Page 127 of Jude

I might’ve gone home to Anya in Calabria, or escaped to another European city, but I was worried the Compagni famiglia still had a bounty on me.

Their reach across the continent was undeniable; they would find me much easier in Europe.

I had no choice but to return to the States.

My cheap ticket meant I had to endure a few stops.

Every leg of the trip felt like a test, shuffling through crowded concourses, eyeing departure boards, and enduring the sterile grind of international travel.

There wasn’t a direct flight from Rome to Nashville, forcing me to endure a chaotic four-hour layover at Frankfurt Airport.

I sat on the cold metal bench of the terminal as the bustling noise of the terminal swirled around me, oblivious to my exhaustion.

With a sigh, I pulled out my phone and got into WhatsApp, reaching out to my friends to give them a detailed breakdown of what went down.

Sofia: I had no choice but to leave him. He was so livid that he treated me like a stranger. He also found out about my acting and got angry because he thinks I lied to him or omitted the truth to cover up my past.

Marisa: Are you safe, Sofia? Do you have enough money to get back to the States?

Sofia: I’m unharmed, and I’ve got enough to survive; I’m just shattered. I’m boarding the plane to the United States in a few hours.

Anya: Take a deep breath, chica. Remember everything that man did to secure your safety.

I grimaced and shook my head.

Sofia: It still does not excuse the fact that he chose to believe lies and refused to listen to me.

Anya: Your connection was real for both of you. Perhaps he’ll soon realize he was wrong.

Sofia: I don’t care if he does; we’re done.

Marisa: We understand; you do what you need to for you.

Tina: We’ll be thinking of you as you travel back. You’re never alone while the four of us have your back.

My girls checked in on me at every leg of the journey.

Their love and encouragement became the source of strength I leaned on during my lonely trip back to the US.

However, the physical and emotional strain began to drown me.

Each time I closed my eyes on the aircraft, the image of Jude’s furious face or the glossy prints of the faked photos jerked me awake.

My mind raced in circles until my vision blurred from total sleep deprivation.

I also thought of Luisa, of her working right alongside me at the assembly benches, whispering sweet lies in my ear.

She’d betrayed me over and over.

I rested my head on the plane window as a deep, sickening regret churned in me at the mere memory of ever trusting that woman.

She was a viper, a predator who used the guise of friendship to orchestrate my compliance.

The fact that her and Dario’s poison crossed an ocean to dismantle my life proved how vile and ruthless people could be; they wouldn’t stop until they dragged everyone else down into their own personal hell.

By the time I reached the international customs counter in Chicago, my legs were shaking from sheer exhaustion.

A uniformed officer took my paperwork, his thumb flicking through the pages of my passport before he pressed the entry stamp down with a thud.