in the living room but I still searched in the most unlikely of places simply because I was avoiding him; I was somehow looking but also avoiding Leonardo.

I entered, feeling my body instantly heat up at the sight of him sitting in the middle of the sofa. My heart had been stressed to the max that day, racing again at his presence. I slowly breathed out, noticing my body getting all worked up once more. That was it, the final problem to encounter that day. Leonardo and I. My shoulders unconsciously rose a little, the hairs on the back of my neck standing as I moved. I had to confront the elephant in the room which was something I most wanted to steer away from.

Amalia was asleep on his chest, her small body rising and falling as she deeply breathed, completely gone to dream world. Her hair was a curly pile on her head, those cute chunky hands of hers clutching onto her dad's clothes. She wasn't home before I left earlier that day which meant Leonardo had gone to get her. Leonardo's large arms were around Amalia, my eyes noticing the damage done to his knuckles on his blood stained hands. He hadn't cleaned up after what happened and looked a little sweaty.

I then felt it again; the pain in my heart at Leonardo's heartbreak. Staring at the two of them, father and daughter, tore me apart. I felt the tears threatening to come if I didn't control myself. Amalia was his world and that had been snatched away from him with a single letter that could've been easily hidden and buried. I wished I had never found it.

I questioned then if I should've kept it to myself, to never have revealed such a twisted fact to the family. Things would've been better, Leonardo would never have done that to Vincenzo and there wouldn't be such tension, sadness and disappointment there. I wasn't sure if Leonardo could ever move on from the letter, if Leonardo and Vincenzo would ever resume the relationship they once had. The ties between the brothers had significantly been damaged that day, all because of a letter I had discovered.

"Leonardo," I spoke first in a quiet voice. I was tired. For the first time that day, I felt extremely exhausted and weak. My head was aching and my body was begging for some rest. He was looking out into the space, nowhere near me. But it seemed he hadn't even realised I was standing there. I wondered how many hours he had spent just sat there holding Amalia.

Even seeing him holding her in the midst of all that had happened with his hands like that both saddened me and made me worried. We needed to talk and with Amalia there, it wouldn't be the best idea. My first priority was putting her somewhere away safe from where we were about to have a serious conversation.

I walked up to him and he still wouldn't meet my eyes. I softly exhaled, my eyes watching as Amalia slept peacefully, unknown to all the mayhem that had occurred concerning her. My hands reached out but stopped mid air, seeing at how Leonardo's hands suddenly tightened around Amalia, unwilling to let her go. Realising I needed to tread carefully, I gingerly said in a calm voice, "Leonardo, let me take Amalia upstairs to sleep in her crib."

His bruised hands didn't budge. I noticed his distant demeanour. It reminded me exactly of how he looked the day he found out Sienna was alive, that broken and defeated look in distraction, like he had given up completely on the world and himself. The last thing I wanted was a repeat of that, or even him disappearing again. His mental health was always my concern; I didn't want him to fall apart again. But that letter might have just tipped him over fully.

"Leo," I quietly but firmly pressed, my hand cautiously reached out and placed itself on top of his, feeling his rough skin beneath mine. "You need to let go of Amalia."

"I can't," he shakily whispered, finally speaking. His voice was so low, so thick of emotion. I blinked, feeling my nose tingle.

"She's my daughter," he weakly whispered and I felt like my heart was going to burst from despair at his desolate state. I held in my anguish and slowly removed his hands from Amalia, thankfully, they were so weak that they slipped off her.

"We'll talk," I delicately told him, still speaking quietly. I picked up the child, his bloodshot eyes following her as I held her sleeping, warm body in my arms. She snuggled up to me as I went upstairs, slowly moving into the bedroom and to her crib.

I pulled the blanket over her and patted her chest gently as she slept. My eyes lingered on Amalia. I could only feel love for that innocent child, one who loved her father more than anything. My stomach twisted inside, it was such a messed up turn of events, Amalia being the most affected of all. It took me time to be able to tear my eyes away from her. I wiped the spray tears down my cheeks and forced myself to remain composed.

Leonardo and I still needed to endure a conversation, delayed by many hectic events of that day.

I came downstairs to see him with his head in his hands on the sofa, making his shoulders look even broader. I slowly walked in, the air could be cut with a knife at how tense the atmosphere was. It was quiet, a pin could drop loudly in such a silent room. Leonardo breathed out at the same time I did, my chest tightening at the uncomfortable silence between us.

"You came back," he sharply muttered, his head slowly rising from his hands and for the first time, his hazel eyes met mine once more, empty and glum. I could've retorted something harsh back to him but I swallowed down my annoyance before building up the courage to burst out with the most profound thought in my mind.

"What were you thinking when you saw me at Vincenzo's house?"

"You stayed with him after I left, didn't you?"

He stood and my eyebrows narrowed as a frown spread sourly across my face. "I asked you a question first," I pointed out in a hard tone, feeling a wave of anger beginning to flow in me. "What did you think when you saw me at Vincenzo's house?"

Leonardo's darkened eyes held a hard gaze to me, the same as mine. "What did I think? You tell me, Maria."

"Say it," I was suddenly filled with umbrage as I remembered how offended I felt hours before, my voice began to shake at how vexed I had felt. "Say what was on your mind. I could see it, that look on your face when you saw me." I came closer, feeling my heart hammer inside. "Say how you saw that robe of Vincenzo's and thought I had nothing underneath. That I had done something unforgivable, that I had been lying to you, that I had betrayed you! Say-" I couldn't stop my voice was raising the more I spoke with exasperation, "that you thought I had done something, something that your ex-wife would do with Vincenzo."

"That you judged me wrongly and thought the worst of me in that moment, Leonardo," I harshly snapped in a sharp and frustrated tone, my eyes burning into his with extreme resentment. "Why can't you just fucking say it?" I loudly fumed, exploding out my thoughts that remained with me the whole day.

Leonardo's cold eyes flashed with shock for a single second before returning to its unfriendly gaze. He swallowed, looking speechless that I was able to read his mind so quickly from a single gaze before he retorted, "you're right. I did question why you weren't wearing your own clothes."

"You dick," I whispered in anger, my hand  clutching the sleeve of my cardigan, feeling myself get more annoyed at his response. I could never be a cheat.

"How long did you know, Maria?" He asked before I could continue to vent my anger out on him. "How long did you keep that fucking letter secret this time?" He brutally questioned, my lips parting as I was dumbstruck at his sarcasm.

"Leonardo, you don't trust me," I let out in perplexity, my fingers sliding through my hair and holding onto it for a few seconds as I let out a scoff of disbelief. My wide eyes met him, feeling my heart break inside. "You don't trust me at all!"

I shook my head, my hand on my face as I breathed out, my head turning to the side as I looked away for a few moments, getting to grips of what he had just said. I met his eyes again and expressed, "you want a future with the two of us together and yet you can't trust me—"

"You expect me to trust you after you keep things to yourself like that?" He snapped in fury, those mean eyes of his never losing their rage. I exhaled again, feeling my blood boil inside.

"Yes, I should've told you," I admitted but then explained, "but I checked first. I checked that the letter I found was actually true. I only found out when I got out Amalia's crib that day in all the stuff you kept from Elisa!"

"So now you're fucking mad that her stuff is in there?" Leonardo then diverted, infuriating me even more. "And either way, you still didn't tell me straight away! You kept it all that time and pretended around me like you weren't carrying such an important letter!"

"I didn't pretend—" I argued back sharply, my hand shooting up in the air in frustration. "Why the fuck is her stuff there? I don't understand why you kept stuff from a woman you claim you never liked!"

His deep voice was raising the roof as he raged, his eyebrows lowered. I scowled as he shot back, "why do you think that's important right now?"

I moved on in frustration, "whatever! I checked, Leonardo! That's why I didn't tell you straight away such a serious thing! I didn't keep away from you in vain—I wouldn't do that!" I loudly empathised in frustration, trying to get him to understand.

"Oh, really? You seem to know a thing or two about keeping things!" Leonardo sarcastically shot back as I threw him a strong glower, feeling extremely hurt.

My head tilted backwards as I scoffed, feeling myself getting emotional again and the last thing I wanted to was cry in front of him in that moment. "It still hurts you, doesn't it?" I finally was able to lower my voice, feeling my throat burn and tighten. I began to let go of the fuelled fury in me. "The fact that I kept Sienna from you." That seemed to push a button, his eyes flashing with hurt a sign that confirmed my words.

"You're unable to trust me because of that. And you know what, Leo? You never will trust me the way you used to, because you're hurt and you're valid in feeling that way," I acknowledged, a single tear slipping out of my eye. "I'm sorry for..." I couldn't even think of the right word to say. "I'm just sorry for everything. I'm sorry."

"But I had to confirm it was true," I honestly told him before adding, "this whole situation and the two of us is confusing—"

It was horrible and tormenting knowing he couldn't trust me, that he still felt upset about what happened but I couldn't blame him. 'It's over' is what I wanted to say until he spoke.

"I don't know what the hell is wrong with me!" Leonardo let out in a conflicted voice. His hand went to his forehead as he loudly huffed, looking like he had too many thoughts on his head. Leonardo deeply inhaled, his face scrunched and going red. He covered his face with his hand, groaning, "I'm losing my fucking mind and I can feel it, I know I'm getting sick again, I can know it!" His hands went to the back of his neck, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. My heart dropped at his words.

I watched him in concern, my own anger leaving me as I stared, realising in shock at how depressed and frustrated he looked. His shaking eyes were all over the place and he breathed heavily, turning and making himself sit on the sofa, his leg trembling. "Leo," I softly said, my eyebrows knitting together as my teary eyes followed him.

"I wish I didn't lose you. I feel guilty for leaving you alone and you got taken—I feel mad at myself for not protecting you. But I'm still so angry that you lied to me!" Leonardo exasperated, his words sounding slightly unclear and rushed. He had still been thinking about it, the kidnapping. My eyes stared at him in shock, Leonardo hadn't mentioned that to me since. I didn't know he still felt regretful, he still blamed himself for something out of his control. I felt awful.

I watched as he expressed himself to me. The tears began to drip out of his eyes, "and I hate myself for being so unstable—I hate that you didn't tell me about the test. And I just—I just—" his voice broke off, his words became so weak that he could only let out a sob, his shoulders slumping and his scarred hands going to cover his crumpled face, the man completely breaking down in front of me.

"I lost the only thing that was going right in my life," Leonardo's muffled voice cried out, a heartbreaking cry leaving him. "My child. Amalia...I can't even have Amalia..."

Solemn tears spilled out of my eyes as I shared the same feeling of despair watching Leonardo fall apart before me. My lips curled into my mouth as I held in my pain, my face trying to stay rigid, shallow breathing coming from me but I couldn't contain my tears.

I watched as he cried out in his hands, "Amalia isn't mine, Maria...Amalia isn't mine..."

I couldn't bear it any longer and quickly walked over and threw my arms around him, tight, letting out my own tears with him. His hands immediately left his face and held onto me, suddenly pulling me close, his face buried into my chest. It wasn't enough comfort to stand, I allowed him to hold me closer and quickly finding myself on him, I was on his thighs, straddling him, his arms able to completely wrap around me, his hands clutching onto me as he released a heart wrenching sob, my arms around his shaking shoulders, trembling with the force of his pain.

He sobbed hard, the heavy tears being soaked by my dress as his head stayed against my chest. My hand held onto the back of his head, placing my head on top of his as I shed tears of sorrow, feeling his intense pain, his worry, his anger, regret, conflict. Leonardo loudly cried a desperate cry of help, of agony, completely lowering the guard he had held up for so long, releasing all of his emotions right there before me. He sobbed so painfully that he heaved and heaved, unable to keep up with the pressure his emotions had on him.

Leonardo held onto me in distress, heavy cries of misery and torment coming from him. "Mi amore..." I whispered, swallowing down my sadness. My hand rubbed the back of his head, my lips gently pressing against his clammy forehead. "It'll be okay, mi amore, it's okay," I tried but I couldn't even believe the words myself. I squeezed my eyes closer, holding onto Leonardo and wishing I could take his pain away.

"She's not mine...she's not mine..."

Then he deeply sobbed and sobbed until he could no longer heave out his pain anymore.

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~ Author's Note ~

Dante's appearance was short but his story will be covered a lot more in his own book!

At least things calmed down after he came but things between Maria and Leonardo have only intensified more back home.

The truth about Amalia has made the two of them grow even more distant unfortunately. Will they be able to recover from this?

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Thanks for reading!

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