CHAPTER
THIRTY
Enzo
Axel squeezes my hand as I click the Zoom link. “It’s probably nothing.”
It’s never nothing when a lawyer emails you out of nowhere. I learned that lesson when I was fifteen and Gaby was fighting for custody of me.
The laptop soon fills with the face of a professionally dressed woman in a black blazer and crisp white shirt. She has dark hair and bangs in front of a plain background of various shades of blue. In large letters is “Huang Family Law.”
The bed bounces slightly where Axel and I are pressed together, and I tighten my grip on the thin laptop. The screen light is bright in the dim bedroom.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Bellanti. Thank you for taking the time for this meeting.”
“Of course,” I say. “What was this case about?”
Why didn’t Gaby ask me to handle it? Why didn’t she tell me?
I don’t like the idea that my sister spent the last weeks of her life worried about lawyers. She had to fight hard to keep custody of me when I was a child. Massachusetts’ Child ProtectiveServices apparently did not immediately think that my older sister was the right person to be raising a fifteen-year-old on her own, and she had to appear in family court multiple times and prepare a lot of paperwork before she was granted permanent custody of me at the age of twenty.
“I was Ms. Bellanti’s lawyer for three years,” Miss Huang says. “It’s nice to finally meet her brother in person. Somewhat in person.”
She smiles, and we exchange Zoom pleasantries.
“Ms. Bellanti was worried about the custody of her son, Luca Bellanti.”
“Oh.” I stiffen.
Axel brushes his thumb against my hand, and I exhale.
“I was preparing papers to inform the father of her child, Mr. Axel Knight.”
My brow furrows. I glance at Axel.
He leans toward the laptop. “I’m Mr. Knight.”
She frowns. “Axel Knight?”
“Yes.”
“The father of Luca Bellanti?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh, I hadn’t expected to speak to the actual father. You knew why I was calling?”
We shake our heads.
“Your sister felt guilty about not informing Mr. Knight that he had a child.”
“Oh.”
“I have full custody of Luca now,” Axel says.
“Well. You are the father. And you, um, seem to get along well with Luca’s uncle.”
Axel swings an arm around my shoulder and squeezes my cheek as I do my best to stifle a giggle. “We’re boyfriends.”
