White Lies (A Twisted Fate Series) (Volume 1) (4 page)

Chris was the one who spoke. “Why don’t we go to the main house?”

This only raised my suspicions. When Mom died, they’d asked us to sit in the living room. Dad had refused and asked for the officers to get to the point. It was the worst type of torture knowing you were probably about to receive life-changing news.

I wanted to go back to ten minutes ago when I wasn’t facing this.

Whatever had happened, I wanted to know now. “Is Nonno okay?” My voice cracked on the last word.

The officers looked at each other. I clarified, “Antonio Lorenzo Russo.”

“Ma’am, we are not here regarding a Mr. Russo. We’d like to sit and talk if possible, even if it’s inside your studio.” The slimmer officer had a pleading look on his face. Chris’s eyes filled with pity toward me.

My voice was stern. “No, tell me what is going on.”

The two officers looked at each other silently communicating. The heavier-set man on the left nodded. “Ms. Russo, I’m sorry to have to tell you this—”

“Get to the point. Please.” My patience was drawing thin as my mind went through a million different scenarios.

He coughed. “Your husband was killed this afternoon.”

Everything went black.

T
he crackling fire was unable to warm the chilled state of my body.

I felt nothing.

I was numb.

Alex was dead.

Burned.

Murdered.

The cops stated he’d been found at the edge of what they considered to be mob territory. They identified him by partial dental records after they found his driver’s license discarded in the grass not too far away. Apparently, that was all that survived. I closed my eyes in anguish.

They’d mentioned the name Fabiano. I’d never heard it before.

Alex had been dumped on the side of the road, like a piece of trash, in the tall grass at the park. They were investigating, and wanted to know if I knew anything. It was terrible relaying everything back to them.

The last time I saw him.

What was his state of mind?

Any strange happenings?

Any enemies?

Per Alex’s instructions, I told the officers I knew nothing. Repeatedly, it had been drilled into my head to trust no one.
No one.
Not many people had clearance to his cases. Plus, he never shared anything about the case he was on. It was a taboo subject. I’d been against the job from the beginning.

In the last two months, he’d been home sporadically.

Remember, Willow, tell them I am an independent consultant. Someone may be watching you. It might be a trap.

A sense of dread filled me thinking of Alex’s words.

What if the mob came for me? What if they connected Alex to me?

Earlier, I’d asked Mildred to pull the curtains as an unnerving feeling came over me that someone was out there.

I closed my eyes in anguish, fighting the nausea.

The officers left shortly thereafter. They were unable to get much from me as sobs racked my body. Their parting words were
they’d be in touch
.

My mind swirled with unanswered questions. Different scenarios. What ifs. But nothing came into clear focus except the fact that Alex was dead.

“Sweetheart, drink this. It’s hot tea. It will help.” Mildred’s voice brought my attention from the flames.

Absentmindedly, I took the cup and continued staring at the fire while letting the warmth of the mug seep into my cold hands. Only Chris and Mildred were here. Nonno was on his way but had been in the city at the time he got the call. After him, I’d called Carson. I was still a complete wreck and wanted him here, but insisted he stay to finish his business. I knew Carson would be here as soon as he could.

This had to be a dream.

Alex was dead.

My husband was dead.

Dead.

Death had such a finality to it. There was nothing that could be done to fix it. Death had the final word. I hated it.

There were no redos once someone was gone.

Whispers at the door between Chris and Mildred caught my attention.

There was a pause before Mildred continued, “I’m going to stay in the main house tonight in case Willow needs anything.”

“I’ll stay in the guest house. Call me and I’ll be right up. I’ll wait up here until Antonio arrives.”

“Thank you, Chris.”

I said nothing. The endless stream of tears flowed down my face without a sound. Alex and I had lost our second chance. Rage boiled within from all the loss. Everyone I love died. The only family left in my life was Nonno and Carson.

Only one way best described how I felt—alone.

Abandoned.

Empty.

All I wanted was the family I’d always imagined as a child. A family full of love, laughter, and happiness. My father, mother, and husband. They were all gone.

It was hard for me to care about much at the moment. Right now, being numb was all I had. I wasn’t ready to give it up. When I did, the reality of what happened would be infinitely worse.

Per the police, Alex had been shot and burned. A finger was missing from his remains—potentially a trophy. The thought made me nauseous. It had to be connected to whatever assignment he had been involved with. The thought of him being burned ate away at me, churning the acid within my stomach.

Had he suffered? Was it quick? Did he know how much I loved him?

The thoughts chewed away at my soul.

More time elapsed.

I was neither here nor there.

I was stuck.

“Willow.”

I turned, with my lip quivering, to the aging man with white hair in the doorway. He was my rock in so many ways. At the sight of me, he came to me and engulfed me in a hug.

“Nonno, he’s gone.”

“I know, baby girl. I’m here.”

Unable to hold it in, a cry escaped, which opened the flood gates. Nonno held me until exhaustion crept into my bones. No words were needed. He knew nothing could be said to lessen the pain. “Let’s get you in bed. You need your rest, Willow.”

“I don’t want to go to my bed. I want to sleep in here tonight.” There were too many memories in my bedroom—mainly the bad ones of all our fights. We hadn’t slept in the same bedroom since a week before Dad died. Before moving into the Hampton estate, I had a two bedroom apartment where we lived together.

Nonno’s strong hands stroked my back in a comforting manner. “Let’s get you settled here on the couch. I’ll be over there in the chair if you need anything.”

The comfort of him brought immeasurable peace to my broken heart, but I still worried about him being in his seventies.

I grabbed his hand. “Nonno, please sleep in a bed. I’ll be okay.”

“Shh, don’t worry about me. If I need to go to bed, I will. Promise.”

Mildred brought in blankets and a pillow. Begrudgingly, I lay on the brown leather couch while watching the flames dance. Murmurs were heard in the hallway. I didn’t have the energy to care what they said.

The fire crackled.

If only I could go back in time.

If only I had Alex back.

If only…

Stretching, I reached for Alex, remembering our magical night in the hotel room.

He wasn’t there.

Was I on the couch? I must have fallen asleep before bed when Alex hadn’t returned from work. He never called when on duty. It was safer if I stayed in the dark regarding his assignments.

Cracking my eyes open, I saw Nonno in the corner chair with his eyes closed and head cocked back. A light snore resonated from him while his chest rose evenly. Worry lines were present on his face.

Why was Nonno here?

Memories rushed to the forefront in a blur.

Alex.

He was gone.

Dead.

Burned.

Reality washed over me as I sat up.

Without permission, my tears fell of their own accord. Nonno stirred and watched me for a minute as the anguish crept back into my bones. All I wanted was to go back to sleep and be in the moment before my world fell apart—the moment where I thought Alex was still alive and we had made love throughout the night.

“Can I get you anything, Willow?”

A sob escaped. “I want Alex back.”

“I know, baby girl. I know.”

Mildred appeared in a red sweat outfit, looking exhausted. I’d slept fitfully most of the night except for the last few hours when a deep sleep taken over me. Nonno had held me each time I woke up crying, which meant he needed rest.

A cup of coffee appeared before me, and I sat up. “Here you go, Willow. I can make you something if you’re hungry.”

“No, thank you, Mildred.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Glancing up, Nonno exchanged a look with Mildred before she left the room.

Nonno rose from the red and gold upholstered chair. Even in his early seventies, he got around well. He swam every day in his indoor pool to stay in shape. Per his doctors, he was healthy. As my mind drifted, I thought about all Nonno had endured in his life. In his fifties, he lost my nonna to cancer, then my mom, who was like a daughter, and finally his son. It was unnatural to outlive your kids, Nonno had said at my dad’s funeral.

How did he cope?

Sitting next to me, Nonno brought warmth and comfort with him. I leaned against him while taking a sip of caffeine. “What do I do next, Nonno?”

Without saying it, he knew I was asking how he dealt with all the loss. Losing my mother, father, and now husband was more than I could bear. He squeezed me gently. “You live it day by day. You’ll see you’re stronger than you think you are.”

Day by day.

“I’d gone into the city to file for separation. Alex came to me. He wanted to make things right between us.” I looked to Nonno. “I don’t understand why life is so cruel. Why even let me believe we had a second chance? Why?”

He patted my leg. “I don’t know. I often thought the same thing. We thought your nonna was cancer free, but the doctors were wrong. Before we realized the seriousness of her illness, it was too late. She passed within a week. Life is hard, and it’s accountable to no one.”

How true those words were.

I thought about the last night with Alex. Maybe if I focused on the positive, the negative would fade away. A thought belatedly occurred—Alex hadn’t used protection. The doctors had taken me off birth control because of the side effects I was having. Alex knew and hadn’t cared. Probably because we weren’t sleeping together until the night before last.
What if?
No, I refused to think about it right then. It was too much to process.

My mood shifted. A month ago, he informed me his decision on kids had changed since being in the Middle East. He no longer wanted them. I was hurt he’d kept a game changer like that a secret until after we married. I touched my stomach, hoping we’d made a child our last night together—a piece of him to have. Wait… I was crazy. It had to be all the stress. How in the world would I ever raise a child on my own?

Push the thought aside, Willow.

Nonno’s voice brought me out of my wishful thinking. “What about the funeral arrangements?”

I shook my head. “Alex wanted to be cremated. No funeral. No memorial. With him being an undercover cop, he said it could bring unwanted attention to me. I think he’d been on some sort of assignment this last month. His hours at home had been erratic. We never talked about it. Regardless, nothing can be done until the investigation is over.”

If only I had been able to talk him out of being an undercover cop.

“I’ll be with you through this every step of the way, Willow.”

A sniffle escaped me. “Thanks, Nonno. I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby girl.”