Chapter 37
London
Ifloat in and out of sleep, my body wrapped around Archer's all night long. I wake just enough to confirm he's still there and drift out again.
He stirs, holding me tighter and kissing my head. I feel him sigh and I wish we could stay like this, forever together, out of harm’s way and ignoring the troubles of the world.
But I know come morning, reality will sink in and we'll be forced to face the impossible situation I've brought into his life.
So I allow this momentary and fleeting opportunity to entertain what will never happen again, because I've decided that the only person who can save me is myself and I can't let a man cloud my judgment ever again.
I only regret that I didn't do it sooner and end my father's life before he had the chance to ruin mine.
"I love you," Archer whispers, and moves once more.
I reach for him, but sleep still has its hold on me, and I can't maintain a grip on him. I must have imagined Archer saying that, in the hypothetical fairy tale I fabricated to commit to memory so I never have to come to terms with the truth.
The truth that as soon as the opportunity presents itself, I'm going to betray Archer once and for all.
I'm going to kill Joe Vito.
I wake sometime later, gasping for air as I open my eyes to find Seven sitting on the bed beside me instead of Archer. "Jesus Christ, Seven. You scared the fucking shit out of me." I scoot up and away, clutching at my chest. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
He reaches for me, his fingers out. "You have some drool right there."
I smack his hand away. "No, I don't." I lick my lips and wipe my mouth just in case.
"Whatcha wanna do today?" Seven says, repositioning himself more comfortably.
I rub my eyes. "Where's Archer?"
"I don't know." He shrugs. "He was being all weird and cryptic. Asked me to come babysit."
"I don't need to be babysat," I groan and slip out of bed, Seven staying there as I grab clothes to change into. "How long is he going to be gone?"
"I don't know, firecracker. A couple of hours, probably." He examines his hands. "Will you paint my nails?"
I stop and look right at him. "What?"
"My nails, will you paint them?" Seven drags his legs off the bed and comes over to me, holding out his tattooed fingers to me. "What do you think about black?"
"Why don't you just go get them done at a salon, Seven?"
"Because I don't like people."
"I'm people," I tell him with my arms full of clothes.
"Nah, I like you, firecracker." He rubs my head, messing up my hair more than it already was.
"I'm honored." I roll my eyes and turn on my heel to march toward the bathroom, Seven close behind me. I come to a stop before the bathroom door. "Um, excuse me, a little privacy?”
"Geez. It's nothing I haven't seen before." Seven throws his arms up as I shut the door in his face. "You never answered me," he says loudly through the door. "I'm bored, what do you want to do? You wanna get some food or something?"
I make quick work of peeing, changing out of my clothes, and brushing my teeth and hair.
I splash my face with water and throw on some makeup, deciding that today calls for winged eyeliner—channeling my inner Taylor Swift.
With a final glance in the mirror, I apply an auburn lipstick and tuck my hair behind my ears.
I force a smile, the memory of the first time I looked in this mirror coming back to me.
I was a different woman then—battered and bruised and terrified of my haunted past. Today, I fully embrace the fact that I'm going to face it head-on, no longer willing to live in the shadows caused by a man.
I hate that I have to risk everything, but my freedom has to count for something.
I can't continue to put everyone else first, I must consider what's best for me.
"Damn," Seven says when I open the door.
Marching past him, I continue into the bedroom and kneel beside the bed, reaching my hand in until I find what I'm searching for. I pull out the gun Seven gave me when Archer was distracted and check the barrel to make sure it's loaded.
Seven leans in the doorway, his tattooed arms across his chest, a smile creeping across his face.
I tuck the gun into my waistband. "Take me to The Branford?"
Seven doesn't question me, he doesn't inquire about what we're doing. All he does is say, "Let's go."
I follow Seven through Archer's apartment and pause at the door to leave my phone on the table Archer keeps his keys.
I'm well aware that he's been using it to track and spy on me, and in the past, I've allowed it to happen, but today, I don't want Archer to stalk me, not when I'm about to betray him in a way we'll never recover from.
Taking in his apartment for the last time, I draw in a breath and leave, my stomach in knots at the idea that I'll never be close to him again, to feel his skin on mine, his body pressed against me.
I love you, his voice calls out to me, but it was only a fever dream. It wasn't real. None of this was.
Then why does my heart hurt so badly?
I ignore the ache seeping through me and reach for the handle of Seven's car, but he gets there first.
"I'm not being a gentleman; I just don't want your fingerprints all over it." Seven opens it for me and closes me in, the smell of new car somehow still present despite him having this at the very least since I've known Archer.
I settle into the seat and fight the urge to change my mind, to turn back while I still have a chance.
There's still time for Archer to come up with a solution, to figure a way out of this, but what if he doesn't and this is the only opportunity I have to get to Vito without Archer stopping me?
I can't risk the possibility that my fate is sealed, I have to end this once and for all.
Seven pokes through some music as he maneuvers us into traffic, finally choosing nothing, the silence filling his Rolls-Royce. He speeds through town and darts around cars carelessly like he didn't just give me shit about putting fingerprints on the door.
It takes twelve awkward minutes to get to The Branford Hotel. Seven pulls up front and puts the car into park, completely ignoring the other vehicles coming and going.
"You ready to do this?" Seven glances over at me and reaches for his door handle.
"I need to do this myself, Seven." I clear my throat. "Plus, you'd make him suspicious. I have to go in alone."
"Archer's going to kill me," he says as if I didn't already know that, but I can't let it deter me, not when I'm this close.
"For what it's worth, he'll probably kill me, too." I drag my bottom lip into my mouth and imagine how angry Archer is going to be, both at me and Seven. Me for killing Vito and dooming his entire family, and Seven for allowing it to happen.
"What do you want on your tombstone?" Seven asks me, his train of thought so random at times.
"I don't know. Think of something cool for me." I put my hand on the door handle, my gaze focused on the hotel and not on Seven, because if I look at him, I might change my mind. Sure, he's a fucking lunatic, but he's become a friend over the last few weeks, and I'm betraying him, too.
"How long do you think it'll take?" Seven asks me, causing me to pause.
"You don't need to wait, I'll find a way home." I leave the vehicle before he questions me about anything else I don't have an answer to and march right past the valet and into the hotel lobby.
The lights are bright and borderline blinding but I keep on, because I have no choice. I can't turn back now.
"Checking in?" the woman at the desk says to me when I approach, a soft smile on her plain face.
"Actually, I'm here to see a guest. Joe Vito. Room four-twenty-three. Could you let him know I'm here?" Hotels like this don't allow random people to access the elevators. You need a room key, and I don't have one of those. I'd love the element of surprise with him, but this will have to do.
"What's your name?" she asks me.
"London Gardella." It's the first time in a while that I've truly acknowledged my name out loud, and I have to say, I was quite getting used to being London Smith, the orphaned girl trying to start over in a new town. I hate having any association with the man who ruined my life. My father.
"One moment." She picks up a phone and pushes a few buttons. "Hello, sir. This is the front desk. You have a guest here, London Gardella." After a long pause, she extends the receiver to me.
I hold it to my ear, the time for backing out fully expiring now that he knows I'm here. "Hello," I say while trying to keep my voice from cracking.
"My London girl. What a pleasant but unexpected surprise. Have you come alone?"
"Yes."
"And where's your lover boy, Archer?"
"I don't know."
"Interesting." He goes quiet for a minute. "I'll meet you by the elevators. I'll be down momentarily." Joe hangs up and I give the phone back to the woman who pretends to be busy on her computer.
"Thanks. He's going to meet me," I tell her. "Where are the elevators?"
She points behind me. "Through that walkway."