He eyed me with a challenging look, “Want to make a bet?”
I laughed and stuck my hand out, “Deal.”
He shook my hand, solidifying the bet. “Deal.”
“Well, this is adorable and all,” Bella interrupted, “but we do have an update on those letters.”
Both Rome and I turned our attention to her.
“You made sense of that gibberish?” I asked in excitement. When I first started receiving them, I had hoped I could decipher them. After about eight letters, I gave up when I had made no progress.
She nodded, “We’re starting to. Each one has a few letters of a bigger statement. There aren’t any characters that fit in the same spot on the page. I think all the letters together will complete a statement. We don’t have enough yet to find a clear message, but we have some words completed.” She rifled through one of the stacks Rome had brought down, pulling out a piece of paper. “Here’s what we have so far.”
I looked over the handwritten letter. She was right, there was no real clear message thus far, but some filler words were completed, including my name at one point. Specifically, my nickname… Bec.
“It has to be my dad,” I mumbled. “Only friends and family call me Bec, and he’s the only one in that group that would do something like this.”
“But he called youRebecca,not Bec, which is why I’m reluctant to place all of the blame on him. What if there are more people involved than we know?” Rome sighed, “You never know. Sometimes the people you trust the most can turn on you.”
I smiled softly in understanding. “What happened with your team was a fluke, Rome. I know you have a hard time trusting, but I promise my friends and family are not involved.”
“Your dad is family,” Rome argued, growing defensive. I held back a retort just as defensive, trying to have more empathy for his experiences and not wanting this to devolve into an argument.
I took Rome’s hand in my own, “He is technically, but I don’t consider him family. Look… if you can’t trust them, can you trust me?”
He took a steadying breath, and I could see the struggle in his eyes. Rome has an issue with trust. He wants to place his trust in me, but he is terrified. He had been burned in the past and was simply trying to protect himself.
Finally, he nodded. “I trust you, Bec. More than myself. For some reason, I always have.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
ROME
The phone rang, and every part of me hoped no one would pick up. I could have gone through Will to get to my contact, who could look into the finances of their dad. I would have preferred to reach out to Will… it would have been easier. I didn’t want to avoid facing him any longer, though.Malachi.My best friend, whom I had dutifully avoided for months. It was about time I faced the music. If he was angry, mad, upset… I needed to face it.
I didn’t want to be like this anymore. Self-isolating from my past and the people who had defined it. I wanted to be better for my family, for me… and for Bec. I wanted to prove to her that I was worth it, that I was good enough for her. Anyone with eyes could see how out of my league she was, yet she chose me. I wanted to be better forus.
I had been actively avoiding Malachi since I had moved back to New York City. It was easier to dodge his phone calls and avoid my feelings than to face it all head-on. He was… or at least had been my best friend. I didn’t deserve that title anymore. Not after I had failed him.
“Hello?” A familiar feminine voice asked quietly as she picked up the phone.
Damn, I had really hoped no one was going to pick up. I had even called late in the hopes they would already be asleep.
“Hey, Rose,” I answered. I wasn’t sure if Malachi answering would have been better or worse than Rose picking up. As his wife, I knew she would fight to the death for him, and I was nervous she was angrier than Malachi was at my actions and subsequent avoidance.
I heard a sharp intake of breath from her.
“Oh my God, Rome. Hi!” She exclaimed in surprise.
“Hey,” I mumbled, “is… umm… is Malachi there? I need to talk to him.”
She laughed softly, “Yeah, he’s here. And yes, you do need to talk to him. Give me a sec, and don’t you dare hang up, Cipriani, or I’ll fly to you myself and whack you over the head. You’re lucky I haven’t done it already.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. I could just imagine her scolding me with her finger, one hand on her hip. We hadn’t known each other for very long, but we had hit it off instantaneously. I had heard about her for years from Malachi and loved her for him long before they were married. The thing about Malachi—andwell, many of the people I cared about outside of my family—was that he was more reserved. Much like Bec. He isolated himself from everyone when we first met in the military, then I came crashing in. I seemed to have a habit of breaking down people’s walls and making them my friends.
“I won’t hang up, I promise,” I placated.
That was one promise to her I could keep.
