Page 52 of Love Over Time

When we were little, Mom and Dad had thought it would confuse Lisa and me if they taught us two languages at the same time. They’d chosen English over Portuguese. Their mistake had been assuming they’d have time to teach us a second language. I didn’t know a lick of Portuguese as a result, but every time I heard someone speak it, the hole in my chest got bigger. I’d picked up Spanish from boyfriend number two back in college. He’d paid for two whole semesters before I had to break up with him.

The Spanish did the trick. Valentina relaxed her shoulders and gave me a genuine smile. “Thank you. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. That’s really the reason I wanted to see you. You left, and I never got to thank you.”

“No need to thank me. I got you into that big mess to begin with. Believe me, I never meant to hurt you. I just really needed the money. I’m glad it worked out for you two.” To my right, Henry raced up to his room. I sat on my hands so I wouldn’t start smashing things. So he could trust Dom but not me?

“Yeah, it sure did.” Valentina peeked over her shoulder to find Cole staring at her. Smiling at her drink, she shook her head a few times. As if she couldn’t believe a guy like Cole could want her. Something told me that even if I hadn’t helped them, these two would’ve found a way to stay together.

“He loves you. Look at him.” I giggled. “He can barely stand to be this far away from you. Let’s go join the boys and put him out of his misery.” I winked. She nodded and let out a laugh that made Cole adjust his belt.

When Henry returned, he gave Dom a meaningful look. Dom shrugged and turned to me. “We have to talk.”

“Please. Finish your business with Henry first. He went through a lot of effort to find his father’s will.” I flashed Henry a smile.

His face went blank, and the vein on his temple pulsed against his skin. Biting his lip, he reached in his back pocket and removed the dirty envelope. I’d been waiting for him to tell me about it. Obviously, he found it difficult to trust a thief. Last night at the manor, I’d seen him hide something when he exited the tunnel. To throw him off, I’d rushed to his mom’s bed, and instead managed to sidetrack the both us. I swallowed, putting away the image of Henry between my legs.

“Mom hid the original. The will my uncle destroyed and replaced with an earlier will was a fake,” he said when Dom took the paper from him.

Dom grinned, his chest all puffed up. “I’ll take a look and let you know.”

“So what’s this thing you need to tell me?” I asked him.

Cole cleared his throat. “We’ll wait for you in the car. It was good seeing you.” He smiled at me, taking Valentina’s hand. Valentina waved and left with him.

“That bad?” I asked when they closed the door behind them.

Dom winced. “They moved Lisa’s parole hearing to today. I found out an hour before it started, almost missed it.”

“What?” The room swayed a little while I waited for Dom to spit it out.

“We were denied parole. She’s got another fifteen.”

I pressed a cold hand to my forehead, letting my tears trickle down my cheeks. This whole time I’d assumed she’d get out. Proving her innocence was going to be the cherry on top. She was supposed to come home. I’d failed her.

“I’m sorry, Nikki. We can keep trying. Were you able to find anything that can help her?” he asked.

“We found a note Mom left saying she knew Lisa was innocent. Would that help?” Henry put his arms around me.

Dom rubbed his jaw, shaking his head. “If your mom knows what happened that night, her testimony is the only thing that can help Lisa. We need to find your mom.”

“This isn’t fair. She didn’t kill anyone.” I swallowed a gulp of air. “How can they do this to her? Can I see her?”

Dom nodded. “Yeah, I’ll call it in and text you. It’s not over. We’ll keep at it, okay?”

“Okay.” I pressed my cheek on Henry’s chest and let his warmth seep through my body.

“I’ll be in touch.” Dom squeezed my arm and left.

I stood in the middle of the lobby with Henry holding me tight. “I failed her. She trusted me with her freedom, and I failed her.” My words were muffled by his shirt, now wet with tears. All strength drained from me. I couldn’t even muster the energy to be angry—angry at Tessa for not doing more to save my sister, angry at myself for leaving Lisa when she needed me the most, just angry.

“This isn’t over yet. Lisa is innocent. There has to be evidence of it somewhere.” He ushered me to the sofa.

The smell of pepperoni pizza made me nauseous. Dom must’ve brought it in. Henry lay on the sofa and hugged me close to his chest. “Can you try and eat?” I shook my head, and he stroked my hair. “Close your eyes, then.”

I did, but I couldn’t sleep. The day Henry’s dad was killed was on repeat in my head. Henry and I had been playing in the tunnels. There was a man, or the silhouette of a man, at the end of the tunnel. He hunched over, and then I saw bright stars… Henry pressed me against the wall. Was that real? Had I really seen that?

“Jonathan killed your dad, didn’t he?” My heart shrank and twisted in my chest.

“I think so.”

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