It was worse than when Mom died.
This was worse.
It was worse because they were both gone. Because it felt like I’d just found Dad only to lose him. I’d just started to understand him, just started to forgive him. As I’d hung from that rope, I’d willed myself to make it, so I could take care of him for the rest of his life, however long he had left. I saw me doing that and having more time to make up for lost time. I didn’t realize that I would have to say goodbye then.
I’d said goodbye forever to him and Millicent, both in the same day.
Millicent’s funeral was on Sunday.
I’d also had to practically say goodbye to Luc no less than twenty-four hours later.
I couldn’t believe that after all we’d been through, this was the result.
A whole week had passed since Luc’s sentencing. He’d been transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, and we still weren’t allowed to see him.
We had visitation planned for two days’ time, but it felt like forever.
Two days, then once a month.
Once a month for the next three years and one month.
God…
This was hard.
It was all hard.
Someone put an arm around me. I looked up at Marcus and nodded. I’d cried so much over the last few days that I had nothing left in me. I was an empty well of nothingness.
“Come on, pet. It’s time to go.” He glanced up at the rain as it came down heavier.
“I can’t leave. Not yet. I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“Pa, I’ll stay with her,” Claudius offered.
Gigi came up to us, followed by Max and Sinclaire.
“I can stay too,” she said, reaching out to take my hand.
“Us too,” Max offered, and Sinclaire nodded.
“Well, I guess I’m staying too,” Marcus intoned, pressing his thin lips together. He held his umbrella over my head. “Raphael would have my head if I allowed his girl to catch a cold.”
That did it. Hearing that made me cry the tears I didn’t think I had left.
I practically collapsed into his arms, crying all that was left of me, for everything.
“You sure you’re going to be okay in this big old house?” Sinclaire asked.
We sat in the living room of Dad’s house… my house.
My house.
My home.
I guess it was mine.
It was home. It felt like home.
“I will. I’ll be okay, maybe.” I didn’t know when that would be, but I was aiming for positivity.
Max shuffled next to Sinclaire and looked at me. “Kid, you know you can tell us if you’re not okay. Plus, we can tell. I’m good to stay another week or longer.”
“Me too,” Sinclaire offered.
They were leaving today. They’d probably already stayed long enough.
“No.” I shook my head at both of them.
“Well, I personally don’t know how I’m supposed to get back to life without you in LA.” Sinclaire chuckled.
“There is no life without me. Brad Sinclaire, you better call me every chance you get, and visit. I’ll visit too. Don’t you dare forget me.” While I hadn’t officially said it, they knew I wasn’t going back to LA. They knew I was going to stay here.
Pick up where I left off, so to speak.
“You bet, Amelia. Taylor. You know, I never thought that name suited you. I like Rossi.”
“Me too,” Max agreed.
“I can’t believe you guys came for me.”
“We will always be there for you. Always,” he promised. “I’m real sorry about everything. Including Jefferson and Holloway.”
Neither of us had mentioned them. It was too painful.
I shook my head again. “It’s fine. We have each other.”
“We do. We also have something to tell you.” Max smiled.
“What?”
“We did something really bad, so, whatever we’re saying now has to stay in this room.” Sinclaire looked around pretending to look shifty. “Who’s here?” He lowered his voice.
“Gigi’s upstairs casting runes.” She was. My best friend was upstairs casting runes and spells. She’d annoyed Claudius so much earlier he had to leave the house.
“Okay, good, she needs to stay upstairs. This is top secret shit.” Sinclaire nodded.
“Yes, we went rogue,” Max agreed.
I actually laughed. I couldn’t believe it. “What did you guys do?”
“Become mobsters.”
“Jesus Christ. Now’s not the time to joke around.”
“I’m not joking. Listen, we might have been able to get a reduction of Luc’s sentence.”
My mouth dropped, and I sucked in a sharp breath. “What? How? Really?”
Sinclaire held up his hands. “Don’t get your hopes up too high. We don’t know if it panned out yet. But let’s just say Judge Montpelier has been a really bad boy and we found out some stuff.”
“Yeah, some pretty bad stuff.” Max smirked.
“What? What stuff? You have to tell me.”
“I’m afraid that’s as much as we can say. We found out some stuff and handed it to Claudius, and Roose will be issuing a statement on behalf of our police department, showing how Luc helped capture Demarco and dismantled that whole drug ring. It will help. There’s also the fact that he took down Victor, who is actually on the nation’s most wanted list. It’s all in his good books.”
“Oh my gosh.” My hands flew up to my cheeks. “You guys, I can’t believe you did all that for me.”
“Like we said, we’ll always be there for you.” Max stood, signaling that it was time to go. “I’m going to get our bags in the car. Gives you two a chance to talk without me.”
He looked from me to Sinclaire and smiled. I stood up and gave him a hug.
“I’ll call you when we land.”
“You better.” He left, and Sinclaire stood up. He brought his hands together and looked slightly nervous.
“I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you a lot.” He nodded.
“I’ll miss you too, Sinclaire.” I gazed openly at him, at the man whom I probably should have been with but wasn’t. There were so many good things about him, but I figured it out. More than the fact that I was in love with Luc and not him. I think it was because we were more than that.
“It was hard when I first went to LA. Hard lying to everyone I met. Hard lying to you. I was someone else. I always thought I was closer to Max than you, but I was wrong. It was you. I hated lying. I’m sorry, and I’m sorry it didn’t work for us.” I felt I should explain that because it really affected him.
“Don’t be. Don’t be sorry. I acted like a real ass for a long time, but I was jealous. I came to the conclusion that I’d rather have you in my life as a friend than not have you at all.”
“I’d rather have you as a friend too, but please don’t think I never valued you, or didn’t care.”
“I never thought that, Amelia. Not once.” He brushed his finger lightly across my jaw. “So, what now? You aren’t a cop.”
“I’m not a cop.” I’d handed in my resignation a few days ago.
“You should have been a dancer. I always thought you moved like one.”
“People said I walked like a cop.”
“No, I saw beneath it all. I saw that there was more to you than what met the eye, but hey, I still get to find out. I’ll come back in a few weeks.”
“Really?” That surprised me.
“Yeah. I thought we could go see a basketball game or something. That’s me being a friend.” His smile brightened.
“I know.”
“Come here.”
I threw my arms around him and gave him a hug, one that lingered.
Max came back in, and Sinclaire released me.
He planted a light kiss on my forehead and moved to join him.
“Catch you later, boss lady.”
I blew a kiss at them both.
I sat back down in the sofa and put my feet up. I just started to get comfortable when Gigi came in.
“Are the guys gone?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s just you and me, and I guess I’ll be here by my lonesome in this house when you leave next week.”
She shook her head. “No. Amelia, I didn’t want to tell you this, but days ago, when I cast my cards, I was told that great fortune awaited me in a distant land, and I would be needed to help a friend in need.”
“Okay, what does that mean? Clearly, I must be the friend in need, right? So, you can tick that box.”
“Well, this felt like something new on the horizon for both of us. Anyway, we can work out how helpful I’ll be as the days go by. Until we know, I wanted to tell you that I’m not going back to LA.”
I straightened instantly. “What do you mean?”
“Well, we’ve always lived together. Not that I’m saying we should live together forever, but I was thinking we could live here together. It would be cool, if you want to.” She gave me a tentative smile.
Excitement and hope bubbled within me at the prospect of her staying. Of course I set out to do this all on my own but having her here would be the best ever. I thought maybe it would make it easier somehow. “Of course I want you to stay. I would love for you to, but what about the gallery and art? Your coven is in LA.”
“They’ll be fine with me leaving. We’re supposed to do good. Plus, I think I’m needed here. I checked out a few art galleries, and two have gotten back to me. It looks hopeful. So, I figured I could stay here. You know, until Luc gets back.”
“Three years and one month?” My voice shook as I spoke. I prayed whatever Sinclaire and Max had done helped in some way. I knew Luc was guilty, and it was wrong for me to wish he wasn’t in prison, but that didn’t stop me. So, I was going to be selfish and hope his sentence could be decreased.
“Three years and one month. We can see what happens.”
“Gigi, that would be amazing. Thank you so much. I really need you.”
“You are very welcome. Now, to find out what great fortune awaits. Chicago is the distant land.”
“You know we’re kind of rich, right?”
“We?”
I nodded. “What’s mine’s yours.” Dad had left me all his possessions in Chicago and Italy. I didn’t want to even contemplate what all that meant and what it was worth. I knew it was billions. Billions aside from the business. The business he’d given to Luc, who’d given it to Claudius. That existed outside what I had, and outside of me. I didn’t have to do anything where it was concerned, and I didn’t have to think about it. “Plus, I’m still trying to make amends for what happened to you.”
“No, that isn’t something you have to make amends for. Not one bit. Anyway, I’m over that and thrilled you want to share your wealth with me. I’m here to support you. It’s been a difficult time for you, and I will be here as long as you need me.”
“Thank you from the very bottom of my heart.”
“Again, you are very welcome. How are you feeling?”
“Awful. It’s too much.”
“It will get better with time, and remember, every day that goes by is one day less that you’ll have to wait for Luc.”
That sounded hopeful. As with Max and Sinclaire, I didn’t have to tell her that I would be staying here, but more importantly, I’d be waiting for Luc.
“That gives me something to look forward to.”
“It does. Let me get dinner started before Claudius comes back. He brought a dead squirrel in the house the other night. So gross.” She wrinkled her nose and frowned. “At least he’ll have something to eat when he comes back.”
I rolled my eyes and chuckled slightly. Claudius was quite a character. He had the whole tough guy image down to the T, but he’d barely left my side since I’d come home from the hospital. It was nice.
“I think he kind of likes the squirrels, but don’t tell him I said that.”
“What do you want to eat?”
“Bread.”
“Bread with something else Amelia. You can’t live on bread.”
“I can’t eat anything. I’m still sick from the crap they gave us back in the prison.” I hadn’t been able to hold anything down and had lost weight in just a handful of days.
“I’ll make you chicken soup.” She got up.
My phone started ringing, buzzing on the coffee table. I winced, still anxious to answer it. I didn’t think anyone could blame me. I looked at the screen and saw it was the hospital again. They’d been calling and leaving messages to contact them. I’d been putting it off because of everything that was going on.
Dad’s funeral, Luc’s trial, Millicent’s funeral in a few days’ time. The last thing I wanted was to be drawn off to the hospital or something medical.
I guess though, now that everything was over, I could take care of myself.
Gigi nodded at me as I answered the phone, and she left me.
“Hello.”
“Hi, is this Miss Rossi?” came a soft feminine voice.
“Yes, speaking.” I adjusted the phone at my ear.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Ferguson at the Chicago General. You are a very difficult woman to get hold off.” She chuckled.
“I’m sorry. I had a lot of things to sort out. It’s been a stressful time.” That was probably putting it mildly.
“Well, stress is one thing you don’t need right now.”
“No, I agree.”
“Well, that’s a good start. I’m contacting you today because it was revealed in the tests we conducted while you are with us that you are pregnant.”
At first, I didn’t quite hear what she said. Then it hit me. It hit me hard, like someone had thrown a truck at me.
“I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?” I narrowed my eyes and pressed the phone closer to my ear.
“Congratulations, Miss Rossi, you’re pregnant.”
Chapter 21
Luc
“You look like shit,” Claudius said, looking me over with disdain.
It was typical of him to point out the obvious.
I knew I looked like shit with my black swollen eyes and bruises all over my face.
“What the hell happened to you?” Pa asked.
I sighed with frustration. “Six guys jumped me. Romanos boys. Pricks.” I wouldn’t last in here. Not because I couldn’t take care of myself, but because I couldn’t control myself. Those assholes thought they could pick a fight with me because it was them against me. They were wrong.
They’d come at me when I was eating the filth they called lunch in this shithole. I took them down effortlessly, but that had landed me in solitary confinement for two days.
“You okay? I mean, are you hurt?” Pa asked.
“I’m alive. You should see the other guys.” They had broken arms and legs.
This place was killing my soul, undoing all the good I’d done in the last few months. It was undoing me, the man I’d become since meeting Amelia.
I needed her. This was the first day I was allowed visitors, and I was going to tell her straight that she needed to move on with her life. Not that I assumed she would wait for me. I was just hoping. Hoping with my stupid heart, but at the same time thinking with my brain for a change.
I needed to let her go.
I sat with Pa and Claudius around a table in the visitors’ lounge. There were guards everywhere.
Amelia was somewhere in the building waiting to see me next.
I was only allowed two visitors at a time. I guess it was good, though, to get to see her by herself. This would be the first time I got to speak to her in what seemed like forever.
I was so desperate to see her. Desperate to see how she was. I couldn’t believe I’d missed Raphael’s funeral. She had support, but I hadn’t been there. Everyone else had been there for her but me.
“Well, we can now update you on the diamonds.” Claudius straightened. “I handed them ove
r to the Smithsonian Institute personally yesterday.”
I was proud to hear that. “Thank you.” Once upon a time neither of us would have thought to hand them over. We would have kept them.
“We just wanted them gone.” Pa huffed and frowned. “Caused a lot of trouble.”
“Didn’t they just.” I agreed.
“Too much, we can forget them now and start rebuilding.” Claudius added bringing his hands together.
I was happy to hear that too. “Rebuilding?” I looked from him to Pa.
“Well son, we can pretty much do whatever we wat from here onwards. For good or bad. Don’t expect us to become cops though.” Pa chuckled.
“Don’t even mention that cop word to me.” Claudius sneered. “Anyway, diamonds aside we have some news.”
“What kind of news?”
“Good and bad. Two good pieces of news, actually.”
I didn’t know what kind of news would be good for me here. “Let’s hear it.” I leaned forward onto the table.
“First piece of news is, Maria contacted us. She said she’s safe in Florida and sends her thanks.” Claudius quirked a brow. “And her love. Didn’t know you two saw each other recently.”
“She helped me when I was looking for Victor.”
“That all she did?”
I frowned at him. “Fuck, Claudius, now’s not the time. I didn’t do anything with her. Those days are gone.”
“Good, that leads me to good news number two. We managed to reduce your sentence.”
All I could do was stare. “Jesus Christ, how?” Yes, how indeed. How in the world had they managed that?
Claudius leaned in closer and spoke in a low, even tone. “Your cop boys from LA got some dirt on the judge. They also threw in your good deeds from LA. Catching Demarco and all that stuff. However, the bad news is this. The sentence has been reduced to eight months with ten months community service, but on the basis of good behavior. That’s the best we could do to make it look legit. “
I ran my hand across my face. Sinclaire. He had done this. He and Max, most probably. This was what he’d been talking about. God. I’d never imagined him doing anything for me. That guy quite rightly hated my guts.
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