Page 107 of Unfinished

A little part of me was even mad when he didn’t come for me after I graduated. That’s when I started losing hope that he even cared at all about me. Truthfully, how upset could I be with him when I didn’t reach out to him either?

There were so many factors to our eventual estrangement. My inability to commit to a long-distance relationship. His dating when he said he wanted to wait for me. The final straw was how he kept dangerous secrets from me.

While the first two aren’t an issue anymore, the last one was what fully broke my trust in him. Despite losing that trust, I still loved him. Things were different now that I knew the truth. I’d finally have the ability to go into this with my eyes wide open. He learned from his mistakes. Could I learn from my own?

Back in my bedroom, I slid into a pair of shorts and then went into the en suite where I brushed my hair and pulled it up into a messy bun and quickly brushed my teeth. When I walked into the kitchen, Liam handed me a cup of coffee and I took it over to the living space where I sat down next to Ashley.

“Are you okay?” Ashley whispered and I nodded.

“Salvatore has pretty much disappeared from radar. My guess is he’s gone underground to avoid being picked up. Word on the street is Salvatore's men are also jumping ship. So he's broke, has nowhere to go, and is currently under investigation from the feds for multiple crimes.” Bas sighed, sitting in a chair across from us.

“What does that mean for us then?” I questioned.

“It means all of you should continue to stay where you are safe. Salvatore might have disappeared, but that doesn’t mean he’s no longer a danger. He still has some men out there working for him.”

“Are we really in danger, though? Just cause Derek is dead doesn’t mean he’s still going to come after me or any of us.” I gestured to Ashley and myself.

“Salvatore knows that you are important to me,” Liam said.

“What does he have against you?” Ashley asked, looking at Liam.

“About six months ago, my company found and reported a fraud case to an ad network we work with. They reported that fraud to the feds. The websites in question were owned by one of Salvatore’s companies. He blames me for that.” Liam looked at me and I caught the silent warning to keep the rest of the story to myself. Ashley was the most trustworthy person I knew and I hated keeping secrets from her. In this case, I agreed with Liam to keep her safe.

“So what? Do we sit tight and wait him out?” I asked.

“Salvatore isn’t a patient man, he will show his hand soon enough,” Liam said.

After a while, Bas and Ashley left to go back to the safe house she was staying in. I needed to set up a workstation for myself since I’d be working from home for the foreseeable future.

At dinner that night, I looked at Liam, “Why didn’t you come for me after I graduated?”

“I did.” Liam looked at me, “I showed up with Declan, but your father saw me and begged me to back off. Things still hadn’t completely settled down with Salvatore and he didn’t want you in danger. Additionally, he said you were happy and he was afraid I would mess that all up for you.”

“I was happy,” I said, looking down at my plate, “I thought you would show up again to finish our story. When you didn’t, I thought maybe you moved on.”

“I dated but I never moved on from you.”

“I saw you two years ago,” I admitted, “You were with a brunette and looked happy. I lost myself for a little bit after that. It was one thing to think you moved on, it was something completely different when I saw that you had.”

“Two years ago?”

“Yeah. She had brown hair in a ponytail … I saw an engagement ring on her finger.”

Liam’s eyes widened and then he chuckled, “That was Vanessa.”

I grimaced as feelings of jealousy ignited in my chest. He had been engaged to a woman, which meant he must have felt strong feelings towards her. It hurt that maybe there was someone else out there who was better suited to him.

“Vanessa is my personal assistant. She had just gotten engaged to her long-time boyfriend. I must have taken her out for lunch. I helped him with his proposal,” Liam explained.

Heat rose into my cheeks as I felt a bit embarrassed about my mistake, “Oh. I just assumed.”

“I already told you. There was only ever one woman I wanted to marry. If I couldn’t have her, I wouldn’t marry anyone. That woman has always been you.”

My heart stuttered at his words and, without a doubt in my mind, I believed every single one of them. I knew that his secrets weren’t just his but belonged to his entire family. I knew that if it were me, I would have done the same thing.

I needed to forgive him and move on. We’ve been given a second chance to do this right and I didn’t want it to slip between my fingers again.

“Can we start over?” I suggested.

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