* * *
“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.”
