Page 82 of Forbidden Bond

Stacey didn’t talk much until after Leeman told us that he’d kill one of us. Once he left, I couldn’t help but ask her how she knew my father.

She said he reached out to her during his investigation into the D’Angelo family hoping she would be helpful to bring the down.

“Are you an informant for the FBI? Were you going to help take them down?” I asked shocked knowing how much the family cared for her. “No. Never. I’ve told your dad repeatedly that I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. But he’s persistent. Christian is the reason I grew up an orphan and I’ll never really forgive them for killing my father. But, he’s human and he did what he thought was right. Also, their family has tried their best to look after me and I appreciate that. Some things are just unforgivable you know. But I would never work against them. The truth is my dad was a part of the dark world, so he was no saint. I just didn’t want to lose him,” she said a tear rolling down her cheek.

Then she started to ask me questions. She wanted to know how I knew the D’Angelos, so I told her about Topher. She told me about law school and her friends and the boyfriend she had to break up with because she thought he was a distraction.

We’re both trying to find some solace in each other while we wait for the people we love to come save us.

“I might be pregnant,” I confess to Stacey on the third day.

She arches an eyebrow. “You got knocked up by a D’Angelo? Shit, dude.”

I almost laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I did. It’s not so bad, though.”

“Hmm. Who do you think deserves to live more?” Stacey wonders aloud. “You’re pregnant, sure. But I just graduated. I spent the last six years of my life studying my ass off. You think that trumps pregnancy?” she asks laughing.

“That’s a pretty cynical question, Stacey.”

She snorts. “I’m a cynical person. I’ve had to be. I lost my papa when I was thirteen. The closest thing I have to a family is my aunt. And, oddly enough, the people responsible for my dad’s death.”

“I’m sorry, Stacey,” I say quietly.

She shakes her head. “It wasn’t so bad. Like I said, the D’Angelos took care of me. Carman was a bastard but he was a bastard that cared for his own. He loved those three boys so much; I saw it all first-hand. All it did was make me miss my dad, though. He’s the one that wanted me to become a lawyer. He said he’d always need legal representation in his course of work and he wasn’t ready to pay all those damn lawyer fees.”

She laughs softly at the memory.

“You think he made it to heaven?”

Her brown eyes meet mine. I can tell she’s starting to unravel. She’s been down here for more than a month. It’s enough to drive a person crazy.

“I couldn’t tell you, Stacey.”

“That’s alright. He probably didn’t. He wasn’t a good man. I’m sure he met Daddy D’Angelo in hell.”

It unsettles me to hear her talking about Topher’s dad like that. Then again, she’s probably right.

“You’re lucky you got the good one,” Stacey says like she can read my thoughts. “Topher’s wild and reckless, but he’s got a pretty good heart at his core.”

That makes me smile. “He’s changed a lot in the past few months. He’s less wild and reckless.”

“Good for him, then.”

If I close my eyes, I can almost pretend I’m not in a dark basement. I’m having a conversation with a new friend. We’re bonding, and everything’s okay. Then there’s the sound of footsteps and my fantasy shatters.

Nothing’s okay. I’m terrified it never will be.

“Who do you think he’s going to kill?” Stacey asks.

“Probably me,” I reply quietly. “He’s waited six years to kill me. He’s not going to hesitate.”

Stacey gives me a sharp look. “You’re not dying. You’ve got a little baby growing in there.”

I smile. “And you just finished law school. You’ve got a whole career as a badass lawyer.”

“Exactly.”

Light floods the room and I squint as Leeman climbs down the ladder. He doesn’t close the hatch. He’s dressed in black, a gun holster at his side. My heart pounds and blood roars in my ears.

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