There Are No Words (The Morelli Sisters #3)

Chapter Nineteen

Allegra

Before you asked, no, I hadn’t figured out what to do about Brady and letting go of my fears yet. But what I had done was manage to convince Brady that I liked him sleeping in the same bed as me. So we’d been doing that. After that first night, I realized it was nice having his company. Especially when I felt nauseous and wanted to throw up. Which was getting better by the way.

Oh, and I’d convinced all three of my sisters that us going to find Jade together was a good idea. My powers of persuasion were really getting a workout these days.

Anyway, today was the day. The day we’d—hopefully—meet our half sister. So I was currently sitting in the passenger seat of Maria’s SUV while she drove all of us to the Bronx. Parkchester, to be exact. Maria was taking it slow, though, which was no surprise—I think it was safe to say she was in no rush to meet Jade. Today there were so many tourists, bikers, and joggers out doing their thing.

Dad’s file said Jade lived in an iconic building. I could only imagine what she was like. By way of social media, Jade had none. Like not a single account. It was almost as if she didn’t want to be found. By anyone. To me, a social media lover (hello, it was my job), it was weird, but I knew some people were like that—private and whatnot.

My phone chimed with a notification and I went to see who texted me. I was surprised to see it was my sister, who was in the car with me. . . .

Bianca: I can’t believe we’re doing this. I’d blame the pregnancy hormones, but we both know Allie would have done this pregnant or not.

Allegra: What’s so wrong with me wanting to meet our half sister?

Bianca gasped, and I spun my head around. Her eyes widened, and she swatted Perla’s arm.

Perla nursed her arm, rubbing the spot. “Hey! What was that for?”

Bianca eyed her seriously. “I was trying to text you, but instead I texted Allie.”

Perla rolled her eyes. “Then it seems like you should be hitting yourself.” She swatted Bianca’s arm, looking pleased with herself, and faced forward.

I chuckled, turning my head back to the front window.

Maria looked back at them before turning back to the road. “What’s going on back there? You’re rowdier than Isabella and her friends.”

I figured I’d help, explaining, “Bibi thinks I’m bat-crap-crazy.”

Bianca leaned forward and shook her head fervently. “No. No. That’s not necessarily true. Okay, well, maybe a little. We are literally going to see a stranger, and she has no knowledge of us. Or us coming.”

Perla giggled. “True. It’s almost unfair because we have a leg up—we know who she is.”

Maria shook her head back and forth.

“Oh, not you, too!” I practically shrieked at Maria.

“I’m sorry,” Maria responded. “But it is a little peculiar. If I were Jade, I wouldn’t even answer the door. Four complete strangers approaching her at her apartment?”

“Then why did you agree?” I crossed my arms.

Maria turned to me and arched a brow. “Because. . . of—”

“You!” Bianca and Perla chimed in.

I sighed. “I just want to meet her.”

“We know. It’s a secret about Mom, a woman we all love and looked up to all our lives. It would be weird to not be at least curious,” Maria said, seeming to somewhat understand where I was coming from.

“Thank you,” I replied, uncrossing my arms and settling my hands in my lap, fussing with my fingers.

“Plus, you didn’t seriously think we’d ever let you go alone, did you?” Bianca asked.

I chuckled. “I guess not. I wouldn’t let any of you go alone, either.”

Perla leaned forward and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Exactly, because we’re sisters. We stick together.”

“Right. Even if one of us wants to do something weird, like show up to a stranger’s home with no clue as to what will happen,” Bianca said, driving home her point.

I rolled my eyes and waved a hand in the air. “I’m changing the subject, okay?” Then I asked, “What do you think she’ll be like?” giving voice to the question lingering in my mind.

Maria lowered the radio and looked in the rearview mirror, waiting for one of our other sisters to answer. I knew she wasn’t thrilled about all of this, but at least she was being a good sport.

Finally, Perla answered, “No idea, but she’s got Mom’s genes, so she can’t be that bad. I’m just leaning into that.”

“And those of her father, who we really have no information on, since he’s dead, other than what the PI dug up,” Maria pointed out, stating the facts.

Bianca clacked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “I need to see her to judge her.”

“Oooh, what if she’s like one of those women who thinks their shit doesn’t stink?” Perla asked, her voice hitting a high octave.

What? No way! I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Come on. Perla’s right, she’s Mom’s daughter. She can’t be like that.” Right? I mean, it was unlikely. Yeah, it’s unlikely. I was going with that. We hadn’t even met her yet. I didn’t want to think negatively.

Eyes never leaving the road, Maria noted, “Environment and experiences contribute to a person’s personality.”

I wasn’t sure what Maria was getting at, but there was no way to know if Jade would be horrible. “I guess we really can’t be sure until we meet her.” But I was choosing to be positive about the whole thing, to be open to seeing the good in her. We owed that much to her. And Mom.

“We’re almost there,” Maria announced and made one last turn into Jade’s neighborhood.

Bianca sighed from the back seat. “You think she’ll be home?”

“We can only try and see. And if she’s not, we can wait around for a bit if everyone wants, too,” Perla put in.

Then Maria asked, “And we’re sure we want to do this?” as if she needed the confirmation.

I groaned. Seriously, Maria? We’re going to do this again? I looked behind at Bianca and Perla, but they still looked like they could go either way. All right, so I guessed I was going to have to be the one to answer.

I nodded, comfortable with my decision to meet Jade. “Yes. Let’s do this. For Mom. For us.” If I had to be the cheerleader here, I was willing to step into that role.

I only hoped that all my positive energy paid off in spades. It’d gut me to find out I had been wrong, and my sisters got hurt in the process. I held on to the hope I had and smiled as I looked at her building while Maria double parked outside.

This is going to be great.

This is going to be great.

Repeating it seemed necessary.

* * *

“This is it,” I said, looking up from my phone where her apartment number was noted. I fisted my hand, ready to rap on the door, but Maria brought my hand down.

I caught her eye. She had that older sister protective look on her face. I understood where she was coming from. I did. I would protect my sisters to the death, but this was going to be okay.

“Don’t get too excited, Allie. We have no idea if she’ll even want to see us,” she warned.

I nodded and looked at the others, rubbing my lower back while I thought about what she’d said. It was like she’d been talking to Brady. “I know.” My heart skipped a beat. Just because I knew this might not go well didn’t change the facts. She was our blood relative, and I wanted to meet her. I wouldn’t be able to walk away and let this go.

I knocked, and when my hand fell from the door, I wiped my sweaty palm on my pants. Ugh, I did not want to be nervous, but I couldn’t seem to stop the energy from clouding me.

I had to remember to stay positive.

This is going to be great.

Yes, that was the third time I’d repeated it, and no I was not going to apologize. Some things deserved to be said again.

After a few seconds, a woman came to the door with a towel on her head. “Yes?”

I swallowed, suddenly realizing my throat was drier than usual. Voice, don’t fail me now. “Are you Jade Logan?” I asked, hoping it was her.

She looked from me to my sisters and then back to me. “Who’s asking?” Her hand went to her towel, and she pulled it down, revealing a mass of brown hair just like ours—thick and full. Not that it meant anything, brunettes weren’t uncommon. I just couldn’t help but notice. Or maybe I was looking for any similarity, anything at all to make myself feel better about disturbing this woman’s life like this.

Since she obviously wasn’t going to confirm who she was, I decided I’d give it a try—“My name is Allegra Morelli. These are my sisters, Maria, Perla, and Bianca. We were hoping you might be Jade Logan.” I hitched an eyebrow as I waited. Anticipated. For anything, even a murmur, from her. News flash: it was agonizing. I wanted to pull the words from her mouth. Didn’t she understand I needed to know, like, yesterday?

“I am,” she answered somewhat hesitantly, her brows drawing together. “Did I win a prize or something? Did Jake put you up to this?” She gave me a confused look, her nose scrunching as she clacked the gum in her mouth.

Really, I was confused. What was she talking about? “No, sorry. There’s no prize, and we don‘t know who Jake is.”

“Jake is my best friend,” she clarified, shaking her head. “Never mind. What is it you want?”

Another sister with a male best friend? I peered toward Maria, who obviously didn’t pick up on the irony. “We were hoping to talk to you for a few minutes. Would you mind if we came in?” I asked, still taking the lead on this one.

Jade eyed us one by one, narrowing her gaze as she went. “Well, you don’t look like criminals, so, sure, come on in.” She spun around and walked inside, her sweatpants and shirt clinging to her straight-from-the-shower wet body.

Bianca laughed nervously. “I’ll take that as a compliment. I’m Bianca, by the way.” She extended a hand once we were inside.

Looking at it like it was a foreign object, Jade forced a smile and shook it. “Nice to meet you. Please sit down,” she said, flinging an old newspaper from the seat of her couch to the floor.

“Thank you. I’m Perla,” our baby sister went next, introducing herself.

Then Maria followed suit.

She tossed the towel from her head over the arm of a chair and sat down, too. “So what’s this about?”

“What do you know about your parents?” Maria ventured, finally acting like herself.

Jade shrugged. “They died in a plane crash a few years ago. They were finally going away for a vacation—Hawaii—and that’s what they got. Life can be as funny as a bee sting. Why?”

Gasping, Perla brought her hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I mean, it was heartbreaking, but I don’t like to dwell on it. They’re in a better place now. They were my adoptive parents. I never knew my real parents. Why all the questions?” she asked and blew a bubble with her gum. Pink, so she likes bubblegum. Noted. “You can’t be lawyers. I can’t figure you four out.”

I smiled and rubbed my belly. “Definitely not. We’re actually Angelo and Regina Morelli’s daughters. You might’ve heard of them. They started Bellissima .”

She shook her head. “No, sorry.”

Stunned, Bianca’s jaw dropped. “Are you sure? The fashion magazine?”

Maria nudged Bianca’s arm.

“Sorry,” Bianca said, trying to save it. “It’s just so rare, especially because we are based right here in New York.”

“It’s okay. I just don’t have much use for fashion or fashion magazines. I’ve been out of work because the place I was the receptionist for closed up earlier this year,” Jade explained and crossed one leg over the other. “Anyway, what’s up with this magazine of yours?”

I shook my head, needing to get this back on track. “Do you mind if I tell you a little story, Jade?” I asked.

She shrugged, seemingly not caring one way or the other.

But, just the same, I launched into the story of why we were sitting in her apartment and didn’t leave out a single detail.

* * *

“I don’t understand. I’m your half sister?” Jade asked, laughing and looking at each of us again like we were off our rockers. Her eyes widened, though, by the time they fell back on me. “Oh, this is serious?”

“I can send you the file from the investigator if you want to look at it,” I said, reaching for my phone in my purse.

Jade put her hand on my wrist and stopped me, though. “No, it’s okay. I mean, sure, I guess I’d like to see it, but later. I believe you. I’m just in shock. I never expected to know my birth parents.”

“Well, technically, you won’t know them,” Perla reminded her. “Since they’ve both passed, but you’ll get to know us, if you’re willing to.”

Shaking her head, Jade stood up. “I don’t know. I mean, do you really need another sister?”

Wow, that was wicked because she sounded just like Bianca. I shrugged. “The more the merrier. Can you not use family?”

Jade spun on her heel. “I mean, Jake would tell you I could.”

“I know you said Jake is your best friend, but is he also your boyfriend?” I asked, noticing the distinct lack of a ring on her finger.

She laughed. It wasn’t the first time she’d done that since we got here, but it was the first time I’d picked up on the fact that she sounded just like Bianca when she did—high-pitched. It was almost uncanny. That was two for two, if you were keeping score.

“Definitely not. Just my best friend. We grew up together, but besides him, I don’t really have any friends, so I could definitely use more people in my life. Or so he’s always telling me. I guess family qualifies.”

“Some might say family’s better than friends,” Maria noted and smiled from her perch on the arm of the couch—the only place she could fit on the small love seat that was crammed with my pregnant ass, Bianca, and Perla.

“Regina Morelli’s daughter, eh? Fashion mogul? I’m kind of surprised,” Jade said, obviously still thinking about everything she’d heard today. “Sisters,” she added, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “It’s a lot to take in.” Then she sighed and looked around again. “But a good lot, you know?”

I nodded. I knew exactly what she meant, and I had a feeling my other sisters did, too.

Jade smiled and for the first time since we came face to face, I noticed one other thing about her. . . when she smiled, she looked a little like Mom when she was younger. I’d seen it my whole life in pictures, and I knew that look. Jade had it.

I blinked, trying to keep my emotions in check, and turned my gaze heavenward. I smiled, hoping that Mom was looking down and she was happy.

Your daughters are all together, Mom. It’s a big, fat Italian reunion.

* * *

“It’s late. You should get some sleep,” Brady commanded and walked to his room as soon as we finished dinner, which was unusually late thanks to the traffic Maria hit on the drive back from Jade’s.

I followed his lead and walked to my room, wondering if suddenly he was changing his mind about spending another night with me. “Yeah, you’re right.” I yawned and covered my mouth with my hand. “Thanks for having dinner with me tonight.” He’d intentionally come home early to eat with me, which I thought was sweet. It was just another sign that maybe my tarot card reading was onto something.

With a hand on his doorknob, he turned to me. “Yeah, of course.”

Before he could go into his room and shut the door, I whispered, “Brady?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you not staying with me again tonight?” I asked, terrified he’d say no. I wasn’t sure what would’ve caused him to change his mind, but I felt I needed to ask.

“I am but thought you might need some time to unpack everything that happened today.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head. “I’m good. It’s everything I told you over dinner. I feel good about it all. I like Jade.”

“Then let’s go to bed.” He dropped his hand and walked to me without hesitating, slipping his hand around my back and turning the knob on my door so we could walk in together.

It was a dangerous road I was going down, that much I knew, but I couldn’t seem to not. I was constantly at war with myself over wanting this man. I was both greedy and magnanimous where Brady Moore was concerned. I wanted him—all of him—but was desperately trying to maintain my dignity and keep my heart whole. And those pesky fears of mine kept rearing their ugly head—namely that I wasn’t good enough for him, normal enough for him.

Would there ever be a time I didn’t worry about that? I sincerely wished I could just flip a switch in my brain and not care, but I knew that wasn’t possible. I had those fears. Unfortunately.