Chapter Forty-nine: The Truth and More.
Annie and Susan were mad at me.
I understood their anger since I'd basically ignored their calls and effort to check on me for two days which honestly wasn't the best idea I'd ever had.
Sure, I had everyone in school wishing me well, saying they were glad I was back in good health and there were all the stickers and letters pasted on my locker, but that didn't change the fact Angelo didn't show up at all and that I spent lunch break surrounded by people who called me "Vi" because Susan and Annie were busy using their breaks for "other stuff".
It really sucked, but I couldn't spend all night worrying about that when I had a test to study for.
Moo was sprawled across my laptop, while I jotted down notes, humming along to Chicago by MJ, the volume of my headphones just right.
I probably won't have noticed the odd sound if Moo didn't suddenly roll over and face my window at high alert.
"Moo?" I asked, watching her stay still. I immediately became too afraid to move too, but I slowly took off my headphones. Then I heard what she was hearing.
It was a clacking sound from outside and it occurred about every ten seconds, each time making me jump out of my skin. Moo let out a curious sound, leaping off the table to jump onto the window sill.
"Wait!" I whispered, trying not to panic. It was literally midnight and pitch black outside, what could possibly be doing that?
Moo yowled and jumped off the sill when it happened again and I noticed the clacking sound was from something hitting the glass. Pebbles.
"I think someone's outside." I whispered, heart in my mouth as I dared to inch closer to the window and peek out into the night. What if Hale was up to something or...
The light outside my house was on to my relief, which made it easy to see a head full of golden hair all the way downstairs in my yard.
"Angelo." I gasped and immediately opened my window, letting cool air flood my room the same way a plethora of emotions all entangled with relief coursed though my body. "What are you doing here?!" I whispered.
It took me all I had to not burst into profuse tears and apologies to try to make up for basically kicking him out of my life for a while, but I held it together and concentrated on not falling out my window with joy.
He looked up and waved before putting his phone in his pocket and I realized he had probably tried to text me to come out. But I was too scared to open the previous messages he'd sent. Besides, my phone was on do-not-disturb mode because I was studying.
"I got some news to share!" He replied and whatever it was had to be good because there was something rather energetic about him tonight.
"News? It's the middle of the night, you know?" I chuckled lightly, rubbing my bare arms from the chill before realizing he was probably cold too.
"But it's too good to wait." He said.
"I'm coming downstairs." I told him and closed my window before grabbing a sweater jacket and pulling it on. "Come on, Moo."
Together we hurried downstairs as quietly as possible so we wouldn't wake Dad up and I made sure to skip creaky floorboards too.
"Angelo?" I called softly, after opening the front door and stepping out onto the porch in socks and a pair of three-quarter shorts with frilly hems.
Moo called at him too as he walked up the porch stairs and even tripped on the last one.
"Whoa, are you okay?" I asked, going to hold his arms as he gained his balance.
He gave me a dismissive wave "I'm fine, fine. Really." Angelo said and a wide smile graced his features.
Yeah he was not fine.
"Oh no, Angelo, are you high again? I thought-"
"I'm not high." He said but then he looked confused about that statement. "I drove here."
"Yes, at midnight and we even have school!" I whispered, doing my best to hold him up when he seemed like he was swaying. Not like I could actually catch him if he fell over. "What's so important, Angie? You came all this way..."
"Yes, because we found something huge! The answer to everything after weeks of pining for it..." Angelo explained while my eyes zoned in on the dark circles under his eyes, prominent ones that I immediately hated to see on him. "...this discovery Tio and I made...it changes everything and I just thought...I should let you know."
I stared at him for the longest time and I was still trying to understand what was going on when suddenly he did a 180° turn.
"That's what I wanted to say, bye!" He waved, heading straight for the steps. "I'll see you to-"
"Whoa there! Where do you think you're going?" I went around to his front, stopping him by pushing gently at his chest and he looked down at me nonplussed.
"To bed?" He blinked. Heavily. "Though I'd have to drive there first but that's..."
"Angelo when's the last time you slept?" I asked, just as it clicked in my mind that he most likely wasn't drunk, just might be deliriously sleepy.
He had to count on his fingers to answer my question and it was taking a while. "Got it" He said, eventually and proudly proclaimed the answer, "Five!"
"Shh!" I whispered, grateful we were still outside because Dad was a light sleeper only when it was really inconvenient for me. "Five?!" For his sake, I hope he meant five hours ago.
He blinked again, shaking his head. "No no, I took a nap. Yesterday."
I took a deep breath for my mental health.
"Okay, you're obviously out of your mind if you think I'm letting you go back like this." I said, grabbing his arm and turning him to face the door. "Come on."
"I'm not tired, I promise-" His words were interrupted by a loud growl that sent Moo scrambling into the house and I was going to check if there was a wolf around or something before I realized it was from his stomach.
"Oh, you poor baby!" I cried before basically dragging him all the way to my kitchen and making him sit at the island.
It only took me a couple minutes to get a bowl of soup and some warm bread ready and I looked for other stuff while he ate that.
"There's leftover rice... Ooh and chicken wings, should I put the wings in the microwave?" I asked, from behind the open fridge door. "I'd bring out the fro-yo but I'm trying to keep you warm. Oh, hot water's ready, tea or cocoa?"
"Thank you, Letty, but you don't have to wait on me." Angelo said and I looked over to him from the sink where I was pouring from the kettle into a mug.
Eating something seemed to have woken him up some because he was watching me with clearer eyes, his hand supporting his chin as he rest his elbow on the table. He still looked rather stressed though.
"I want to." I said with a little shrug. "You look like you could use some TLC. Plus... I haven't exactly been the best girlfriend out there lately."
"No." He agreed in a soft voice. "You're... avoiding me."
I took my time stirring cocoa powder into the water just to prevent looking at him and seeing the hurt I could hear in his words.
"Even now." He added. "Will you ever tell me what's wrong?"
I wordlessly watched the liquid in front of me swirl around and around in the mug, only I didn't realize how long I did that for till Angelo was suddenly behind me, gently taking my hand to stop it from stirring.
"Fine." I heard him say, feeling the warmth of his breath in my hair, "don't tell me. But can you let me be there for you? I miss you, Violet."
A small breath escaped me and it felt like that of relief, maybe that was what I just needed to hear. So I turned around to face him, leaning back on the counter to meet his beautiful eyes. "I'm sorry I'm like this, Angie."
"Letty..." He sighed and touched his fingers to mine, still keeping that little bit of space between our bodies. "I do wish you wouldn't say sad things like that. If you knew just how wonderful and amazing and important you are to me, to people who love you, you won't feel sorry."
This was seriously unfair, how did he always know the right things to say even as an overthinker while the only thing I could do was... overthink?
I could lay out several reasons on the spot why I didn't deserve Angelo Sullivan, but a small part of me encouraged the thought that I just might deserve him.
That thought made me smile.
Maybe he needed me the same way I did him.
So I hugged him, raising my arms till they went around his neck and I had to hold myself up on tiptoes.
Then he pulled me even closer, really close, like he needed to breathe and I was air.
I felt like air, a thousand times lighter.
"I'm grateful that I have you, Angelo." I said into his ear with every ounce of honesty I could muster.
He could only sigh, his head dipping slightly as he nuzzled my neck and after a while I thought he mumbled something like, "I love you, too."
He could have just been saying: "Don't do it, Moo," because the loud sound of something dropping into the sink made us pull apart.
I turned around to see her sitting proudly on the counter after knocking the mug of hot cocoa down.
"I was going to drink that." Angelo said.
"She is so rude." I rolled my eyes and risked getting scratched when I bopped her nose, but she was in a good mood, probably because Angelo was here.
She even tried to get him to carry her, meowing repeatedly and staring up at him.
"Come here baby, Angie needs sleep." I said, picking her up as Angelo rubbed his eyes in a way I found endearing.
"Come on up, you're going to have to be super quiet." I told him, leading the way out the kitchen.
He paused, "Upstairs?"
I looked over my shoulder at him. "My room, if you want to, that is."
"Oh I do." He said under his breath and I walked up the first few steps.
"Step where I step, okay? If my dad wakes up, he's going to chaperone us all night." I chuckled.
By the time we got to my room, we'd gone through a whole unorthodox game of twister. We were trying so hard not to wake Dad up that we'd have gotten the job done anyways with our stifled laughter and suppressed snorts.
Angelo seemed to be interested in looking around at my room and the purple nearly everything.
"You've been here before." I reminded him as I went into my closet to search for something.
"I know, I still like it though." I heard him say. When I got back out, he was standing in front of my bulletin board full of pictures of my younger self and her playmates, the one next to my poster of the periodic table.
"You had a lot of friends, growing up huh?" He asked as I rid my desk of studying materials before putting them on my near empty bookshelf. I had to dust that thing some day.
"Not really... Never like Susan and Annie. I was kind of... odd to people my age back then." I explained, "so making good friends was rare, but I did hang out with people a lot. Alright, my bathroom's that way, don't freak out at how small it is, and there's also hot water."
He blinked at me.
"Showers help with restful sleep." I shrugged, and took the box I'd brought out of the closet to the bathroom.
"What's the box for?" Angelo asked, pulling off his jacket to reveal his black long sleeved sweater as I returned.
I smiled to myself, "it's called the uh... Emergency Angie Kit." I replied. I'd actually thought of it recently and I specifically went shopping for it. The kit contained basic toiletries, a bottle of apple orchard breeze shampoo and a pair of pajamas he was going to love.
"It's for when you come over and you don't... Hey, don't give me that look, it's coming in handy now, isn't it?"
Angelo just shook his head with a small smirk and took off the sweater too by pulling the neck up and over his head, his hair stuck out in odd angles after he did.
I mean, I knew he'd expose his upper half eventually if he kept pulling off more and more articles of clothing, but one couldn't truly be prepared for the glorious sight that was Angelo's body.
My hands reached for the nearest pillow to hug to myself while I watched him take off his rings and place them on the table.
Who knew doing such a simple act brought attention to the biceps, or the shoulders? Very broad, strong shoulders, covered in smooth gold toned skin and... were those freckles? Good lord-
"Earth to Letty." His silky voice said and my attention snapped back to his smirking face, then to the ceiling because I couldn't even look at his face.
"Um, I'm gonna make the bed." I mumbled, turning around to hide the insane blush that was burning my face.
"You're adorable." I heard him chuckle, but I just jumped into my bed with my face in the pillow.
"Goooo!"
"I'm going, I'm going."
While I heard the shower run, I quickly changed the bedsheets, piling all my stuffies into a heap at the corner of my room so there was more room for two.
Then I took my phone, put on the camera and waited eagerly for him to come out.
"Do you like your pajamas?" I asked, the moment the door opened, unable to keep the laughter from my voice.
Angelo was not impressed and he just stood there, annoyed, in his adorable pair of black pajamas with yellow duckie patterns everywhere!
"You're a conniving little thing." He said with narrow eyes and I tried not to laugh too loud as I recorded on my phone.
"Oh my goodness, wait, wait." I giggled and ran up to him with the missing piece: a matching nightcap!
"Isn't that just cute?!" I squealed. "You want to know the best part?"
"Oh no..!" He groaned and I turned off the lights.
"The ducks glow in the dark!" I whisper-screamed and even in the darkness I could see him yank off the hat in slight aggravation which just made me laugh some more.
"Very funny, Letty." He said, coming over to turn the light back on and I made my escape to the bed before he could catch me.
"Don't look so glum, I went through a lot to get your size..." I said, laying on my side and supporting my head with my hand. "You know, since you're so big."
"Oh, darling, you shouldn't have." He said dryly, his hands unbuttoning the shirt so he could take it off and throw it right at my face.
"Oof! Such rejection, my poor heart can't take it" I giggled before gasping when my bed dipped and leveled out again.
When I pulled the shirt off I came face to face with him, damp hair, long lashes, silver eyes and all.
"Hello." He murmured, actually sounding as tired as he looked and he adjusted the pillow under his head. One of my pillows.
Goodness, Angelo was in my bed!
On my flowery sheets, in my purple room... and half naked.
"Hi." I replied, brushing the back of my hand against his cheek. He was so warm, and he smelled amazing. "You never told me why you haven't slept well in days, you know?"
"You mean besides the fact that you isolated yourself from me for a reason you refused to tell?" Angelo asked, covering my hand with his.
I sighed, "Yes, besides that."
He blinked slowly, keeping silent for the longest time and I started to wonder if he was ever going to reply when he spoke.
"I managed to get access to something important to Franca, a sort of drive where she stored classified information." He said and I held my breath, not quite expecting that.
"I did a lot of sneaking around when I lived with the Franceses which was how I came across it in the first place, and it wasn't easy but I managed to get into the device and copy all into my flash drive before I got caught. She might have suspected me which is why she didn't want me staying with them any longer..."
"Oh." I said, feeling my heartbeat speed up, because if he claimed to have actually found something that would 'change everything' then he was probably referring to something huge in Franca's files!
"I brought Tio Damien in on it as well and we had to go though every single piece of information on that flash, every contract, every transaction, everything, just to find something that would implicate her or at least give me some more information about what went on with her and my parents. It took us weeks, Violet, of painstaking work and I mostly dedicated the past three days to searching the files to...keep my mind of things. Today I found something even better than what I was looking for."
In anticipation, I lifted myself off the bed so I could look down at him. "What did you find?" I whispered.
"A will." He said and my surprised silence made him go on.
"I don't know why it was there or if she even knew it was there among the hundreds and thousands of files in that drive, but I found it." Angelo continued. "And from what it says, Franca was never even a co-owner of Feather Industries in the first place, it was solely as a result of the hard work of her sister who passed it on to her only son and that means..."
My eyes widened, "Feather Industries... All of it belongs to you?"
Angelo nodded and the corner of his lips turned up in a small smile. "It's crazy to think about, isn't it?"
To be continued...