Beneath Their Scars

Chapter 23

Sage's POV
As I was walking up the steps, I began mentally preparing myself for what I'm going to say.

After Roman got that phone call, he just seemed so tense and, upset. It's like I could feel the anger radiating off of him and, he immediately went upstairs. I'm going to check on him now so I can see what the call was about but, I know that he probably won't want to tell me.

Talking about things and letting people in, isn't really one of his strong suits and I just don't want to push too hard. I slowly push open my bedroom door and he isn't in there so, I go down the hall to the guest room.

Once I open the door, I find him standing at the side of the bed pushing his belongings into his suitcase. "What are you doing? What's going on?" I question and he sighs, momentarily pausing his movements.

"I have to go." Is all he says in a rushed voice. I could tell that he was very upset but, he wasn't giving anything away by the tone of his voice.

"Go where? Back to New York?" I ask him and he shakes his head.

"No, I have to go home to Italy." He tells me as he closes his suitcase and lifts it off of the bed.

"Is everything alright?" I ask worriedly and I see him grow tense.

"No, everything's not fucking alright!" he snaps and, I flinched at the harshness of his voice.

Guilt immediately washed over his face. "Listen," he says in a much calmer tone. "I have some things I need to take care of." He continues walking toward where I was standing at the door. "Just enjoy the holiday. I love you." He says softly, kissing the side of my head and walking out of the door.

I feel awful. Something clearly isn't right and, I just want to be there for him.

But I have to believe that he'll tell me when he's ready. I can't force him to say anything but, I surely hope that whatever this is, doesn't ruin the progress we've made.

What if this is mafia business? Oh gosh, I'm not a big fan of guns and killing. What if he gets hurt?

As hard as it would be to take him out, I can't help but think of the worst case scenario. I walk out of the room and downstairs so that I can at least tell him to be safe but, the door is shutting as I reach the bottom.

Everyone got up from their seats and began bombarding me with questions about what's wrong and why he left and, I don't even know how to answer any of them.

Grace gets another call and, everyone falls silent. "It's my father again." She explains and she steps away to answer it.

After a brief conversation Grace came back with an uneasy expression. "It's Arturo... he's been killed." She says lowly and both Izzy, and Elliot held mortified expressions.

"Who's Arturo?" Mikey asks the question that I wanted to ask as well and there's a moment of silence before anyone answers.

"Roman's father." Elliot answers and my heart drops.

From what I know, Roman isn't too fond of his father but he was the only living parent he had left. I can't imagine what he must be feeling right now.

Grace looks directly at Elliot. "We need to get to Rome now." She says seriously and he nods in agreement. He steps aside to make some calls.

"I don't want to impose but, I'd like to go too." I tell Grace and she looks at me unsurely. "I just really want to be there for him through this." I say and Izzy nods.

"Yeah, I think she should go. If anyone knows how to calm him, it's her. He'll probably need her right now." Izzy adds and Grace sides.

"I know you're only trying to help but, I know that he doesn't want you anywhere near anything mafia related and there's a lot of business that needs to be taken care of." She explains and I nod. "but this is still going to be a very hard time for him so it's worth a shot." She adds.