Page 14 of Assassin's Heart
Something of the Atlanta socialite came through in her answer. Though she didn’t spend as much time in the spotlight as she had when her father was alive, she’d been raised to wealth and privilege. This mansion eclipsed the home Derrick Roslyn, then a gubernatorial candidate, had died in, but it probably felt far more normal to her than it did to me.
I took a bite of the sandwich and chewed. How normal did her relationship with Levi feel?
“And yes,” Abby said, seeming to read my mind, “Levi and I are together.”
“You didn’t take my advice then.” Not that I’d expected her to. She was young. Levi was a bad-boy alpha male with occasional glimpses of normalcy. Of course she was susceptible.
Abby planted her elbows on the table, surprising me. Chin cradled in her hands, she said, “I know him, Leah.”
I’m sure you think you do.I popped a chip in my mouth.
I understood the appeal; after all, I had been caught in the same web with Angelo. We might even have ended up in a similar place. But Angelo had ended up dead, and I’d had my entire life stripped away. There were no illusions left for me to indulge.
Abby leaned back in her chair. “I never got to thank you for helping Remi.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice.” Not that I regretted helping him, not really.
And what the hell was wrong with me? Antagonizing the woman wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I needed every ounce of help I could get.
I needed to shut my mouth.
I did, with another bite of sandwich.
Abby shook her head. “You still hold a grudge; I get it. But you didn’t report anything either, so don’t try to pretend you didn’t understand why he did it.”
I threw down my napkin. So much for diplomacy. “Of course I understand why he did it. What I don’t understand is your willing blindness toward a man who is a straight-up killer. You think he loves you—”
“He does.”
“I thought the same, a long time ago.” Angelo wouldn’t have given his life for a woman he didn’t love. “And maybe he truly does, Abby. That doesn’t mean that at some point his lifestyle won’t get you killed.”
A vee creased Abby’s forehead. “Is that what happened with your daughter’s father?”
Your daughter.Brooke wasn’t just my daughter; she was a human being, and they needed to see her that way. See her as valuable.
“Brooke,” I said, fear thickening the word. “Her name is Brooke.”
Something soft sparked in Abby’s gaze. She nodded. “Brooke’s father?”
I stared at her a moment. I’d never told anyone the whole story with Angelo, not even Ross. My father didn’t know he had a granddaughter, or if his own daughter was still alive. He’d never have understood the whole story, but Abby…
Standing up, I left the table behind to pace the length of the room. “I met Angelo when I was seventeen.”
Abby turned in her seat to face me. “You were young.”
A grin tugged at my lips. “And naive. He came into the coffee shop where I worked.” The memory of the first time I’d seen him standing in line, his sharp gaze pinning me in place, still sent a shiver through my body. Based on my reaction to him, and to Remi, and the lack of response to any other man in between, I definitely had a type.
Too bad for me.
“He was older, in his thirties, but the moment I saw him, I knew…” I shook my head. “It was love at first sight.” I still couldn’t believe he was gone. It seemed unreal even now.
“So you started dating?”
I shook off the horror creeping in at the corners of my mind. “We did. I didn’t tell my family—my dad was protective, probably because we lost my mom when I was a little girl. And I didn’t want anything to ruin this shiny new happiness that had taken over my life.
“It wasn’t until I found out I was pregnant that he told me he worked for the mob.”
Abby’s gasp made me chuckle.
