“Gabe Blanco,” the middle-aged man said in his Australian accent. “Ethan Black sent me.”
When I made no move to let him in, Gabe shrugged. “I can take this shit back if you don’t want it.”
And my cheek ticked. Without a word, I opened the door and stepped back, allowing him entrance, but I watched him carefully.
I had trust issues. So sue me. If you’d been shot at the amount of times I had, you’d have ‘em too.
Gabe Blanco walked inside, over to the counter, reaching into the big yellow envelope. He spoke as he pulled things out. “Here’s your I.D.” He tossed a small plastic card onto the bench. “Your passport.” He laid the little blue booklet down carefully. “Social security and tax file numbers.” A small, white piece of paper was placed down next to the passport. “Here’s your bank card, account details, and Medicare card.” The cards were in a plastic envelope of their own. “And finally, your Australian citizenship.” The fancy-looking certificate was off-white and had an emu and kangaroo holding a coat of arms. “That one’s false, by the way. Just for looks.”
I couldn’t help the way my lip twitched.
Thank you, Ethan Black.
I could have kissed him then.
“Is that all?” I asked the guy.
Gabe didn’t hesitate. “Not really. I’ve been asked to pass on a message.”
Why didn’t that sound good? “What message?”
“Watch yourself because we’ll be watching you,” uttered Gabe clinically. When my face darkened a notch, he held up his hands in a mollifying way. “Don’t shoot the messenger. Just passing that on.”
I didn’t like that. “From who?”
“Some head honchos at the A.F.P.”
Shit. The last thing I needed was to be watched constantly by the Australian Federal Police.
Great. Just great. “Noted. Now, if that’s all.”
“That’s it.” Gabe grinned. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Antonio Falco.”
When he held out his hand to me, I reluctantly took it, pumping it once before dropping it. I showed Gabe Blanco out and tucked all my documents back into the yellow envelope, and I did it with a slight smile.
Yeah.
I was back, bitches.
For where I was, I felt my anxiety should have been spiking, but it wasn’t.
I was tranquil, serene, and I waited patiently for her to find me.
***
Lexi
I laughed at the look of discomfort on Ana’s face. “I know it sounds awful, but really, they’re so comfortable and they look so cute. I bought three of them online from La Perla. Here.” I walked away from the table of women as the men sat outside on the porch, smoking cigars and drinking whiskey. “I’ll get them so you can see for yourself.”
Walking into my room without switching the light on, I went to the dresser opposite my bed and pulled out the three harness bras, lightly shutting the drawers before glancing into the mirror.
My stomach dipped.
I dropped the bras with a start as I saw the lone figure on my bed, leaning against the headboard.
My heart began to race. Closing my eyes, I focused on my breathing.
Oh, shit.
It had finally happened.
I’d snapped. And it was no wonder with the emotional beating I’d taken from my son over the past few weeks. The constant reminder of his father had done something to me, obviously. My mind was fragile and could only take so much. Perhaps all the talk about A.J. seeing Twitch had inspired some kind of jealousy within me.
Breathing hard, I swallowed past the lump in my throat.
“Stop it,” I whispered to myself before opening my eyes, and I watched the moonlight beam across the lower half of the hooded figure.
Jesus Christ.
He wasn’t there. He wasn’t really there. It was all in my head. But that didn’t make it any less distressing, and the way my heart thumped made me feel suddenly lightheaded.
My hands shook and I balled them into fists, my nails biting into my palms. “Lexi,” I warned myself. “Stop.”
The brain was a funny thing. Almost like a hard drive. It could conjure up memories in a flash, no matter how hurtful. And right now, I was hurting myself.
Why did I continue to hurt myself?
When I opened my eyes and he was still there, I started to get genuinely distressed. Breathing shakily, I put a hand to my forehead and begged myself as quietly as possible, “Stop. Please.”
My stomach dropped when I heard rustling from across the room.
Wait.
Did he just move?
No. He couldn’t have.
But he did.
He was.
Silently, he sat forward and did something I’d been wanting for forever.
He lowered the hood. And the moment I saw those soft brown, hooded eyes, my entire body turned cold.
This wasn’t the Twitch of my haunting dreams. This was somebody else.
I couldn’t breathe.
This was a dream. Wasn’t it?
It had to be.
“Angel.” That smooth, husky voice was barely audible.
I felt the blood drain out of my face. Quickly stepping back into the dresser, I gasped when I hit the edge and lost my balance. A bottle of perfume fell to the floor, and the shrill sound of glass breaking followed. My heart thumped in my chest. Wide-eyed and perplexed, I lifted my hands to my quivering mouth.
And that was when all hell broke loose.
***
Twitch
“Angel.”
What more could I say? She looked beautiful dressed in tight-fitting jeans and a white sweater rolled up at the arms.
Lexi’s big blue eyes watered as she stepped back into the dresser, and when she lost her footing, I stepped forward, my hand out to her. Her entire body shook, and when she covered her mouth, panting rapidly, a frown pulled at my mouth.
Shit.
Maybe I should have done this differently.
My baby looked like she was about ready to pass out.
In the doorway, a shadow appeared, and the little dude made an appearance. “Can I have some ice cream?” He switched on the light and looked at his mother’s stance in confusion a second before he noticed me. My boy. He couldn’t contain his excitement. “Daddy!?
??
He flew at me, and I caught him midair, hugging him as tightly as I could without hurting him.
My heart beat faster. This was it.
No more hiding.
My eyes observed her reaction. I continued to hold him, watching Lexi closely as realization dawned that this, what was happening, was not in her head. A mixture of emotions showed themselves.
First, shock. Then confusion. Lastly, hurt.
Her face fell, she shook her head slowly in denial, and she collapsed back against the wall with a thud, her body shaking violently as she started to cry. Her mouth opened and she tried to speak, but my baby couldn’t through the tears wracking her body.
A.J. pulled back to look at his mother. “See? Told you.”
Lexi pushed herself back against the wall, sobbing silently, unblinking, a haunted expression shadowing her pretty eyes. The look of sheer pain and betrayal was more than I could bear. I wanted to go to her, and I planned to, but the little Goth stepped into the room, her .22 pointed at me. She moved to stand in front of Lexi protectively before staring at me, unblinking. “Who the fuck are you?”
I was about to respond, when Happy walked in. “The fuck’s going on here?” When his eyes settled on me, his face turned fatigued, his body slumped, and he muttered, “You asshole.” He closed his eyes before swallowing hard. “You fucking asshole.”
Yeah, I was.
He moved closer to me, reaching for A.J., and I stepped back, throwing him a black look.
Yeah, try it.
He could pry my son out of my cold, dead fingers.
“Twitch, we got a full house here. Don’t do this. Give me your son.”
At that moment, Lexi glanced between my brother and me a long while until it finally dawned on her. When she spoke, her breath hitched. She sounded injured. Wounded. “You knew?” We both turned to the desolate question. Her tear-streaked face had landed on Happy. Again, at a higher pitch, more desperate this time. “You knew?” The panting increased and she whimpered before screeching at the top of her lungs, “You knew?”