Chapter Twelve
Chiara
“Lee,” I sob, as I launch myself at her and Dante, hugging them both like my life depended on it.
“Sis, I’ve missed you so much.” Lily hugs me back with one arm, her other arm is slung around her son who is sitting on her hip, watching me curiously.
“Hello, little sweetheart,” I coo, as I pull away. I stretch out my arms, and he flings himself at me with a sweet babble. “Kiki.”
I laugh through my tears. “Oh my god, you’re talking now, and you’ve got a nickname for your auntie?” My heart is overflowing with love for this little guy and his huge serious eyes as they look up at me.
“He is,” Lily says with a smile. “In a few weeks we won’t be able to stop him. And he’s taken his first step too,” she adds proudly.
My throat constricts painfully and my eyes sting. I’ve missed his first birthday, his first words, his first steps. An acute pang of failure pierces my heart.
Lily senses my turmoil and gently takes my hand. “Come, let’s go inside and have some cake, I promised him he could have a piece today.”
We walk into the small coffee shop and sit down at a table near the window. Her bodyguard takes position by the door, eyes never leaving us.
“Tell me everything about you,” Lily says, with an excited grin.
“It’s going great, actually. It’s quiet, unlike before. Sometimes, it feels a little too quiet because I miss you so much.” I look at little Dante who is stuffing morsels of cake into his mouth. “He’s growing so fast. I can’t believe I’ve missed his first word, or his first step…”
When I look up at Lily, her eyes are sad. “Don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of other firsts together,” she says softly.
I let out a breath. “I think that maybe it’s time to stop hiding…”
She looks sharply up at me but remains silent.
“Surely all this”— I wave my hand around—“is now old news, and no one cares anymore to know where I’ve gone. Maybe it’s time that I see my family again. Openly.”
“You know I’ll always support you, no matter what you decide,” Lily says quietly. But I see something flicker in her eyes. Concern?
“Honestly, I don’t even remember anymore why I had to hide in the first place, I’m a grown woman, I can damn well come and go as I please.” I realize that I swore and slap a hand over my mouth and look down at Dante, making sure he did not hear that.
She lets out a loud laugh. “I’ve never heard you swear before!” She is grinning from ear to ear. “And you’ve grown stronger.”
I nod, pensively. “Maybe I have. It’s like I’m myself at last, after all this time. And let me tell you, it feels amazing.”
For a moment, she merely watches me, her smile fading a little. “Sis…you do know that not everyone has moved on, or forgotten, don’t you?”
I furrow my brows. “What do you mean?”
Her tone softens as she carefully says the one name I had banished from my thoughts. “Lucas.”
Hearing it now feels like someone threw a stone in a lake, the ripples disrupting the quiet surface I thought I had managed to smooth over these last few months.
I force out a small laugh, trying to brush it off.
“Lucas is probably over it by now. He certainly had plenty of distractions, didn’t he? ”
Lily’s lips press together, like she wants to say something, but she doesn’t. “Let’s just say…he hasn’t forgotten, not really.”
I straighten my shoulders, willing my voice to remain steady. “Then he’ll have to deal with it. I’m not running anymore. I’m strong enough to face anyone who has a problem with me living my own life.”
She doesn’t say anything and the conversation shifts to other topics.
We chat for hours, until little Dante’s eyes start to droop.
Lily cradles him against her with a soft smile, my heart warms. Someday, I’ll have a family of my own, and I’ll give all my love to those I have chosen, and those who chose me.
My heart warms at the bright future I envision, and I can almost feel like it’s right around the corner. I only need to reach out to touch it.