“Keep very, very still, Amelia. Please. No sudden moves.”
“Okay… okay,” I answered breathlessly.
“Raphael, let me come help. Move out the way!” Luc yelled.
“Luc, I’m warning you. Stay back. We don’t know what kind of impact you’ll make jumping over here like that. We could all die. The panels aren’t stable.” Dad shook his head.
He leaned in again, this time suspending himself a little over the ledge, and swung in to catch the rope. He started pulling on the part that was just under the bolt. Pulling up with all his strength. I was lifted higher.
Dad pulled and pulled trying to get me up. I could see his struggle as he did so. Then the dreaded bolt came free completely, causing Dad to slip as I bobbled again.
I was surprised to see he regained his footing and continued pulling again. There was another bolt I didn’t see just behind me. He managed to secure the rope onto that. He stopped for a second and grabbed his chest, breathing hard. It was too much for him.
“Dad, stop. Get to safety. Please. You can’t do this.” He couldn’t. He had that frail look again.
“No. No. You let me take care of you,” he cried. “I’m going to pull you up.”
He pulled again, and I was almost up. It would have been so much easier if I hadn’t been tied up the way I was with the ropes wrapped around my arms. He literally had to do all the work.
One last pull, and I would be right up there on the roof with him, but the panels holding us up came free, and we both fell through the air as it crumbled.
“Daaaaadddd!” I screamed.
Dad rolled past me, and both Luc and I cried out.
I thought he was going to fall straight to the ground, but Dad grabbed the rope dangling below my legs.
Resilience and determination shone from his face. My breath hitched somewhere between my heart and my throat as I watched him climb up higher.
He didn’t say anything; he just held on tight, pulled in a deep breath, then reached into his back pocket to pull out a knife.
“Dad, what are you doing?” I couldn’t keep the panic out of my voice.
“Amore mio, listen to me. I’m cutting the rope from your arms. When it loosens, grab the rope above you and pull yourself up.”
“No, I’ll help you.” I wiggled my fingers.
“Amelia, listen to me. Do this for me. Just focus.”
“I can’t. I won’t leave you. Cut the rope from me, and I’ll help you up first. Then you can pull me up.”
“You get your stubborn from me, girl. Now’s not the time to be stubborn. I need you to listen to me. Remember that day, that first day I took you to your first ballet class?”
I’d been five, but it was a day I would never forget. It was one of the most meaningful days of my life. “I remember.” I whimpered.
“All the other girls were so good, and it threw you off. But I told you to do your own thing. Focus and do what comes to you. Focus. When you did, you did what came natural to you.”
I started sobbing. The mask of the tough cop I’d become over the years faded, and I could have been that little girl again.
“Amelia, we need to act fast. Ready?”
I nodded, unable to talk.
He slid a little higher and started cutting away at the knots. My left arm came free first, and I reached up to grab the rope above me.
“I’m going to leave the rope around your waist, just in case.”
My right arm came free, and I shook the remains of the rope from me. It fell down past Dad.
“Dad, I can pull the both of us up now.” I was determined to.
The rope above us started to shift, then it dropped slightly. The panel just before the bolt gave way, and we both dropped some more. I looked down at Dad, my heart beating so fast I thought it was going to jump out of my chest.
We were going to die. This wouldn’t work.
“Lucian,” Dad cried, glancing over his shoulder and locking his gaze with Luc’s.
“Boss, no…”
The two seemed to share some hidden message I wasn’t privy to.
“You and your brother are like sons to me. Your father is… he is like family. Tell him I said that.”
“Tell him yourself. Raphael, son of a bitch. Don’t you dare…” Luc wailed.
“I always liked that you called me Raphael. My mom used to hate when people shortened my name. You showed me respect always, and I appreciated it. Please take care of my little girl. She really loves you.”
“No. Boss, no. Don’t.” Luc cried.
“Dad, what are you doing?” I cried, catching his attention.
He looked back to me and smiled. “Amore mio, the rope can’t take the weight of the two of us. It can’t, not for the two of us. Listen to me sweet girl and climb up.”
As if on cue, we heard a crack. Dad held up his knife and smiled. A tear ran down his cheek.
“Dad, no!” I screamed. I knew just by looking at him what he meant to do. I knew it, but I didn’t want to accept it.
“Amelia Rossi, remember when I said I’d love you with my last breath? I meant it.”
With one slash, he cut through the rope above him and below my feet.
“Dad, noooo! Please take my hand. Papa!! Papa!”
Everything stilled around me, like time froze again. I watched horrified at what was happening.
Another slash severed the rope. It severed the rope with a snap, and Dad was falling away from me.
He looked up at me as he went down.
Falling away…
Falling… away.
Falling…
It happened so fast. It all happened so fast.
One minute he was there, and the next he was falling away from me.
My father…
He’d cut himself free from the rope to save me.
My screams echoed all around. Inside and outside of me.
Chapter 19
Amelia
“Amelia!” Luc cried.
I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t look away from where Dad had fallen.
Although I couldn’t see where he landed, I didn’t want to look away. It felt like letting go. Letting go of him.
I couldn’t let go.
“Amelia, you have to climb up, please. Don’t let your dad’s sacrifice be in vain. Please,” Luc pleaded.
I couldn’t answer through my sobs.
“He did so much for you.” He reminded. “So much to protect you, so much to make it possible for you to live the life you wanted. Please, climb up.”
His words gripped me to my core. Dad had done so much for me. Right from the very beginning when I’d found out about our family and the secret life we’d lived.
He’d made sure I had what I wanted, protected me and loved me with his last breath.
That crack sounded again and fueled me with strength.
Dad had loved me with his last breath and given me another chance to live.
I couldn’t let his last sacrifice be in vain. I pulled in a sharp breath to clear my head and grabbed on tightly to the rope. Then, with one hand after the other, I used all my upper body strength to climb up.
Up I went until I was above the panel by the bolt the rope was attached to.
“That’s it. Now, get off the roof,” Luc called out.
“Luc. My dad…”
“I know, darling… I know.” I looked beyond him. The fighting had stopped, and our men were all standing looking on in sadness. Even Sinclaire and Max. “Go on now, Amelia. I’ll come get you.” He nodded.
A fresh bout of tears took me, but I gathered my strength and moved across the panels. I wasn’t out of the woods yet. I moved past Tag, not bothering to spare a moment to look at him. I didn’t want to. I didn’t need to.
I could see it. The steps leading down from the roof. The whole thing started to shake, and the panels around all cracked and fell in. I had to jump to make it over the side with the steps.
Instantly, I looked
back to Luc, who’d watched me until I was safe.
It was only then that he started to move back. I watched him too, making sure he was safe, holding my breath until he got to his side.
He raised his hand and waved to me.
It was over.
My gaze fell to the drop again, and tears took me, uncontrollable and overpowering.
Dad.
I couldn’t believe what had happened.
It didn’t feel real. It didn’t feel right.
He was gone.
It took Luc and Claudius fifteen minutes to get to me. I never stopped crying.
I seemed to pass out from it, and when I woke up, a bright light blinded me.
I squinted against it, blinked, then refocused. Blinked again.
Luc stood beside my bed… no … I got them mixed up again.
Sometimes Luc and Claudius looked so much alike. It wasn’t until I saw his eyes—one blue and the other brown, and then the cross on his cheek—that I realized it wasn’t Luc.
Next to Claudius was Marcus. Then Gigi, Max, and Sinclaire.
I looked around me. I was in the hospital. I tried to sit up, but something was attached to my arm. Wires that went to a drip bag and monitors.
“Easy there, pet. You need your rest,” Marcus said, offering a kind smile.
“Why am I here? I’m fine.”
“No, you aren’t. You have a broken rib, and you were severely dehydrated,” Claudius answered. “The doctors wanted to keep you for observation.”
I looked at everyone. “Thank you all so much for coming.”
“Don’t mention it,” Max replied.
“Like we wouldn’t,” Sinclaire offered. “Next time, if the damn golden eagle isn’t riding the horse, promise me you won’t tell me it is.”
“I promise.” I gave him a weak smile and looked to Gigi, who moved closer to take my hand.
She looked a little off. In fact, they all did, and I looked around them for Luc.
He wasn’t there. “Where’s Luc?”
When Gigi’s eyes filled with a wealth of sadness, I knew something else had happened. Something more.
“Amelia.” Marcus cleared his throat. “Victor leaked some stuff to the feds, and the police came to take Luc away this morning.”
My eyes widened, and I sucked in a sharp breath. “What? No, what stuff?”
“How about you rest up, and we talk about it in a little while. Doctors said you may be good to come home tomorrow.”
“No, I want to talk now.” My heart started galloping, and my muscles tensed.
“Trust me, princess,” Claudius intoned. “It’s best not to.”
I looked from him to Sinclaire and Max. Both had that solemn look on their faces.
It told me everything.
Luc was a mobster. Of course, he should be locked up.
What did I expect?
Luc
I was surprised I hadn’t ended up here before now.
Very surprised.
I guess it was just a matter of time before I got what was coming to me.
Me behind bars.
I was sitting on the metal bench of a jail cell at the Chicago Police Department. I wasn’t where I should have been. With Amelia, by her side, making sure she was okay. Or even with my men, grieving our losses. We came out strong but we took hits and several guys lost their lives.
I was here now.
Helpless. Again.
The guy opposite me was just staring at the wall.
When I came in yesterday, he’d looked at me like he recognized me but said nothing. Not a damn thing.
I didn’t care.
What I cared about now was the uncertainty of this situation I’d found myself in.
My dear friend Victor had dealt his last blow. The last thing he could do to screw with me.
He’d gotten to one of our contacts in the feds and threatened his family if he didn’t leak info on some of the rackets I’d run over the past year.
The guy had leaked, and about an hour after we’d arrived at the hospital with Amelia, I got taken away. Handcuffed and led away out in the open like the criminal I was.
They’d been looking for me.
The ironic thing was, I’d taken off my jacket and given it to Claudius just before the doctors took me away to examine my arm. The jacket had the diamonds in the inside pocket.
Dad and Claudius had tried to intervene when the cops came, trying to talk them away, but it was useless. They couldn’t do anything. No one could.
Now, I was here awaiting something I didn’t know what, and no one—friend nor family—was allowed to see me.
I looked up as the guard approached the cell door. Behind him was Sinclaire.
God, why?
He was the last person I wanted to see right now.
This had to be the classic case of kicking a man while he was already down.
“You got fifteen minutes,” the guard told Sinclaire.
He came in and sat on the chair opposite me.
“What are you doing here?” The void inside me didn’t have the strength to be an asshole to him.
“How you holding up?” He asked to my surprise.
“Doesn’t matter.” Physically, I was functional. They’d tended to the wound on my arm back at the hospital. Mentally… I couldn’t really speak for my mental state right now. “Why are you here, Sinclaire? You’re the last person I expected to come see me. You here to gloat? To tell me how you’re better than me? That Amelia can do better with you than me? You know what? Save it. You’re right. She can, and she should be with you.”
He started laughing and straightened. “Amelia loves you, Luc. I’m jealous of you for that, but she’s my friend, and more than that. She’s like family, close to me like that, and I’m not here to gloat or tell you shit you don’t need to hear.”
“I’m behind bars. You know what the sentencing for racketeering is? A max of twenty years. Twenty years.” I shook my head.
“I’ll see what I can do. Whatever it is. I came to find out one thing first. Make sure you answer this wisely.”
“What is it?”
“Back at the prison, I watched you crawl on the roof, and damn, those panels weren’t safe at all. Most were missing. But you did it without thinking of yourself. It was then that I realized you must really love her. You looked like you would do anything for her. I came here to hear it for myself. Do you love her?”
I had to sit up straighter. I couldn’t believe his question, but I’d give him my answer.
“I love her more than life itself. I love her enough to do anything for her, and enough to ask you to take care of her and to make sure she’s happy. Make sure she gets her dream back and doesn’t slip away in the shadows.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“That all?” I narrowed my gaze at him.
“Yeah.” He stood up and signaled for the guard to open the door.
He left, and I returned to my former hollowness.
Back to the void.
Two more days passed before I got to see Amelia.
She sat amongst the visitors in the public gallery. Next to her were Claudius, Pa, and Sinclaire.
I sat with my lawyer at the defense table. Across from us was a badass prosecuting lawyer called Simms. I’d had a run-in with him a couple of times.
Presiding was Judge Montpellier. I’d never seen him before or heard of him.
He looked at me like he didn’t like the look of me.
I stared at Amelia, wishing I could hold her one last time. Wishing and praying, but I knew that was just a dream.
A woman like that was always a dream to me.
Raphael had asked me to take care of his daughter, but look at me. Right now, I couldn’t even take care of myself.
The judge cleared his throat, and I returned my focus to him.
“Okay, this is going to be quick unless there is any further evidence that needs to be considered.” He looked from Simms to my lawyer
. Both shook their heads. “Will the defendant please rise.” He focused his eyes on me.
I felt nervous and helpless as I stood. Damn, was I ever the shadow of the man I used to be. The big bad from Chicago. Lucian Morientz.
Fuck.
Judge Montpellier cleared his throat. “I’ve deliberated over the charges presented, and this is my ruling. The evidence is substantial and irrefutable. So, Lucian Morientz, you are guilty as charged in line with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The defendant acted knowingly and intentionally in contravention to the laws set out by this Act. As such, the Court is prepared to proceed to sentencing. Since the defendant has no prior convictions of this nature, I see this as a level nineteen offence. So, I sentence you to thirty-seven months in prison.”
Well, at least it wasn’t twenty years.
If they’d gotten all the dirt on the old me, it might have been life.
I said the old me because the guy who did all that shit wasn’t me anymore.
I looked back at Amelia, who was crying. Claudius had his arm around her.
“I’m sorry,” I said although she couldn’t hear me.
She read my lips though and shook her head. “I love you,” she mouthed back.
Three years and one month.
I was sure I’d die. It had been hard to be without her for just the few days I hadn’t seen her.
This would be the straw that broke my back.
Chapter 20
Amelia
It started to rain. Just like last time. Ironic.
Another funeral.
Another parent.
Mom… now Dad.
Last time, the rain fell, and I stood by Mom’s grave until I was drenched. I couldn’t leave. I did the same thing now, unable to leave with the other guests who were departing from the cemetery.
My eyes were fixed on the grave. The dirt had been laid, and Dad buried. He had a beautiful ceremony with close to a thousand people in attendance. It was like a state funeral.
The closest went to watch the burial. That included all his men who were left after the battle, and me.
There were so many people around me, but I felt all alone. So very alone.
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