Ricky was standing behind me now, his hands on my shoulders. I took a seat back down and tried to collect my emotions. I refused to look at her, "why is she alive?"
"Vince ordered me to kill her, I just never did." He explains it so simply it messes with my head.
"Why? Why didn't you do it?"
"Because of you," he admits.
"That's bullshit! That's a shitty excuse, even for you."
"She's going to take Vince's place in the Mafia so you don't have too"
I suddenly felt my mind clear, almost like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I looked to Angie, "is that true?"
She nodded her head with a small smile. "This has been in place for months. I'm alive because of you, so you don't have to go through with this."
I bit my lip as I played around with my thoughts. I look back over to Ricky, "what now?"
"We wait for the phone call from Reed, once that happens we'll know Vince is dead. Angie will fly back to Chicago and handle things there."
I nodded along. "What's the catch?"
"There's no catch, Ali."
"So you're just going to take care of it all? Ricky and I are finished with the Mafia?" I turned back over to Angie and interrogated her.
"That's right," she said.
"This doesn't feel real." I say quietly and stare at my hands. "What about Trent?" I shoot my eyes over to Ricky. "He'll kill you once he finds out it was you."
He just shook his head. "He can't kill me."
"Ricky's right," Angie chimed in. "Technically Ricky is still apart of the Mafia, therefore we can ensure his safety. Trent can't harm Ricky unless I order him too, which I won't. There are rules he must follow." She explains and I close my eyes as I try and process it all.
"Can you even do this? Just step in for me? Just like that?"
"Do you want me to?" She asks and I give her a stiff nod. "Than yes, I can."
"Okay, okay so what about Vince? What happens to Ricky, he's the one who took him out so there's got to be people after him."
"The only people that are after him are people that I control. I'm in charge, Ricky can't get hurt unless I order it. Alice, if Trent even attempts to go after Ricky, he'll end up like Vince." She says and I shiver, glad that I won't have to deal with criminals 24/7. Having to deal with one is already enough.
My fingers rub at my temples. "I just don't get it. How can it be over so quickly?"
I felt Ricky's hand at my back. "All that matters now is that it's over and we don't have to worry anymore."
My eyes watered as I looked at him. "It's over," I repeated and wrapped my arms around him tightly. "Thank you," I whispered to him. I pulled away and wiped my fallen tears. "Could you give her and I a second alone?" I ask and he agrees, leaving us in the living room.
"Alice," is all she says.
"Sit down," I tell her and she does. She looks like she hasn't ages at all, there was no denying the beauty she had. I admired her beauty and until this moment it was the only thing about her that I admired. "Vince told me about you and how he forced you to," I paused and swallowed hard, "hit me."
She began to cry, close to a sob. "I'm so sorry," she cried and grips onto my hand. "I should've fought hard for the both of you."
My body froze at her words, my throat dry as I spoke, "the both of us?"
"You had a sister." She answered with a shaken voice.
"A sister?" I felt numb. It wasn't the idea of having a sibling, it was the fact that she was implying I used to have a sister, that's what fucked with my head.
"Before you were born we had a daughter. Her name was Charlotte. She passed too young, right before her 12th birthday."
"It was him, wasn't it?" My heart shattered. "Why would he do that?"
Her crying was uncontrollably and with hesitation I wrapped my arms around her. "It's okay," I told her. "I'm here."
"I should've fought. I should've tried harder. I should've been a better Mother." She sobs and I don't bother to say anything in return. I agreed with her, she was right. She should've been a better mother. She then pulled away from me and attempted to contain herself. "Just before her 12th birthday she never came home from school and when Vince finally showed up he told me what he had done. H- he said that she wasn't good enough, that she was too much like me so he-"
Unable to finish she held her head in her hands, allowing herself to completely shatter right in front of me. It was horrifying to me that he would go to those extreme lengths just because a young girl wasn't bitter like him.
"Then you and Vince had me and Vince decide to keep me, why? Because I'm like him? Is that it?"
Angie shook her head. "No. You were nothing like him. You were imaginative and kind, bright. You used to go and pick flowers in the backyard everyday after school and you'd chase butterflies around and you really believed you'd catch them." She chuckled through her tears, replaying a memory I didn't even know existed."Even as a teenager, you never understood how good your heart was. What Vince and I did to you is unforgivable, we stole something from you that is irreplaceable. I love you, Alice. I'll spend the rest of my life trying to help you and be a Mother to you."
"Why?" I cried, "why did you do that to me?"
"If I didn't treat you the way I did you'd be with your sister right now. Vince claimed that it was the only way. We stripped you of kindness and love, Vince was so desperate for you to be like him. I couldn't let you die, Alice. I knew you would get and you did."
"I was so scared." I admitted in a whisper. "I didn't think I'd ever escape him."
"But you did, and- and look at your life now. You are undeniably strong and incredibly brave. I could've given you such a better life and I am so sorry I couldn't provide that for you."
"I know." I replied and pulled her my embrace once again. "I know."
She held onto my tightly. She was finally giving me all the motherly warmth I never got as a child. "I need you to promise me something." She whispered to me.
"And what's that?" I ask. She pulls away from me with her hands on my shoulders.
"Promise me that you'll love. All the time, everyday, and to everyone."
With tears threatening to fall from my eyes I nodded to her. "I promise, Mom."
A/N
I start school tomorrow:/
But it's fine, totally fine cuz i'm excited to have a school crush😎
*plays suspenseful music*
What's gonna happen next???
