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"She's going to be alive," Bobby said as if he'd decided it, and that made it true. "She's a survivor, right?”
Speeding over wave tops, the sea spray hitting them in the face, Angelo was almost certain they were the only two survivors.
Gemma
"I've found her, boy."
They had taken a hotel room in Vathy, a small town with a large harbor and a dark history, directly under the noses of those who had attempted to capture them. Greece was beautiful, a land that refused to acknowledge any of the terrible things happening on her lands and in her waters.
For two days, they had been recovering from their ordeal and regrouping. It was not easy for Angelo to admit that he had been outplayed and very nearly entirely destroyed by a vicious woman and her idiot brother, but there could be no denying the results.
Bobby had been leaning against the window when Angelo entered. His eyes brightened at the first bit of news, but his face fell when he took in Angelo's expression.
"She's at the morgue in Cephalonia. I'm sorry, Bobby. She didn't survive."
Bobby's jaw tightened, his expressive lower lip quivering. "You're sure?"
"Very sure. There's a death certificate on file. She was inspected by the coroner. I saw the report."
Bobby turned back toward the window, his hair hanging in his eyes as he bowed his head and took a deep breath.
"I want to bring her home."
It was such a simple, natural, human desire, but how could that be done? They had no home. Just a series of bolt holes that, no matter how magnificent they may have been, were temporary in nature and in feeling.
At that moment, Angelo resolved to create a home. A real home. One that would stand the test of time, one that would never be overrun. One that would be there for generations to come. A sanctuary for all who took the name Vitali.
"I know, boy."
"I want us to bury her. Can we do that?"
"There's security at the morgue. A lot of security. A lot more than should be there."
Bobby's eyes narrowed as he caught Angelo's meaning. "They're trying to catch us again. They're using her dead body as bait. What the fuck is wrong with them?"
"I don't know."
"We're the worst people I know, and we have never used a dead girl as bait."
"No, we haven't."
"I'm going to kill them whoever is doing this. Who is doing this? I shot Digby right in the fucking head. And Willow wasn't far behind him. Don't tell me they survived and Gemma didn't."
"They had a clear shot on her. She was the tip of the spear. We shouldn't have let her go in like that. It was a mistake. It was my mistake. I am sorry, boy. I was concentrating on saving Mark and Tilly and…."
"We didn't think they'd fucking shoot her point-blank." Bobby was pacing the room, agitated as he realized the deep treachery of it all.
"No."
"She'd been best friends with Willow since they were at school. That fucking bitch Willow…."
"We live on the edges of society, Bobby, and these are the people who live with us in that place. They're broken, somewhere deep down."
"Tilly's not broken that way. I'm not broken that way."
"You used to be, boy. I used to be."
"What changed us?" Bobby threw up his hands in frustration.
"Mark did. Tilly did. The baby did. Gemma did." Angelo grabbed Bobby as he stalked past in his agitated path of pacing, pulled Bobby into his arms, and held him close.
Angelo had not known Gemma very deeply, but Bobby had obviously become attached. His distress was concerning. Bobby did not care for many things, and that meant when he did care, he cared with a passion and intensity beyond anything Angelo had ever seen before.
"Come here," Angelo said, leading Bobby to the bed. Bobby followed, outwardly calm as a lamb, but Angelo could feel the tension in him. It was tension which belied fury, and perhaps something even darker.
The two of them lay together on the bed, Angelo holding Bobby close. Somehow this was how it always seemed to go. In the end, it was just the two of them. People came, and people went, and some survived, and some did not.
"We're going to get her, boy. I promise you that."
"She's under heavy guard in a remote island hospital. They're using her to try to catch us. And she's…." Bobby could barely begin to form the word that started with D. "She's gone."
"We're going to get her, boy."
They got her. It was not easy. It was not cheap. It was the most Angelo had ever spent on someone who wasn't alive, but it was worth it for Bobby.
"She looks so peaceful."
Bobby could barely see through the tears clouding his eyes. Their shimmer gave Gemma the ethereal glow in death which she had always had in life as she lay in her gleaming coffin, her body dressed in a pristine white gown, pale hands folded over her chest. For now, the casket was open. They were supposed to have closed it, but Bobby couldn't bring himself to do it.
