Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 132791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“Oh, bambina, when you love it.”
I smiled miserably. Falling in love with my husband was a terrible inconvenience.
“I’m happy for you, Lila. I am. I was a terrible mother for the longest time. I thought if I got the point across that I don’t support your marriage, you’d come back to me. That we could raise this baby together, maybe in Italy, and leave this place. I am sorry for trying to take yet another decision out of your hands. I now see you chose right. And I respect that.” She looked uncertain all of a sudden, almost shy. “If ever you find it in your heart to forgive me, I promise to make it up to you.”
“I forgive you. I’m not moving past everything that happened right now, because that is a lot to ask, but I definitely want to try to restore our relationship.” I lowered my hands, mulling it over. “And I want to hear more about my late father. See some of your paintings, and his. I always thought it was odd I was the only one in our family who loved drawing.”
“I will tell you all about him. I will make it up to you,” she promised. “And I’m going to start right now.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
LILA
Three days later, I was discharged from the hospital.
Tiernan was insufferable. Whatever precautious measures he took to keep me safe before the accident were nothing in comparison to what I had to endure now.
“Hunts Point’s on lockdown. No one comes in, no one comes out,” he announced to his soldiers before I’d been discharged. When we pulled up at Fermanagh’s, the neighborhood was barricaded. When the media started asking questions, Tiernan’s friends at the NYPD called it a drug raid.
I was always with Tiernan, and we were always surrounded with enough soldiers. Worse still, we now had to drive with a four-vehicle entourage. He was resigned to wrap me in a bubble until we found whoever caused the accident.
“It’s all connected,” Sam announced the day I returned from the hospital.
We were all in the tiny living room of our apartment. Achilles, Luca, and Fintan included. “Whoever is responsible for the car accident is likely the person who sent Lila that letter.”
The first thing I did when Tiernan and I came back from the hospital was show him the letter I’d received. Hence why we were having this meetup. I’d never been one of the boys, so to speak.
Had never been included in an important meeting.
Now, I was sitting in my husband’s lap, privy to everything that was said.
“You think it’s the guy who attacked her?” Achilles folded his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, and I think he’s freaking the fuck out,” Sam provided. “That letter? Reeks of sloppiness.”
It was weird, having the men discuss something so traumatic that happened to me so openly. Then again, they were all trying to help. And Tiernan had his arms around me, which made me feel invincible.
“Why now?” Luca frowned.
“Baby’s almost here.” Fintan took a pull of his pint. “Now’s the time to try to blackmail you for money.”
“He tried to kill her.” Tiernan bared his teeth.
“Or he tried to warn her,” Fintan volleyed back.
“That list…” Sam tapped his chin. “We sure managed to cross a hell of a lot of names from it. Anyone outside it isn’t possible—it was a private event, on a private island. People can’t just sneak inside. We narrowed it down to just a few potential attackers. And Blackthorn’s off the list. So.”
He hung his expectant gaze on Tiernan.
“Don’t look at me. I told you from the get-go I think it’s Angelo. He had a motive—Chiara was nasty to him. He was seen asking Lila to dance earlier that night. She made him feel like he was not good enough for her daughter. And at our wedding, he was acting suspicious. Disappearing for big chunks of time from the room and coming back looking like he fought a bear.”
Luca and Achilles exchanged glances. Something unspoken passed between them. Luca nodded.
“Weren’t you supposed to come back with some proof about Angelo?” Luca asked.
“Couldn’t find any,” Tiernan said.
“So you just dropped it?” Achilles cocked his head, frowning. “Doesn’t sound like you.”
“Unless you didn’t really want to find the fucker,” Luca mused. “Why’d you stop looking?”
“I didn’t,” Tiernan hissed through gritted teeth. “I checked all the other fuckers on the list. But, now that you mentioned it, the fact your mother wanted to marry my wife off to Angelo if he raped her wasn’t a great incentive.”
Was this why there were no new developments regarding the identity of my attacker for months?
Because all this time, Tiernan wanted to keep me?
“Yeah, well, no one’s trying to take her away from you anymore,” Luca assured him.
“I’m well aware no one’s stupid enough to try.” Tiernan’s arms tightened around me.