Page 106 of Wicked Truths

I kiss the corner of his mouth. “I’m counting on it, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Rest your leg. I’ll see you in a couple of hours, soon to be Mrs. Francesca Montgomery.” He jogs out of the suite without a backward glance at me.

I have to admit it does have a nice ring to it.

Speaking of ring, I glance down at the ring he slid onto my ring finger. Holy Mother, this thing is huge, but stunning.

It’s the most perfect pear-shaped diamond solitaire ring that I’ve ever seen. If I could describe my dream engagement ring, this would be it.

I sit back down and watch the players take the ice for the start of the game. My gaze immediately finds Rhett’s number. Number twenty-four.

With Rhett by my side, I know we can handle anything. Including facing my dead-not-so-dead mother.

I’m not sure if it was a hallucination from the excessive blood loss, but before I passed out, I’m pretty sure I saw my mother looking down at me.

I haven’t told anyone yet, not even Rhett. I know he will believe me and help me find the answers I really want, but deep in my heart, I know Jax was telling the truth.

My mother is alive and living in New York. She was at the Rossi estate with Giuseppe and left me for dead.

And that hurts worse than thinking she died in a car accident.

The crowd stands and cheers as the referee drops the puck, and the game begins. Tonight, the team is skating better and passing the puck like they are the better team with something to prove.

They need to prove to the community they deserve to be here and want the fans to show up to the games and cheer them on.

Three minutes and fifty-one seconds into the first period, Rhett scores. I cheer and clap for him as his teammates congratulate. He glances up at the suite, causing me to grin wider.

The Sharks lose the faceoff, giving the other team a much needed chance at getting the puck down at our end of the ice. Every player skates towards our net.

Knox Anderson does a great job keeping the puck out of the net, but Joey cross checks a fellow defenseman and gets sent to the penalty box.

The crowd boos at the late in the period penalty, and I swear under my breath. This is not the time to get senseless penalties and give the opposing team an opportunity to tie up the game.

My phone rings, and I thank God for the interruption. Looking at my caller ID, I see that it’s Angelica.

“Hey, Angelica. What’s up?”

“I have good news, bad news, and worse news. Which do you want first?”

I sigh. “Just tell me them in order, starting with the good news, I guess.”

“The good news is I was finally able to get close tothe Rossi house and saw the Don get into a private car.”

Whispering so no one around can hear me, I ask, “The Don? You mean Giuseppe?”

“You’re on a first name basis with the man?”

“It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you about it, but after you finish with your news.”

“The bad news is he was joined by a woman, but I couldn’t see if it was your mom. She looked a lot like your mom, though.”

My heart plummets to my stomach.

“Yeah, I had a feeling.”

“What? When?”

“What’s the worst news?”

---