Page 71 of Mafia Scars

Luc was from here. This was where he lived.

I lived in LA and worked there too.

Suddenly I heard a man’s voice in the background.

“Is that Maurice?”

“Yeah, can I call you back later?”

I narrowed my eyes and widened them quickly when I heard her giggling. Him too.

What was going on?

I swore she moaned into the phone.

“Clothes off now,” I heard Maurice say.

“Gigi,” I gasped.

“Amelia, I have to call you back. Bye.” She hung up.

Holy crap, what did I just hear? Gigi and Maurice. But he was so annoying. Then again, her annoying ways were kind of similar to his.

What had I done? Maurice was Luc’s best friend. A mobster.

God.

I’d have to deal with them later.

I adjusted the bowl of oatmeal on the tray and set a bowl of fruit next to it. Dad liked fresh fruit. Especially from the garden.

Millicent had picked strawberries and blueberries earlier. She was in the garden now, pruning. It felt like old times.

Dad was in the sitting room watching the morning news. He switched off the TV and straightened when he saw me.

“Morning,” I said.

“Good morning. Is that for me?” He looked me over in adoration. I couldn’t deny that I’d missed that.

“Oatmeal and fruit. Fresh, just the way you like it.” I smiled.

We hadn’t been alone since I arrived. This was the first we’d gotten a chance to speak.

I guessed maybe this felt more appropriate too. My reason for staying last night.

I set the tray down on the coffee table in front of him.

“Thanks, are you going to join me?”

“I am.” I sat next to him, shuffling so I could face him, and rested my hands in my lap.

It was so strange looking at him. I’d seen him so often in my dreams, it was hard to accept that this wasn’t one of those.

“Thank you for coming home. It’s good to see you.”

“It’s strange being back. This place felt like it existed in some sort of alternate universe.”

“That’s my fault. I know. You have to know that I never wanted things to turn out this way.”