“The world is about to come calling again,” he said.
Arousal waned then. “Right,” Persephone nodded. She’d almost forgotten that there was more besides their personal matters that needed tending.
“It’s still a week or so out before I have to go,” he was saying, “I hope it’s alright if I stay ‘til then?”
“Of course it is,” her voice was softly admonishing, relaying that he hadn’t needed to ask.
He nodded and cleared his throat once more, appearing as though he were summoning courage. “Sef um, when the time’s right I want the girls to be with me for a while.”
“It’s fine Hill,” she could all but feel his unease as he’d voiced the request. “All you have to do is tell me when you want them. I’ll have ‘em all packed and ready.”
“Sef...when the time comes, I want you there too,” he said.
“Dadddyyy! Come on!”
The girls’ voices drifted in from where they waited along the walkway leading to the beach.
“On my way, Babes! Wait there!” Hill threw out a wave that the twins quickly returned.
The interruption gave Persephone time to collect herself. “What are you trying to say, Hill?” She asked when he was looking her way again.
“Just that,” his light shrug sent the hint of a wrinkle through the burgundy T-shirt he wore. “I want you to be there too when I call for the girls. Is that okay?”
Persephone nodded, thankful for the clarification.
“I better go,” he hiked a thumb across one shoulder and then sprinted off to join the girls.
Persephone watched them, part of her
wondering if their time together would ever result in him saying he
forgave her. A larger part of her worried that time would never
come.
***
Queens, New York~
Gabriel Tesano had managed to give the EMTs the name of his older brother when they arrived on scene. Aaron Tesano was immediately contacted. Once his brother had been stabilized at the hospital in Brooklyn, Aaron arranged for Gabe to be moved closer to him in Queens.
Gabriel was frowning as he labored to open his eyes that morning. He’d been drifting in and out of consciousness for several days. That had been a welcomed improvement from the coma he slipped into and lingered in for well over a week following the shooting.
Triumphing over the battle to pry open his eyelids, Gabe found his brother at his bedside and he offered the man a weak grin.
Aaron reciprocated the gesture and leaned over to squeeze Gabe’s forearm. “You’re takin’ this self-pity thing a bit too far now, aren’t you?”
Gabriel tried for a chuckle but only managed a slight wheeze.
“Shh…” Aaron urged. “Save your strength. You’re gonna owe me big time. These,” he gestured toward the pastel walls of the private hospital suite, “aren’t my favorite places.”
“Tha-thank you, Ari.”
Aaron’s expression was grim. “Do you remember what you said to me the first night they brought you here?”
Gabe closed his eyes then from pain that was more emotional than physical. “I told you Vale did this,” unexpected strength carried his voice then.
“Is that right?” Aaron’s tone was suddenly fierce.
Gabe tried for another chuckle and had a bit more success with the gesture. “It couldn’t be more wrong, but it’s accurate enough.”
“But why?”
“The boys never would’ve found the little Ramsey had I not told them how.” Gabe smiled tiredly, even as his voice strengthened. “Vale frowns on betrayal. It wasn’t planned, Ari. The conversation got heated, tempers...tempers flared...Vale...he wasn’t himself, Ari.”
“Hmph, that’s true.” Aaron laughed.
Gabe smirked then. “I mean...for a second I didn’t recognize him, Ari. He was changed- desperate, hungry…”
“For what? Power? He’s already got a truck full.”
“Come on, big brother…” Gabe’s words held the hint of a slur. “You aren’t such a good soul that you’ve forgotten what’s better than power.”
Aaron understood. “More power.” He said.
“Mmm…” Gabe closed his eyes satisfactorily. “Our little brother isn’t going to let anything stand in the way of him keeping what he has and getting more.” He opened his eyes. “Whatever he’s got going on now, I’m not privy to all the details of it. But what I saw in his eyes when he pulled that trigger told me he’d sacrifice everything-including his own blood to keep it.”
Gabe’s pale blues misted with sudden tears. “Personally, I wish he’d finished the job. The only thing I’d had worth living for- worth trying to make right, is dead.”
Aaron leaned close to squeeze his brother’s wrist. “That’s despair talkin’.”
“That’s truth talkin.” Gabe grimaced. “I may not be a slave to the truth, but I recognize it well enough.”
Aaron listened patiently while his brother spouted his woeful words. Gabe would tire soon enough, he knew. That prediction was proven less than ten minutes later when the man drifted off into another medicated slumber.
