AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Don’t tell me you didn’t realize all of this already, Karma?" Cassandra peers at me through the screen.
"I guess, I was aware subconsciously, but honestly, to hear it from the two of you… Well, it kind of makes a bigger impact on me."
"You okay?" Cassandra half smiles. "Hope we didn’t scare you with the conversation. We only wanted to make sure that you were okay."
"I will be," I say with more confidence than I feel.
"Stay in touch, eh?" Aurora smiles at me, "Let us know what you plan to do next."
"I will, as soon as I figure things out myself."
We hang up and I walk over to the window and gaze down at the garden. What the hell am I doing here? Am I really going to have to spend Christmas Eve on my own? I ponder my options, then mind made up, I head out of the room.
13
Michael
I glance at the sea in the distance. Clouds are rolling in, which is not unusual for late December. It’s the day before Christmas and I am on my own. Not for long, as my brothers are going to arrive soon, as will Nonna.
My Beauty may have left me, but the party she organized to celebrate Xander will go on. It feels only right to do so, considering she made all of the arrangements. I have to believe she’d have wanted it to go on even though she is not here with me. Hell, I want the event to take place so I can feel close to her. So I can finally try to put what happened to Xander behind me… Not that I will ever be able to make peace with it. But mulling over it is self-defeating. I need to function at peak efficiency, to focus all of my efforts at taking down the Kane Company.
Bastards are clever. Have to be careful in how I trap them and rein them in so I can have my revenge. Right after the Christmas event today.
Do criminals take time off for Christmas too? I never have before, but this time…just for her…because she’d have wanted me to if she were here... For Beauty, I’ll be present. For Xander, I’ll be there to celebrate his life.
I raise the glass of whiskey and sip from it. This is bullshit. Me on my own here. My wife in London. My brother dead… Not to mention, the child I never had, the one whose absence I feel more keenly than before. Is it possible to miss something that you never had? The notion of a family, of a child I’d hoped to hold in my arms. Maybe I had counted on it more than I had realized. Maybe, I had already foreseen a future for us. Maybe I had just not acknowledged it, and it took the lack of a child, the lack ofherin my life, to bring it all to the fore. Pain shoots up my arm and I glance down. The skin over my knuckles is white and I force myself to loosen my grip. I bring the glass up to my lips, drain it and turn; just as Massimo walks onto the terrace.
"Fratellone,"he jerks his chin.
"How is she?" I snap.
"She?"
"You know who I am talking about."
"The last I saw of her, she was pissed at you. I don’t think that has changed."
I scowl, "Not asking your opinion on her state of mind. I mean, how is she physically? Is she safe?"
"As safe as she can be in a five-star hotel."
"And there are guards posted around her, day and night?"
"There are people who have her in their line of sight, twenty-four-seven. If they move any closer, she’ll trip over them."
"Good."
He stares at me steadily and I glare at him, "What?"
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Like I said, not asking your opinion," I snap.
"I am going to give it to you anyway."
"Of course, you are."
"Not sure why you think it’s a good idea to pretend to break up with her, but—"
