Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 95431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Symphony is better off here, where she can be happy and attend school for something she loves. I will remain strong and not go back on my decision. She belongs here.
“Sim, cara, please. You know why you are here. This is best for you. We will talk on the phone as we have been. Call me anytime you need me. Ask for anything you want,” I plead.
“I want to be with you,” she cries.
“I will miss you too, bella, but I need you to be brave for me. I need you to stay here and finish school.”
“I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want you to leave me.”
I close my eyes and tell myself to stay strong. I can’t give in. No matter how much I want to, I can’t give in.
“We will come to visit. You will not be alone. Adriano will be here with you.”
Uri looks at me with pursed lips. He didn’t want me to come to America in the first place. I can see the I told you so written in his eyes.
He moves forward and places a hand on Symphony’s shoulder. She turns to look at him as she tightens her hold around my waist and fists her hands tighter in my T-shirt. My heart is aching.
“I need you to be brave, Symphony. I need you to be the soldier I’ve trained. Michael must leave to return to business.
“A part of that business is to work with me to keep your nonno and family name safe. One day, this will be your job. You will stand in your nonno’s place and Michael will be there to help you. Do you understand?”
She nods and sniffles. “Yes.”
Slowly, she begins to release her hold on me. My heart turns to ice as she steps away from me. Although I know this is what must be done, it feels so wrong.
“Go,” Annabella whispers from beside me.
I brush a hand over Sim’s hair before I turn to leave. I need to touch her one more time to let her know I care and will miss her. She has become more important to me than I ever thought she would.
As I walk to the door, she begins to wail. I turn to see she has fallen to the floor and balled herself up, holding her knees as she sobs. Adriano appears and sits on the floor beside her, leaning to whisper into her ear.
Anger and jealousy fill me. That should be me comforting her. I should be the one to stop her tears. I close my eyes when he gets her to sit up and pulls her into his arms.
Uri comes to push me through the door. How am I supposed to keep doing this? I swear, Trovati is going to die, and I will come to get my little one so she can be at home with her family.
“I’ll be back, bella. I promise,” I whisper as I leave and go to climb into the back of the car.
Symphony
I had two weeks of bliss while Michael was here. I didn’t mean to break down when he had to leave. I just woke to this feeling as if I wouldn’t see him again once he left me.
I have been sad all day. Adriano has tried to get me to laugh and be happy. I didn’t know he was so funny and smart.
“You know if we eat any more of this ice cream, it’s going to ooze out of our pores,” Adriano says in his Italian accent as I grab another pint of vanilla ice cream.
“That is a lie. It is impossible for ice cream to come out of your pores because the digestive system breaks down food into tiny particles that are absorbed into the bloodstream, not transported to the skin’s pores; therefore, we could eat as much as we want and that would never happen,” I reply.
“I love that about you,” he snorts.
“Love what about me?” I ask and blink at him in confusion.
“The way you hold so much information and know almost everything about everything. Then you spill it out without having to think about it,” he says.
“I think about it. I think a lot.”
“I think a lot too. I think you should remember to be a sixteen-year-old girl. I think you should live your life here.
“Let Michael do what he has to in Italy or London or wherever he will be. You are brilliant, Symphony. Make the best of what you have come here to do,” he says.
I want to yell and shout at him. He doesn’t know what’s best for me. I know he is nineteen and older than me, but he doesn’t know it all.
“I know I am sixteen. I have no choice but to live my life. I will go to school and do my best. That is what I must do for Michael to come back to get me.”