As I reached for the door handle after getting dressed, I was hit by a wave of nervousness so strong that my knees grew weak. I haven’t feared much since my early teens, not once I decided that life wasn’t worth living, and it no longer mattered if I live or died.
Once the last of the dreams I’d had as a child died, I no longer cared. It’s one of the reasons I was able to make my escape. The only reason I was able to overcome my fear. But now, at the thought of seeing her, I felt like the little girl I’d once been.
I opened the door, and he was leaning against the wall, waiting. “I’m ready.” How did he know I needed my hand held? How was this guy reading me so well? And why the hell am I allowing him to take such command of my senses? I accepted the hand he held out to me without argument and allowed him to lead me to the elevator.
I had to close my eyes and inhale deeply as my nerves threatened to get the best of me on the ride up. Jason squeezed my fingers, and for some odd reason, that was enough to settle me down again. Come to think of it, since meeting him; he’s been responsible for a lot of the unusual things I’ve done, things that I wouldn’t have if I were thinking.
It’s true that I would’ve come looking for Cierra at any cost, but maybe I would’ve done things a little different had he not been the one to come after me. I’m still not a hundred percent sure how he found me or even what had sent that Mancini guy after me in the first place, but I was here now at any rate, and it’s too late to turn back.
“You ready?” He shook my hand when I just stared at the closed elevator doors before they started to glide open.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” I allowed him to lead me from the elevator across the large vestibule that was big enough to be a room in itself, towards the French doors that led out to the huge wraparound marble patio.
It was still early, but already I could feel the heat of the Caribbean sun on my face, something I haven’t felt since my dad was alive and my parents used to travel the world. We walked out to the largest table I’ve ever seen, surrounded by men, women, and children. There was no separation here as in most places, where the kids are made to sit alone at the kiddie table.
I started to falter when all eyes turned my way, but Jason’s warmth and nearness kept me grounded. “Which one is she?” I whispered the question to him out the side of my mouth since I couldn’t pick her out of the crowd. It had been some time since I’d seen the picture of her, and back then, she’d only been a child.
“The one at Mancini’s right with the baby between them.” My eyes flew in that direction, and as if they had a mind of their own, my feet took me there. I knew that everyone was watching me, saw Mancini’s body tense as if getting himself in position just in case I did something.
I couldn’t stop to reassure him that I meant no harm because I was too choked up to speak. When I reached her side, my mouth opened, but no words came. All the pent-up emotion I’d held inside for all these years seemed to congeal in my chest at once, and I felt hot burning tears run down my cheeks.
Her face blurred behind my tears but not before I saw the look of confusion mixed with compassion. I couldn’t help it when I reached my hand out to touch her cheek. “You’re real!” It was too much for me, and the next thing I heard was Jason’s voice screaming my name as the world went black, and I slumped to the floor.
Roxy
I didn’t lose time or place; as soon as I opened my eyes to find myself being cradled in Jason’s arms, I knew exactly where I was; and she was there. Leaning over me with a look of concern on her face, and those stupid tears started again and that tightness in my chest that I had to fight unless I wanted to make an ass of myself again. Of all the reactions I imagined I’d have upon seeing her, this was not one of them.
I grabbed for and gripped her hand as her husband stepped forward. “No, Hank, she’s not hurting me. You made the statement that I was real before you fainted, does that mean that you know me?” I read the confusion on her face as I struggled to sit up.