A few of my guards follow me up the stairs, but I’m barely aware of their presence.
There’s still work to be done. Since I managed to walk out of the meeting with Orloff alive, I need to get on the phone with my lawyer again and debrief him, then find out what his plan is to broker a deal with Bruno’s former operatives. But I have no doubt he’ll succeed. Sergio Bruno’s days as a free man are numbered. His days alive may be numbered even fewer.
I’d expect to feel pleasure knowing these things, but I don’t. No amount of retribution or revenge can make up for the loss of my mother, the years without Liliana. All I can do now is move forward. Try to make up for the lost time with my sister and welcome her back into the fold with wide open arms. The thought of that is what finally brings a smile to my face.
When I reach my rooms, I fling open the door and stride into the sitting room, readying myself to call my legal team, but I nearly trip over an empty suitcase lying open on the floor. Stepping cautiously over it, I see more emptied bags piled up as I look through the bedroom doorway. The closet doors are wide open and I can see Candi’s clothes hung back up on their hangers, her shoeboxes back on their shelves.
She’s unpacked. Why?
I hear a sound from the bathroom—the medicine cabinet banging shut—and hurry that way, but Candi flings the door open and steps out before I get there. Our eyes meet and hold.
“Hi,” I say dumbly.
She looks me over, clearly taken aback by my ripped shirt hanging open. Concern washes over her face, but it’s immediately replaced by fury.
“How dare you, you asshole!” she yells.
She advances at me, fists swinging. I don’t move. I let her have at me. Her small fists pummel my chest with all the effect of a couple of wiffle balls. Still, I wince at the contact, just to make her feel better. No sense riling her up even more.
“Candi. Hey. Please calm down.”
“I’m not going to fucking calm down! Frankie told me you tried to pawn me off on her and Dante to start some new life in Italy. What the hell were you thinking?”
Gently grabbing her wrists, I put a stop her energetic but futile assault. “Not just Italy. Thesouthof Italy, in the most beautiful—”
“You’re a fucking idiot!”
Isn’t that the truth?
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I tell her. “That whole plan is getting called off. Okay?”
Candi seems nowhere near ready to stop beating me, so I pull her into my arms. She fights me, squirming and trying to push away, but I hold her tight. So tight. I bury my face in her hair and breathe her in until she finally goes still against me.
“Do you hate me?” I ask.
“Of course I do,” she says breathlessly. “But…I’m not going anywhere. I don’t care what Orloff said or whatever stupid shit you’re up to trying to play the hero. I love you, and regardless of what happens with Sergio now or how bad things are going to get, we’re in this together.”
Closing my eyes, I soak in the feel of her against me.
“I know.”
“You’re my family,” she goes on. “I’m not going to just go off and live my life without you. This baby is not going to live without you.”
Threading my fingers in her hair, I hold her tighter. “I hope they won’t have to.”
“Good. Because this baby needs a father! A decent one! You should know that better than anyone.”
I know that, too.
We hold each other tightly and it feels like I’m embracing her for the first time, as if we’re starting over. I can’t believe I never realized how perfectly she fits against me, the comfort that her body brings.
Her arms finally loosen from around my neck, and she pushes me back.
“What did you do?” she asks, searching my gaze.
I don’t even bother trying to lie to her. I’m done with that now.
Taking her hands gently, I tell her all about the evidence Clayton dug up that incriminates Sergio Bruno in my mother’s murder and Juliana’s kidnapping. About the consequences Bruno will be facing from the Italians soon, not to mention the justice system. I tell her about how my mom died, gently brushing away the tears that spill down Candi’s face as I do. I hold nothing back. Finally, I tell her about the meeting with Orloff, and how I revealed Juliana’s true identity and advised him to walk away from the alliance with Bruno before it’s too late.
