Between Love & Family

Chapter 13

Jamie's POV

I check to make sure Alana is asleep before sneaking out and heading back to Red's office, I have to know what else he has found and I can relay the information to Alana when she is ready. I knock and wait for him to respond before entering, he is sitting behind his desk like he hadn't moved since we left earlier. Taking my seat from earlier I am the first to break the silence, "I need to know what else you found Red." 

He runs his fingers through his hair, I can tell he is both frustrated and concerned and that is unlike Red who usually maintains a cold demeanor. "I always wanted you to be happy Jaime, but boy I never thought when you found someone that it would entail all this." He chuckles darkly before pulling a file out of his drawer and speaking the contents over his desk. I pick up a picture of a woman who I immediately recognize as Alana's mother from the picture she kept by her bedside at her old apartment. 

"Amara Alvarez, Alana's mother, last known residence New York City. From the hospital records I pulled from around the time Alana went into the system Alana was in the hospital but it was not for any terminal illness but rather for a gunshot wound to the abdomen. She barely pulled through and was in the ICU for months, there was no police report filed so I can only speculate that the situation was one of Javiers making." Red was glaring down at the paperwork, I know he was not happy to be the messenger in this situation.

How could he have shot the mother of his child? "We have to figure out what all this is about Red, how were they together in the first place and why they need to get Alana away? What would justify him hunting them down like prey and nearly killing Amara? None of this makes any sense." 

I throw the picture down and get up, pacing back and forth not being able to piece this together is infuriating me. Red picks up what looked to be a contract and hands it to me, "I believe the coupling was an arranged one, certain Mafias run with old school rules and regulations, like being married before taking the helm."

Handing me more pictures I can see a small normal family and another picture of more 'high status' family, all dressed to the nines, not a hair out of place. "Amara was the daughter of a self-made businessman who ran into a bit of trouble. I believe the arrangement was made to secure his failing business, in return Amara would be the bride of Javier who was set to take over for his father on his 30th birthday." 

Arranged marriage...how archaic, shaking my head I turn my attention back to Red. "So what happened? Did they get married? Why would she run away from him?" Shaking his head Red looks a little disappointed.

"I can only tell you what I have found through paper trails, the rest is still a mystery that we need to unravel before Javier making his move to get Alana. Her moving in here where we can protect her and choosing to take the semester off will buy us some time but not a lot. I think...." He pauses, contemplating what he about to propose before he shares his thoughts. "I think we need to find Alana's mother to shed some light on the situation." 

His words sink in and my first thought it how this is going to affect Alana...then understanding that this is our best bet at protecting her. I meet Reds gaze and give a short nod, "I'll get on it, I could use Ty's help if you can spare him?" Red nods, "whatever you need let me know you will have it, protect your girl and get this over with." I turn and make my way out of his office, my mind in a whirl and trying to decide where to start.

I stand outside of my room for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts before facing her, I didn't want to let on what I was thinking until she was ready to move forward. I open the door as quietly as possible, hoping she is still asleep, as I enter the room I see I had no such luck. She is sitting on the side of the bed and when she hears the door she immediately turns her attention to me. Her soft brown eyes are heartbreaking, so full of worry and betrayal, "I couldn't sleep without you, where did you go?" She asks me, I felt bad as my intention had been to let her rest not worry her further. "I'm sorry babe, I was just talking to Red." I move over to sit next to her and wrap my arms around her, kissing her forehead and making sure she knew I was there and I wasn't going anywhere.

She relaxes into me and for a moment we just sit there in silence, taking comfort in the presence of each other. "So where do we go from here Jaime? How am I suppose to move forward finding out everything I thought I knew was a lie?" I take a deep breath, "Red had a suggestion....but its completely your choice baby. 

We wouldn't do anything you don't want to, I promise." She pulls away to look at me and raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. "He thinks our best bet would be to track down your mother. She can tell us the truth about what happened and why also shed some light on Javier." She looks down, obviously debating what I have said. "I need to know, to understand what happened. 

Let's do it, Jamie, let's find her and get to the bottom of this. She looks back up at me, eyes shining with determination. She's not gonna let this break her and the strength she is showing makes me fall deeper in love with her.

"I can get Noah to work on giving us a starting place, he's our go-to tech guy. When you want to get started just let me know and we will go see him." She thinks for a moment, "I want to go now, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can get back to our lives. I know that this what not what you were expecting when you asked me out but I cannot imagine going through any of this without you and I want you to know how grateful I am that I have you through all this crazy." 

My heart swells at her words, I wouldn't have left her alone through this no matter what it cost me. "I'm here baby, and I'm not going anywhere. We will get you through this."

Alanas POV

I never saw this coming, I had been through a lot in my life but I had thought the worst was behind me. My mother's memory was what I had clung to all these years. Her love for me, the fact that she hadn't left me but rather had been taken from me by fate. 

To now find out that she was indeed alive and HAD left me was almost unfathomable to me, there had to be a good reason and I needed to get to the bottom of it all. Javier had made quite an impression in the short time I had known about him and his actions gave me hope that what my mother did was what she thought was best for me, to protect me. I had to hang on to that if I was going to make it through this.

Meeting Jaime was seeming more like after to me the more we dug into the secrets of my past, how would I have ever gotten through any of this without him? No doubt Javier would have already gotten to me and I would be at his mercy.

 Looking at Javier my resolve is hardened....we can do this, we can face this and come out for the better. With him, in know, I can do it and with that knowledge, I stand up and face him. "Let's go see Noah, I'm ready to get this ball rolling so we can get back to our lives." I hold out my hand to him and with a smile he takes it. With this man beside me, we can take on the world.