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Angel steps in closer to me as if to draw comfort. Or to protect me. Who knows? Given she’s an Agosti, it could be either option.
Felicity smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “How are you today, Mrs. Agosti? I trust all these gentlemen have firearms licenses?”
I meet her gaze squarely, even though my breathing is still shorter than usual. “They do. We can waste everyone’s time checking, if you wish, but we both know Rio would never send out his men without the correct paperwork in place.”
I have no idea if that’s true or not, but I trust Rio’s arrangements. At this point, I have to.
It seems she does, too, because she takes another step closer to me without reaching for her gun. I resist the urge to jump in front of the stroller and hide Emilia from her sharp gaze, and instead, watch her approach.
When the goons go to stop her, I wave a hand. “It’s okay, guys. She obviously wants to talk, and she’s not going to hurt me. Or arrest me.”
I hope.
At the very least, though, she’s probably fuming about my disappearing act last year. She and her colleagues thought I would turn on my husband and give them the information they needed to finally arrest Rio and put him away. And at one point, I might have actually done it. But so much has changed since then. She must have been sorely disappointed, and possibly embarrassed on a professional level too if she’d sold my betrayal to her superiors and then I disappeared straight afterward.
Her eyes narrow, and this time when she moves forward, there’s a new wariness in her features. “I do wish to talk,” she confirms. “Can we have a few minutes, Bree?” She seems to realize her error and quickly corrects herself. “Sorry. Bianca. Mrs. Agosti. Can we talk…alone?”
“No. We can’t.” I link my left arm through Angel’s to show I mean it, and grip the stroller handle hard with my other hand. “We can talk for a minute, if you want, Felicity, but not alone. You can say whatever you need to in front of the others.”
“Right, then.” She puts her hands on her hips, studying me first before looking down at Emilia and back again. “Congratulations on the birth. I heard he grabbed you back and forced you to stay here till you’d had his baby.”
“It wasn’t quite like that.”It was, a little voice whispers at the back of my mind.It was exactly like that.
“Wasn’t it? Come on, Bianca, get real. The man’s a criminal. Do you really want your child brought up in that lifestyle? Isn’t that why you tried to get away last time? What happened? Did he threaten you?”
Angel bristles at my side. “You’re talking about my brother, lady. The head of our family. Watch how you speak about Rio.”
I shake her arm a little. “Leave it, Angel. Please. Don’t make unnecessary waves for yourself.” Then I turn back to the federal agent. “He didn’t threaten me, Felicity. He didn’t know I was planning to leave. If you want to blame someone for that, it’s all on me. Not him.”
Felicity ignores Angel and keeps her gaze on me. Her expression turns pitying. “We can help you, Bianca. Our door is still open. You just need to reach out, and we’ll be there.”
The thing is, I don’t believe Felicity is my enemy. She may be an enemy of my husband’s, being on the opposite side of the law to him, but she isn’t trying to make things hard for me. Or trick me into anything I don’t want to do. She may have been happy to use me to get to Rio last time, and I’m sure she still is, but there’s no doubt she sees it as a win-win for both of us.
The anger that started to rise in me when I first saw her fades at the realization that she’s probably still genuinely trying to reach out and help me.
And deep down, I know that everything she says is true. Rioisa criminal, and Idon’twant my daughter brought up in this crazy, violent life. But this time round, things are different. I’m not the person I was. I’ve changed. And even if I wanted to—which I don’t—I will never go back to being the person I was before Rio first snatched me off the street.
Bree Walker is dead. I am Bianca Carlotti-Agosti, and it is time everyone—including me—accepts that.
“No, Felicity.” I keep my tone gentle but firm. “I’m not who I was last year. I’m Rio Agosti’s wife now. The mother of his child. And I love him. I will not betray him again. Don’t wait for me to reach out because you’ll be waiting forever.”
I look at Angel, and then at Lee. “Come on, guys. Shall we finish the Trail?”
I push the stroller and walk on past Felicity, who stands there with her fists clenching and unclenching. I keep my chin up and my manner calm, even though I’m scared she’ll suddenly lash out and grab me. She has those cuffs hanging off her belt and a whole lot of frustration simmering in that body of hers, I’m sure.
But then our group is past her, and I begin to breathe more naturally. That is, until her annoyed voice rings out after us.
“He got to you, Bree. I know it. And now you’ve chosen a side. Thewrongside. Good luck trying to raise your kid safely to adulthood.”
She seriously wentthere? I swing back, ready to fling a barb straight back at her, but she’s already disappeared into the shadows. I settle for an inarticulate growl of frustration.
Angel leans down, grabs one of the baby wipes under the stroller, and then hands it to me.
“What…”
“Your face. You’re sweating a bit.”
“Oh. Thanks.” I hadn’t realized a sheen of sweat had broken out on my brow.
