Page 78

The sky rumbled, and all I could think about was how many times they’d put her in fucked up situations. She was only six years old.

After an hour, she and Rosalia popped in because she missed us, then they disappeared again.

Eventually it was dinner time, and she was a ray of sunshine as we sat around the dinner table, enjoying our meal.

It shattered me having to break the news to her, but of course, we decided I had to be the one to do it.

The dinner table was cleared, and I cast him a fearful glance. He nodded, and I took a deep breath in before plastering on my best smile.

“Sally, we need to tell you something…”

“What is it?” she piped up, leaning forward with interest, hurting my heart even more. “Your parents were here earlier,” I said, watching the light in her eyes dim, and her shoulders slump.

Her voice was tiny. Brittle. “Oh.”

“You knew that you couldn’t stay with us forever, right?” I softened my voice and she leaned back in the chair, a look of sadness painted across her face.

“But I don’t want to leave.” Her voice cracked as she hugged herself, glancing away. “Please, don’t make me leave.” She looked at me, eyes glistening with tears.

I dropped my shoulders in defeat. “Sally, listen to me—”

She cut me off, shaking her head. “I don’t have a real family, please, Nirah,” she pleaded, leaning forward. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t be alone. Antonio and I will try to find someone who—”

“But my mom and dad don’t want me. They left me.” She held back tears. “No one else will want me either.”

“What about your grandparents? An aunt or uncle maybe?”

With a quivering bottom lip, she turned to look up at Antonio. “You don’t want me here either, do you?” A single tear trickled down her pale cheek.

A heartbreaking silence filled the room, and I couldn’t get myself to look back at Antonio, much less look Sally in the eyes.

I chewed my bottom lip. “It’s not that simple—“

“Okay.” Her voice cracked, and a forced smile spread across her lips. “Thanks for the warm milk,” she sniffled, her smile not once wavering as she pushed back her chair and hopped off. “And the food.”

Her eyes shifted from me to Antonio, and when I glanced back at him, his eyes held back a million thoughts as he looked down at her.

“You’ll make a cool dad, Antonio.” She choked out before running out of the kitchen with tears flooding from her eyes and my eyes fell closed.

With a deep breath in I looked at Antonio but he was already looking at me. It took him a second but deep down I already knew a part of him, no matter how small, didn’t want her to leave just yet either.

“Maybe she doesn’t have to leave just yet,” he said, and I smiled, pushing my chair back as I hurried out and into the living room.

“Sally—“ I halted, seeing that it was empty. I made my way up the stairs and stopped outside the bedroom she’d been using. “Hey, Sally?” I knocked before opening the door.

I froze. It’s empty.

I searched the entire room and when she wasn’t inside I hurried down the hallway, checking every room I came across.

My heart thumped with every passing second as I took the stairs two at a time.

“Antonio!” I called out, checking the living room again and when I rushed out I nearly bumped into him. “I can’t find her.”

His brows furrowed. “Are you sure she’s not hiding under her bed?” he mused and I swallowed the tension stuck in my throat.

“I checked.” I shook my head. “Everywhere.” I emphasised, looking around. The sky roared with thunder, sending a jolt of panic down my spine.