Chapter 33
Two weeks Later
I try to tell myself nothing happened to her, but I’m a bundle of nerves.
For days, Amber hasn’t given any news, and I’m about to get on a plane and go after this LeBlanc.
I pace back and forth in the bedroom.
Enough! I need to do something or I’ll lose my mind. I’ll ask Gianni to find out if she’s okay.
I take only two steps toward the door when my phone rings.
I almost drop to my knees in thanks to God, because it’s the ringtone I set for her.
“Amber?”
“Beau LeBlanc.”
I start to shake. “Why do you have my sister’s phone?”
“Amber was in an accident.”
I start to cry. “What? Is she okay? Please, tell me what happened.”
“She was hit by a car, but she’s all right now. I tried to reach you earlier, but apparently the two of you are experts at hiding.”
I couldn’t care less about his judgment. I just need details about how my sister is. “Not that much, otherwise you wouldn’t be talking to me right now.”
“The head of my security found this cell phone in the street near where she was hit. Amber probably dropped it.”
“Give me your word my sister is okay.”
“She is, but there’s a problem. She’s dealing with temporary amnesia.”
“My God!”
“She remembered you, but only in relation to distant events. She knows she has a sister and everything you. . .went through while you were under the cult’s control, but not what you two discussed last week.”
“I need to talk to her.”
“Amber’s sleeping. There’s something else you need to know, Elodie: she’s carrying my child.”
My crying intensifies.
It’s all my fault. Amber wouldn’t have gotten involved with this man if those damned Italians hadn’t kidnapped me.
“Elodie, what’s happening?” he asks, and I’m surprised by how calm he sounds. I expected a man full of hate, especially after hearing the Sicilians talk about how dangerous he is.
“Do you already know why she went to meet you at the club, Beau?”
He goes quiet, and my fear comes roaring back.
“Please don’t hurt her. Think about your child. My sister wasn’t to blame for any of this.”
He still doesn’t speak, and I’m on the verge of fainting from dread.
“Bella, what’s going on?” Gianni asks, coming into the room, but right now I need to focus on Beau. I want Mr. LeBlanc’s word that he won’t hurt Amber or my nephew.
“Please, sir, I’m begging you. Don’t hurt my sister.”
“Elodie, give me that phone,” Gianni insists.
“Tell me why I should forgive her,” Beau finally says.
“I worked at a bar that belonged to the Sicilian mafia. That’s how it all began.”
“Elodie!” Gianni shouts.
“Let me talk. My sister’s life is at stake.” I sniff. “Mr. LeBlanc, are you still there?”
“Yes.”
“One of the bartenders befriended me. Amber and I had been living in Dallas for a month or two. I realized too late it was a setup,” I begin, remembering how they slowly drew me into that sordid plot.
The bartender said his cousin was hiring waitresses for a fancy restaurant and that the pay was good.
I thought I’d hit the jackpot when the manager interviewed me and hired me on the spot.
In reality, they were scouting a candidate to get close to Beau, but I only discovered the whole scheme later.
Getting hired was a short jump from falling into Angelo’s trap.
I let myself get tangled up far too easily. How stupid!
“Elodie?” Beau prompts, bringing me back to the present.
“They kidnapped me and blackmailed Amber into going to you at the club that night, or they’d hurt me. If it had been the other way around, I would have done the same.”
“Why did they want her to come to me?”
“We don’t know. At first, she was only supposed to get into the club and get close to you.”
“Not some kind of ambush?”
“What? No! You saw my sister, she’s a terrible liar. Only desperation gave her the courage to try something like that.”
“How did you escape?”
“That, I can’t say, because it has nothing to do with your issue with my sister.”
Again, that nerve-racking silence, but this time I’m determined to get answers.
“You told me she remembers me. When can I speak with her?”
“The doctor said we shouldn’t force her to remember, so if I allow you two to talk. . .”
“I don’t need your permission to talk to my sister.”
“I disagree. As I was saying, if I allow you two to speak, you can’t bring up any of this. Not the Italians or anything recent.”
“You would never hurt her,” I state, because from our conversation, it’s clear Beau cares about her.
“No.”
“And yet you made me believe you might.”
“Would you have told me the truth if you didn’t think she was in danger?”
“Probably not.”
“What are you doing in Italy?” He changes the subject.
“The Sicilians are after us. More after me, actually. When you found her at the motel in Richardson, they knew you were there and ordered her to stick with the initial plan: stay close to you. But I ran,” I say, again without detailing that I was actually rescued, “and since then, she only had to worry about herself.”
“She stayed by my side because she knew she’d be protected.”
Somehow, that makes me feel bad, because he seems to have feelings for my sister, but Beau is wrong to believe all she wanted was protection. I know Amber, and I know she fell for the man she was supposed to betray.
“If you truly believe that, you don’t know my sister at all. I asked her to stay with you, saying she’d be protected, but I could have made arrangements for her to come to me if I’d thought she didn’t want to be with you.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because I know her better than I know myself. I realized she’d fallen for you almost instantly. We both have the Roma spirit. We can be happy anywhere. She wanted to stay by your side.”
“If that’s what you think, you don’t know Amber as well as you used to. She doesn’t aspire to be a Romniya but a daisy.”
“Yes, I know. She wants stability. But I assume you’re a smart man. You’ve seen her. Amber could have any man at her feet if all she wanted was to become a housewife. She loves you, Beau.”
After I hang up, I collapse into Gianni’s arms, drained.
“Elodie, what happened?”
“Amber had an accident and lost her memory.”
“Jesus!”
“And that’s not all. She’s carrying Beau’s child. I need to go see her.”
“I can arrange for us to go straight from Paris to the United States.”
“You’ll go with me?”
Gianni has an important event to attend, an award one of his companies is receiving for its annual contributions to the fight against hunger in African countries. It will be our first true public appearance, because unlike our outings here in Italy, he explained there will be reporters there.
It’s a cause he’s proud of, and I promised to be by his side.
“Yes,” he answers. “I’m not letting you go back to the United States alone.”
“I wish I were stronger and could say I can handle it, but yes, I’ll take your support.”
“Elodie?” she asks on the phone.
“Amber, my God, I was so worried.”
“I’m okay. Beau told me he spoke with you yesterday.”
“I’m sorry, sis. We’ve been talking for less than a minute and I’ve almost messed it up already. I know I shouldn’t bring up anything about your recent past. As for talking to Beau, yes, we spoke yesterday, and he told me not to force you to remember.”
“Look, I know it’s hard—for me, too—but the doctor said the amnesia will pass, and I believe him. I haven’t forgotten you, but I only remember us together a long time ago.”
“On the farm?”
“Yes, and about our escape. I remember the town reverend and his wife hid us for a while and then sent us to live with some relatives in South Carolina.”
“Wow. I’d almost forgotten that myself.”
“It’s strange, it started as fragments during a nightmare yesterday, when I was on my way to New Orleans, but now the images are sharp, like a movie.”
“Tell me more. I’d rather hear you talk. I’m afraid I’ll get carried away and end up asking something I shouldn’t.”
“I remember that, in the last house we stayed in before you became an adult, they got us documents, and I also remember when we ran into a cult member in Austin and he recognized us. We had to run.”
“We did. We were terrified, weren’t we?”
“Yes, but you know what I don’t understand?”
“What?”
“Why did we always go back to Texas?”
“I think it’s because we saw that state as home.”
“Maybe,” she says. “Did Beau tell you I’m pregnant?”
“Yes. I don’t want to pressure you, Amber, but it’s so hard to talk like this. I’m terrified I’ll ask the wrong thing and ruin everything.”
“Do you live here in the United States?” she asks, changing the subject, and that’s when I’m sure her recent memory is truly gone, since the last time we spoke I told her all about Tuscany and even sent photos from here.
“No. I’m in Italy right now.”
“Do you live alone?”
My God, her recent memories really have been erased!
“With my boyfriend, but I’m coming back to the United States next week. I need to hug you.”
“I’d love you to come. Even without remembering anything that happened between us in the last months before I lost my memory, I know we’re best friends.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because it has to mean something that I only remember you and our mother. I don’t even remember our father’s face, only his actions.”
“Maybe you blocked out the bad things.”
“Not completely. I had a nightmare about the day we saw the elders hurting Lucille. If your theory was right, that should’ve been erased.”
“You’re right.”
“Besides, I don’t remember how I met Beau, but he told me we were serious and that I went everywhere with him. I’m pregnant with his child, so it must be a genuine love story, right?”
I go quiet, fighting not to cry. What will Amber feel when she finds out she was luring the now-father of her child into a trap?
“Why are you so quiet?” she asks, sounding anxious.
“Does he treat you well, Amber? I mean now, since you woke up.”
“Yes. He’s very reserved, and sometimes he studies me for a long time, looking thoughtful, but I feel like he likes me and wants me.”
“And about the baby?”
“We haven’t talked much about it yet, but Beau told me that the child and I are his, so I think he’s happy about becoming a father.”
“Like I said, I’ll be back in the U.S. next week and I’ll see you. No matter what, whether your memory comes back or not, know that you’ll always be my little sister, and nothing and no one will keep me from being by your side.”
“I don’t think that’s Beau’s intention. If he wanted to keep us apart, why would he have contacted you?”
“Good point.” I pause. “I really hope that by the time we meet, you’ll remember more. There’s something important from our past we need to discuss. Besides seeing you with my own eyes and making sure you’re okay, I’m coming back to the United States to meet someone.”
I remember how shocked I was when, one day, I got a call from an unknown number with a U.S. country code.
It was Amos.
I never imagined my brother would find me before I could find him.
After Gianni told me he was alive, I did something reckless and, on my own, hired a private investigator in Boston over the internet.
I’m ashamed to admit I had to use money from the account my boyfriend opened for me, which I hadn’t touched until then, but it was for a good reason.
The day Amos called me, I was so surprised I couldn’t speak, just listened to him ask a barrage of questions.
He’s straight as an arrow, and he intimidated me, which is rare.
Not once did he bring up the subject of us being siblings. It was a very strange conversation in which he pressed me to say whether I was in the United States and made me promise to go to Boston to see him as soon as I returned.
I will. I’m dying to meet him. My bond with Amber is intense, but Amos is my twin. The other half.
“Did this person you’re coming to meet belong to the cult?” she asks, bringing me back to the present.
“No,” I answer, revealing as little as possible, “but I don’t think it’s a good idea to say more.”
“All right. Can I ask if you’re okay there? You said you live in Italy. Why did you go so far away?”
“Because it’s my boyfriend’s home country. I can’t tell you more or I risk putting you in danger. Beau was clear when he said your memory has to return on its own. Will you call me again?”
“Yes, of course. Even if this has been the strangest possible conversation between two sisters, I liked hearing your voice. Elodie, you said you’ll always be by my side, and the reverse is true, too.
Even if I don’t remember important details of our story, you can count on me. If the man you’re with isn’t. . .”
“I understand what you’re trying to say. Don’t worry. I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? Because if I ask, I know Beau will help you.”
“There’s nothing to be helped with, sis. I’m fine. Now, tell me a little about your health. What’s it like being pregnant? Are you hungrier? Nauseous?”