AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know. I’m telling you because my mother wanted to leave. She couldn’t stand the continuous possibilities of threats we had to be on the lookout for from something happening back in Italy.”
Mimi’s family were from Calabria. They weren’t the kind that worked with a lot of the more aristocrat families like mine in Sicily, but a lot of them were shifty as fuck. The worst thing you could do in our world is slip up and lose trust. There are two of her family members I know of who got caught talking to feds. It’s enough to attract threats on the whole family everywhere, whether that’s in Italy or anywhere in the world.
“I can understand why she wanted to leave,” I say and bring my hands together.
She nods. “Yeah my father wouldn’t allow her to leave him, he kept trying to make her stay. I heard them arguing at lot, so I know a thing or two. I… still remember the day we found her in the pool. She jumped … she … jumped from the balcony. The coroners said it looked like she slipped and fell. When we found the note she left, we knew… it wasn’t that. She didn’t slip, she jumped.”
“Jesus Mimi, I’m so sorry.” I feel real bad for her, but I feel bad for her father too. He’s a good guy. The sort of man I wished mine could be when it came to my mother.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. Gabe, you don’t want Charlotte to end up hating you.” She nods. That’s a home truth I need to be told. “That’s what will happen. It must have taken strength for her to tell you she couldn’t be with you, especially after all that’s happened. It doesn’t mean though that her feelings have changed. I think if you love her, and I know you do…you need to respect her wishes.”
Maybe this is what I need to hear.
I don’t want Charlotte to hate me.
That would be worse.
That leaves me no option other than to let her go.
“Yeah. I’m going to.” I dip my head, hang it low for a few seconds and draw in a breath as I return my gaze to her. “Thanks for coming. I appreciate the talk.”
She gives me a proud nod. “It’s okay, I guess we were long past a talk asfriends. And, don’t worry. She won’t hear from me that we were anything other than that. I guess we weren’t though, so… nothing to tell just in case you were worried.”
I will never forgive myself for the way I treated her and I actually wasn’t worried Mimi would tell Charlotte anything. Mimi isn’t a woman like that. “Mimi, I’m really sorry.”
She rises to her feet then lowers to plant a kiss on my forehead. “I believe you, Gabriel. I’m going to make that dinner. One of my grandma’s recipe’s.”
“Thanks doll.”
She takes the bags into the kitchen and starts cooking.
We eat together and she only stays for a little while longer after.
When she leaves, I call my PA and get her to organize a one way ticket to St. Lucia.
I’ll go sort out the shit there and maybe I’ll sort myself out too.
I’m back at that place in my head again where I can’t stay here. Can’t stay in Chicago.
When I first thought about leaving it was about moving on.
I’m absolutely fucking back there in my mind, but now I know for sure that it’s the only way I can let Charlotte go.
Chapter Seventeen
Charlotte
I managedto calm myself yesterday.
Much as I wanted to lie, when Cordelia took me home, and tell her the message from Tobias meant nothing, I couldn’t.
His fucking words were pretty clear and creepy enough to alert anybody. If she hadn’t read the message I might have had some edge to work with.
What I ended up telling her was the truth. I just left out the parts about him killing Antonio.
We talked about it as a family and I ended up telling my parents that I planned to get my own place next week.
That talk didn’t go well.
