A Truth and a Lie

by V. Sousa

  Thirty-One

  Rose

  The doorbell rang, and I was utterly confused.

  For one, I didn’t know we even had a doorbell, and two, who was even allowed through the gates but not able to get into the house?

  I was in the middle of making lunch for everyone when Lorenzo flew into the room, scaring the shit out of me, and I dropped the slice of ham I had in my hand.

  “Who the fuck is that?” he asked, pulling his gun out.

  I shrugged and bent down to get the ham that had fallen. “No idea.”

  He pulled out his phone and called the guys at the gate, but nobody answered. “I’m going to go look. Don’t move.”

  Usually, I wouldn’t just obey him so easily, but these sandwiches weren’t going to make themselves, so I stayed put. I heard Lorenzo answer the door, but then it was quiet. I didn’t hear any guns go off, so I peeked around the corner to see who it was and relaxed when I saw it was Claire.

  I ran over and squeezed past Lorenzo, who was currently frozen, looking at her belly. It had only been two weeks since I’d seen Claire, but damn, her belly had grown a lot in that time.

  “What happened?” I asked, pulling her into the house and bringing her into the kitchen.

  She took a seat at the counter and frowned. “I told my parents, and they kicked me out.”

  “Seriously? For being pregnant? That’s a little extreme.” I finished putting the rest of the sandwich together and slid it over for whenever Lorenzo became unfrozen. I grabbed the chicken salad sandwich I’d made for myself and placed it in front of her.

  She shrugged in response, taking a bite. “I guess it’s not a good look.”

  Ever since I’d known Claire, her mother had been obsessed with their image. She was a “don’t eat that, don’t touch that, and don’t speak unless spoken to” type. Everything had to be perfect, and anything less was unacceptable.

  “Fuck that. Good thing this house has, like, thirty rooms.” I winked at her.

  She shook her head and put the sandwich down. “Oh, no, I can’t intrude like that. That’s not why I came here. I just didn’t want to be alone right now.”

  “So, what? You’re going to move into an apartment and be alone every day with a baby? Yeah, I don’t think so. If it makes you feel any better, I can talk to Emmett, and he can confirm that it’s all right.”

  She thought it over for a bit and finally nodded. “Okay, if it’s okay with you and Emmett, then I would love to move in.”

  I went around the counter and pulled her in for a hug. “Let’s go to his office, and we can talk to him right now.”

  The ride to Montgomery Mining was spent in silence. Not one word was spoken, and the radio off. The silence felt heavy, almost deadly. During the ride, I searched for any type of sound, but I got nothing.

  Once we parked, I opened my door to get out of the car. Typically, I waited for Lorenzo to get out and come around, but ever since he’d laid eyes on Claire, I think his brain was trying to come up with answers.

  I turned around after getting out and opened Claire’s door, I was reaching out my hand to help Claire when the sound of a gun cocking back caused my movements to halt.

  Lorenzo heard it, too, because he flew out of the driver’s seat but stopped when he looked around.

  I straightened when I felt cool metal press into the back of my head, and that was when I noticed we were surrounded by too many men to count, each one of them with a gun at their side, ready to go.

  Lorenzo lifted his hand just as three men stepped forward, silently daring him to shoot.

  I closed the car door, and Lorenzo put his hand down, blocking the other side, both of us hoping Claire would take the hint and stay put.

  I turned around to face whoever was holding a gun to my head, but when we made eye contact, I had no idea who the guy was. I raised an eyebrow at him in question, and he just continued to stare me down.

  “Something I can help you with?” I moved to cross my arms, but I thought better of it, not wanting to draw attention to my belly.

  A flash of surprise then understanding marked the man’s features. “Rose Rossi.” He smirked at me.

  I contemplated lying, saying that he’d gotten the wrong girl, but you wouldn’t bring this much backup without doing your research. “Is that a question or a statement?” I leaned back on the car door and propped my foot up.

  “Before, it would’ve been a question, but now? Statement.”

  “And you are?” I smirked back.

  His smirk transformed into a grin. “Carmine Rossi.”

  Ahh, okay, now it made sense.

  Carmine Rossi, head of the Rossi crime family of New York.

  Now that he said it, I could see a slight resemblance to Vincent in some of Carmine’s facial features. Vincent must’ve gotten his height from his mother’s side, though, because Carmine was at least six feet tall, could be a little less, and his head was bald and shiny as hell, so with the sun reflecting off it, it was kind of hard to tell.

  I knew he would come after me, but it had been silent for so long that I’d almost forgotten about it.

  “Imagine my surprise”—he lowered the gun and looked me up and down—“when I find out that my cousin was not only killed by a woman but by his daughter-in-law.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t feel sorry. A life for a life,” I bit out.

  “And whose life would that be?” he questioned.

  “My brother,” I snapped back, “but I’m sure you already knew that.”

  I was glad my back was to Lorenzo, and I couldn’t see his face because I knew he was probably not too happy with me right now for the way I was talking to Carmine, but I really didn’t care that we were severely outnumbered. If we were in his territory, it would be different, but he was in my territory, and he would do well to remember that.

  “Carmine, I don’t appreciate you pointing a gun at my wife,” Emmett said in a calm, even tone, pushing through the row of men.

  “And I don’t appreciate my men being killed,” Carmine responded, causing me to roll my eyes. “Plus,” he continued, “your wife has an attitude.”

  “Well, she is my daughter,” I heard my father’s voice come from somewhere else behind me.

  “You’re early,” my father said once he reached us.

  “You know I just love the element of surprise,” Carmine said, still not taking his eyes off me.

  So, he wasn’t really here for me. He was here for a meeting. Not going to lie, but I was kind of annoyed that my father and Emmett didn’t tell me they were meeting with him. I got that they were trying to protect me, but I would have still liked to have been kept in the loop.

  “My office is this way,” Emmett growled before walking into the building.

  “She comes too.” Carmine winked at me before following Emmett.

  Carmine brought only two men in with him and left the rest, probably to make sure this wasn’t a setup. Lorenzo and Claire followed inside, but Emmett made sure they stayed in the waiting room next to the front desk.

  Emmett took a seat behind his desk, my dad stood on his left, and I was on his right.

  “Were you aware that my mother is alive?” Emmett started.

  A flash of surprise showed on Carmine’s face, but he quickly disguised it. “Yes, I was.” If it weren’t for his slip up of surprise, you would never have known he was lying.

  “Then do you know why he faked her death?” Emmett questioned.

  “Enlighten me,” Carmine responded, taking a seat across from Emmett.

  Emmett reached into his desk and pulled out a folder. “My mother found a book that my father kept hidden. Inside, it stated all the business Vincent had been conducting behind your back in your name, but there’s more.”

  After sliding the folder across the desk to Carmine, Emmett pulled out another folder. “Vincent was your middleman, correct? He was in charge of moving the cash from one place to the other?” Carmine stopped looking through the
papers, and his head jerked up. Gone was the cocky expression he’d worn earlier. He nodded, and Emmett continued, “Well, this is his record of all the money he pinched and stole from you.”

  Emmett slid the other folder across the table, and Carmine took a few minutes, looking over every piece of paper.

  When he was finished, he looked back up, and I saw the rage in his eyes.

  “My mother threatened to send these to you, but my father wouldn’t allow it, knowing what you would do to him. So instead, he kept her locked in his basement for years.”

  Carmine was quiet for a while, probably thinking over his options.

  “The way I see it,” my father finally spoke, “you can tell your men that Vincent was a thief and had to pay the price.”

  Carmine gave my father a tight nod and closed the folder.

  Giving me one last once-over, he smiled and winked before getting up to leave, my father following behind him.

  “That went better than expected.” I let out a breath just as the door flung open.

  Emmett and I jumped at the sound, and I was wondering if Carmine had changed his mind, but it was Claire who rushed in with Lorenzo right behind her.

  “What the hell was that?” Claire and Lorenzo said at the same time, looking between Emmett and me.

  “A deal.” I shrugged at her before turning to Emmett. “Claire got kicked out. Is it okay if she stays with us at the mansion?”

  “Yeah, of course, you didn’t have to ask.” He smiled at her.

  Claire came around his desk to hug him, and he jerked his gaze to Lorenzo when he saw the big pregnant belly she was sporting.

  He turned to me with a question in his eyes, and I gave my head a slight shake.

  “Well, we better get going.” I moved to the door, pulling Claire with me. “I still haven’t had lunch.”

  Thirty-Two

  Emmett

  I walked into the mansion and looked around, trying to find Rose, but instead, I found Claire on the couch watching Coco and crying.

  “Hey, where’s Rose?” I asked hesitantly.

  Her gaze didn’t stray from the TV as she pointed to the set of French doors and sniffled. “Stars.”

  “Okay, thanks,” I replied.

  I opened the door and found her outside. She was lying in the grass with a big smile on her face, one hand rubbing her belly while the other was above her head, her hair fanning around her.

  It had been two days since the meeting with Carmine, and every time I’d come here, she had either been out with Claire or already in bed.

  I stood there for a little bit, just taking in how fucking beautiful she was. I still hated what I had to do to Sammy, but I’d concluded that even though Sammy had been my best friend, if I could go back, I would choose her every time. Seeing Carmine pointing a gun at her head snapped me out of my pity party, and now that I had finally woken the fuck up, nothing was going to stop me from getting my girl back.

  I’d given her time and space, but now? I was all in, and I wasn’t stopping until I got what I came for.

  I walked over and lay down beside her. “Every time I missed you, I would come outside, to this spot actually, and I’d look up at the moon and the stars, just remembering the countless hours we spent together just looking at them.”

  She ignored my statement and pointed up. “You see that bright star that’s right next to the moon?”

  I nodded, then remembered it was dark, so she couldn’t see me. “Yeah.”

  “Sammy bought me that star.” I couldn’t see her, but I could hear the smile in her voice. “He bought it for our sixteenth birthday.” She laughed. “He told me I was the moon, and he was the star. He said that no matter what, he would always be right on my ass.”

  She kept laughing, and I joined her because it was something Sammy would have said.

  “I searched for so long for it after he died, but I haven’t been able to see it until now. The last time I saw him was the last time I saw the star. It sounds dumb, but I feel like this is a sign that he’s with me.”

  “He’s always with you, Rose,” I replied. “Just like the stars, just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”

  She was quiet for a while, and it was five long minutes before she spoke again. “I have an ultrasound tomorrow to find out the gender. Do you think you’d wanna come?” she asked, finally turning her head to look at me.

  “I would love to.” I hovered my hand over her belly, silently asking her permission to touch.

  She put her hand over mine and pushed it the rest of the way until I felt the hard, round belly.

  We both lay there for a while, just staring at the stars. My hand on our baby, and her hand on mine, neither of us wanting to move.

  Thirty-Three

  Emmett

  We found out at the doctor’s that we were having a boy and girl.

  Twins.

  Fucking twins.

  Rose had been so excited ever since the doctor told us, but I was freaking out. I loved seeing them on the screen, don’t get me wrong, but I had no idea how to be a father, which hit me hard at the appointment.

  Once I realized there were two babies in there, I was hoping for two girls. I had no idea how I was supposed to raise a kid to begin with, especially not a boy.

  Girls almost always looked up to their mothers, so I wasn’t worried because there wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that Rose would be a perfect mother, but a boy? How was I supposed to have someone look up to me?

  My father was never anything to go by, and even though I knew I wouldn’t be like him, a part of me was scared I was going to fuck it up in some way.

  My thoughts were disrupted when I walked into the kitchen to get a drink and saw Lorenzo and Claire in what looked like a heated discussion.

  I’d almost forgotten that Claire had moved in a few days after Rosie came back.

  She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes when she saw me, and Lorenzo let out an angry growl before he stomped out of the room.

  “You okay?” I took a hesitant step closer to her, trying to get to the fridge.

  She let out an aggressive scoff. “I will be, eventually.”

  I grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and handed one to her.

  “You know, I think a part of him is mad that it’s not his baby. Not because he wanted a baby to begin with but because he thought he could go out and fuck all these girls, and I would just sit around, waiting for him to be ready for me.”

  She moved to open her water bottle, but it slipped from her fingers. I was just about to grab it when I noticed she was swaying.

  I reached out to touch her shoulder and steady her, but she completely lost her footing, and I tossed the water bottle so I could catch her just as she started to fall. Her eyes were closed, and I called her name, but she wouldn’t wake up.

  “Lorenzo,” I yelled out, but he must’ve left because he didn’t answer.

  I pushed one of the panic buttons hidden in the wall, and two security guys came rushing in.

  “I need one of you to call an ambulance and tell them to go through the garage. I need the other to find Rose, and I’ll meet you down there.”

  I scooped up her legs, trying not to jostle her too much, and I raced to the elevator.

  Just as the elevator doors opened, Rose hurried toward me. “What the hell happened? Is she okay?”

  “I don’t know. She just passed out.” The elevator opened up to the garage, and we stepped out. After what felt like forever, the ambulance pulled up. I quickly handed Claire over, and they put her on the stretcher.

  I turned to one of my guards. “Go with her, and I’ll meet you at the hospital.” The guard nodded and followed Claire into the ambulance.

  “I’ll meet you in the car,” I said to Rose. “I’m going to grab my phone and call Tommy.”

  “Okay. I’ll try to call her parents.” She had a frantic look in her eyes, but before I could make sure she was okay, she wa
s racing into the car.

  Thirty-Four

  Rose

  The urge I had right now to wrap my hands around someone’s throat until they stopped breathing was so strong that anytime someone got close to me, my hands twitched.

  Lorenzo was currently at some bar, drinking away his sorrows, Tommy wasn’t answering, and Claire’s parents refused to come because, according to them, they “no longer have a daughter.”

  Meanwhile, Claire’s water just broke, and the only person by her side was me.

  I stopped looking at her unless I had to because every time I did, a new wave of rage hit me. She looked so sad, and I hated that there was nothing I could do about it.

  For the first hour that we were here, whenever the door opened, I saw the hope in her eyes that it was her parents or Tommy, but now she didn’t even bother to look up.

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her parents had said they wouldn’t come, and I was still hoping that Tommy would show up, but I wasn’t holding my breath. He was supposed to be at school, but he has been so off lately that he could be in Mexico for all we knew.

  The nurse came in to check how dilated she was and told her she was about ten centimeters and would probably be pushing soon.

  The doctor came in shortly after, rechecked Claire, and gave her a bright smile. “Looks like you’re ready to push. I’m going to suit up, and then we can get started.”

  She gave him a sad smile and nodded.

  Just as the doctor finished suiting up and put his gloves on, the door flew open, and in ran Tommy with a busted lip and what looked like a bruise starting to form on his cheek.

  He looked over at Claire and me and gave us his famous smirk. “You didn’t think you were going to do this without me, did you? I can’t miss the arrival of my nephew.”

  I looked over at Claire, and I saw her eyes brighten as she said, “It could be a girl. We don’t even know yet.”