Page 131 of Fighting With Light

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” he asks.

“I don’t know that we have any other choice, especially if you think that we need it.”

“Alright, maybe we should just sit on it and I’ll work on putting everything together and write the summary. We have to make it easy for the Feds.”

While he writes the report, I make us some scrambled eggs and then Liam says he’s going to surf for a bit. I shouldn’t be surprised, he doesn’t like taking breaks, but he loves surfing, for sport or not.

While I change, my phone goes off. I reach for it, assuming it’s Violet. She’s probably wondering why we haven’t scheduled another trip yet, and I haven’t figured out how to tell her I met someone and my partying days are over. If I go out to party, Liam will be at my side. I don’t want to go with anyone else.

I look at the text and it’s the one person I had been holding my breath about.My father. Why God? Why is my father like this?I sigh and squeeze the bridge of my nose before I open the text. This man needs to be stopped, and we’re almost there, but it looks like time has run out.

Marco: You need to come home. I will not accept no for an answer. If you choose not to, I will put a bullet in your mother’s head as your punishment.

Aelia: I’ll be home in a few days and she is my brothers’ mother, as well. Are they aware of your threats?

I stare at the text, reading it over and over again.Bullet in your mother’s head.Does he hate me that much? I know I’ve done nothing but irritate him for years, but he deserves it. No one deserves what my mother has been through.My jawclenches as I type the text out. I’m sure it would piss my brothers off if I called my brothers and told them what he said.

You know what? Screw it.

Aelia: Your father is threatening to put a bullet in Mom’s head.

Romeo: Why?

Giorgio: Hell No

Alfie: WTF

Aelia: Why? Really Romeo?

Giorgio: Yeah, dude, why does it matter? You know he’s insane.

Romeo: Well, it would explain a few things. Something happened with the coke shipment, and he’s been on edge.

Giorgio: It doesn’t matter why, dumbass. We will take care of Mom, baby sis. All good.

Alfie: You should come home, though. It’s been a while. You know how he is, and he’s been working on your...future.

Aelia: I don’t HAVE to do anything, Alfie. Marrying me off to someone I don’t know for the sake of business is reprehensible. Regardless, I will come home when I’m ready. I told him I’d be home in a few days. Please just…don’t let him near her.

Romeo: We won’t

Giorgio: Alfie’s right, please come home.

Aelia: Soon

I stare at the conversation and torture myself a little longer. My stomach rolls and I take a deep breath, trying to push the nausea away. The only reason I haven’t told Liam about the fact that I’m promised to another man is simply because I won’t agree to it. I love Liam, and if he asked me to marry him today, I would go to bed as his wife. I wouldn’t wait for a big wedding. I’d tell him to take us to the courthouse and tie the knot today. Part of mewantsto do it right now. But he may not be ready to ask me a question like that.

In all honesty, that’s fine. I don’t blame him. We’ve only said I love you about four days ago. What we have takes extra time, and normally, I would be fine with that. But now it just makes me nervous that my dad is going to try to outsmart me, and I’ll end up married to the wrong man.

My stomach lurches at the thought, and I run for the bathroom, flipping the seat up and losing my breakfast. I dry heave as tears fill my eyes because I wish the nausea was anything but nerves. Pregnant would be a thousand times better than this. I would be happy to be carrying Liam’s baby,ourbaby. It would also solve the problem of this other mobster wanting me.

I knew time was running out, and I would have to go home. My hope was that I could slip in, check on Mom, talk to my brothers, and slip out. But that’s not the case anymore. Liam said we needed one more form of evidence, and I think I can get it when I go home.Hopefully, he will go for it.

After my stomach stops rolling, I brush my teeth and grab my towel before heading out to the beach.

Liam is still surfing, lost in his own ocean world. I lay my towel out and sit down, watching him gracefully carve through the water as if the board is an extension of him. Watching him yesterday was thrilling. I don’t understand their scoring, so it was just as exciting to watch him surf and wait for his score as it is to watch the quarterback run down the field to make a touchdown with fiveseconds left on the clock. I held my breath half the time, praying he didn’t wipe out.

As I watch him, I form a plan in my mind. Get what we need, get Mom away from my father, and disappear. I know in this world no one actually disappears, but it’s worth the risk. I hope he would be okay with having my mom around, not that we’ve had that discussion. In fact, we haven’t talked about a lot of family issues. All I know is I love him and I want him. We can figure this out.