Amalea Lyra Via always had terrible luck when it came to the opposite sex. Between bad dates and stalkers she has encountered almost every bad situation a single female can experience. Until one day she thinks she found the one, if she can get passe...
James, Felicity and Wallace arrived at the family house in Queens where Q, Cassandra and KK were waiting.
"Well?" Q asked as soon as the front opened. "Her furniture and clothes are still there. Her car and bike are in the garage but no one has seen her since the boat. Not even Mrs. Gruber." James answered. "What about your guy or his brother?" Q asked. "From talking to Laurent, I would say he has no idea where she is either." Cassandra answered. "Ashlie or her parents?" Q asked and KK shook her head no. "Has anyone seen that coward?" Q asked getting frustrated. Everyone looked at the other indicating none of them had seen Christopher. Q groaned, "Where is she?"
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"All right, I think he's had enough for today." Vincent announced loudly to his men to get them to stop beating on Christopher. One of the men hit Christopher one more time as the guys holding him released their hold; allowing him to crumble to the floor. Christopher cried out when he hit the floor then again when they pulled the chain hoisting him up off the ground back to the ceiling.
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Laurent stared angrily at the phone when Larry hung up. He couldn't believe Larry would leave him without discussion. He called right back but Larry didn't answer. He texted Larry but after a few attempts at reassuring Laurent not to worry. Larry repeated he would contact his brother when he landed then stopped responding.
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After a started asking questions Lyra realized Larry didn't remember anything between the time he was in Italy and yesterday. He didn't remember what happened in her house, her birthday, the boat, their reconciliation or being shot at.
Lyra traded spots with Larry. He sat beside the window and placed his legs across her lap. If he didn't remember anything from the last seven days she wouldn't push him. She frowned looking at her ring then took a deep breath and discretely took her ring off holding it in her hand.
Lyra spent the next few hours trying to talk about everything except the last few days but Larry was persistent. He repeatedly asked her to tell him what happened. Specifically what made her change her mind about him? Why people cornered him saying she wanted to see him? Why she didn't call him instead? Was she with him when he got hurt? She didn't want to answer any of those questions. The answers were just too hard for her to face but she couldn't hide the truth from him.
She promised to answer his questions if he helped her figure out the ending to a story. He laughed but agreed. He curled her into his chest and listened.
She told him the story was about a child of less than noble birth who watched her mother kill her birth father when she was barely old enough to talk or walk. How the girl's mother used the girl in many appalling ways to improve her own station in life, but always portrayed the girl was her most precious gift in front of strangers. She told examples of how that child grew up learning how little her mother really care for her. She explained how the mother threatened her daughter in various ways to control her. And how the daughter was able to get away from the mother with the help of a young man. The young man treated her well, kind and caring.
