I smiled as I awoke with Nina in my arms. Her long blonde hair covered my chest.
I gently stroke it.
She looked up at me. Her emerald green eyes mesmerized my pale blue ones.
"Morning Joey."
"Good morning princess."
I kissed her forehead. I heard her sigh against me.
"What's wrong?"
"Your mom called last night while you were sleeping. She's worried about Josie."
I sighed.
"She needs to let that go. Josie made her choice."
"She's your sister. How can we just let it go? She's not returning any of our texts or phone calls. She moved without telling us her address."
"We saved her. We took her in. We made her a part of this family and she left. When everything was going wrong, when everyone left me, she left. She's not my sister."
I breathed out and closed my eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were so angry."
"Everyone left, Nina."
"You can always call Rocco, Neal, and Jesse. It's been three years. I'm sure they miss you."
"I can't. They made their decision. Screw them."
"I don't want you to be alone."
"I'm not alone. I have you."
I kissed her gently.
Our kiss was interrupted by my phone vibrating.
Nina groaned and rolled off of me.
"It's probably just work."
I picked it up and saw that it was a text from my mother.
Open the door. I've been knocking forever.
"My mom's here."
"This early?", Nina said as she hopped off the bed.
I threw her clothes at her before putting on my own.
I rushed to the door and opened it.
"Hey, mom. You're here early."
"I need to talk to you. I'm afraid. I don't know what to do."
Nina came down the stairs, fully dressed.
"Ms. Fisher, is everything okay?"
"Nina, thank God you're here. You're safe.", she said with a relieved sigh.
"Why wouldn't I be? What's going on?"
"I've been getting these texts since last week. At first, I thought it was just a prank, but now I'm not so sure."
Mom handed me her phone.
I read one text.
Oh, Mother Fisher, what a saint. That's what I would say if I didn't know of all the secrets that you've swept under that faux fur rug in that penthouse suite of the Lennox Lodge.
"They know where you live. Mom, who would do this?"
"I have no idea, but I'm scared. They've been in my suite."
She handed me a piece of paper. It was a printed picture of Josie, my mom, and me. I remember when the picture was taken. We took it the day Josie was adopted.
The person wrote on the picture in red. It said: Separated by lies, Reunited by honesty
"What does this mean?"
"I don't know. I think your sister is in danger and I have no idea where she is. She's not returning any of my messages."
"Mom, she's not your responsibility anymore. She's a grown-ass woman who left us."
"Don't speak of her like that. She's your sister. She's my daughter. She'll always be a part of this family. Besides, she wasn't the only one threatened. They threatened you two. They said that they would take the three of us."
"We need to call the police."
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"They said they would kill someone close to us if we do."
"So, we're fucked. We're just waiting to be taken.", Nina said sadly.
I held her close to me, protectively.
Now we wait.