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I don’t have a choice, she’s chosen for me. I have to go, it’s the only way.
Hugging her back, I kiss her soft cheek.
“I will be back one day,” I whisper, and she sobs. My words probably reminding her of my father and what he said the last time she saw him.
Pulling away, she sniffles and wipes the tears from under her eyes.
“There’s a car parked out front, I made Dominic make sure there wasn’t a tracker on it, go as far as you can!”
My eyes widen when I hear Dominic’s name.
“Dominic knows about this?”
She nods, grabbing both of my arms. “Yes, and he agrees.”
I look over the keys and money in my hand. If Dominic thinks I should go then it’s probably not a bad idea. He’s smart.
“By marrying your father I put you in this mess, my sweet girl. Now it’s my turn to get you out.”
I can’t help but wonder when my mother got pregnant if my father’s way of life made her question their relationship, or keeping me even. I don’t want to know, so I quickly turn away from her and grab my large Louis Vuitton suitcase from the walk-in closet. Lugging it out, I toss it on my bed and unzip it. My mother leaves the closet with heaps of clothes in her hands, helping me pack. By the time we’re done, I can barely even zip the damn thing. Sitting on my bed, I watch my mother whisper to herself as she checks off a mental list of things I might need in our final moments together.
I’m going to miss her. As much as I like being by myself, I’ve never really been completely by myself. She’s always close by. My eyes try to tear up and I look away from my mother, to a picture on my dresser. It’s the last picture I have of my father, mother, and I together. It’s when I was around six at my father’s cabin in Rhode Island. We fished, swam, caught bugs. There was an old tire swing I would sit on and eat ice cream every day. I smile thinking about it. I didn’t want to leave and remember getting a spanking because I clung to a tree like some protester refusing to get into the car. Gosh, that was so long ago. The memories are barely even there. My eyes widen with a thought.
That’s where I’ll go. It’s the only piece of land or belonging my mother hasn’t sold over the years. I think she forgot all about the place, in fact. I’ll go there until I can either find a solution to this DeAngelo scheme, or until I can find somewhere else to live out my life.
“I think you’re ready.” My mother’s voice pulls me from the picture to her. She looks so small in my room, and innocent in her silk floral robe.
Tugging the baggage off the bed with one hand, I pull her in for one last hug.
She laughs, pushing me back an arm’s length.
“You’re so strong. You’ve got this, Leona, you have to.” She presses her head to mine. “La mia bambina.” My baby girl, she says in Italian. I love it when she speaks to me in Italian. I wish I could speak it as fluently as she.
We both laugh, tears running down our faces. I’m going to come back for her when I have a place set up where nobody can find us. I’m going to save us both.
But if I’m so strong… then why am I running?KieranParking in my usual place, I notice Romeo’s truck is already here, but he’s nowhere to be seen. He must be on the boat already. Slipping from my comfortable seat, I shut the door to my car and straighten my black Armani blazer, slipping my hands into the pocket of my slacks before walking the docks, the outline of the yacht becoming clearer the more I make my way down. The wind has picked up, making the odor of fish stronger than yesterday, a storm must be moving in. Good. Rain means people stay indoors. I finally meet my father, uncles, and Romeo all sitting just inside the cabin.
“Mio figlio!” He says my son in Italian like he usually does when he sees me. “Please, sit!” My father holds his hand out to the cream-colored couch, a Cuban cigar in the corner of his mouth. I can’t help but notice the ugly bowler looking shirt just as hideous as the one he was wearing yesterday. With all the money he has I don’t know why he stopped wearing suits and went to looking like a low level gangster. My eyes fall to Romeo who’s sitting on the leather couch looking straight ahead. He’s tense, and an unsettling feeling washes over me. He’s doing that silent shit again where he’s just a mute. I look to my father and uncles.
