Antonio - Ashlee Price Page 0,82

a guy?" I speak to Lara as I change her diaper. "And apparently, he was their friend, too, but he turned out to be the bad guy."

Lara's little eyebrows crease. I smile.

"Sometimes I wonder if you can actually understand me."

I finish fastening her new diaper and pull her pants back in place. Afterwards, I leave her on the bed between the pillows so I can dispose of her old diaper and wash my hands. When I come back, she's already on one of the pillows.

Wow. She sure is becoming more active.

I watch her with pride and sigh. "If only Antonio could see you now."

He hasn't seen her since he left. After that incident with Sergio, he just dropped me off at the hotel and said he had matters to attend to. I even told him I still had Lara, but he didn't seem to care.

"I'm sure he just has a lot on his mind," I tell Lara.

He and his brothers are probably still searching for Andrea, who's gone missing. I'm sure Antonio is busy catching up with them, too, after not having seen them for thirteen years.

Antonio has a twin brother. And a cool older half-brother. And another half-brother who runs a company. And a half-sister who's an FBI agent. And a father who is rich and powerful. Amazing. All these years, he thought he didn't have a family, but he had such an incredible one. I bet they would have found him if they only looked. They just didn't because they thought he was dead.

At any rate, Antonio remembers them now. He has them now. I'm happy for him, of course, but at the same time, I can't help but worry.

What will become of me now? Is Antonio coming back to me? Is there still room for me in his grand, exciting life, so far from the simple, lonely life he lived in Summerset?

I'm still waiting for the answer.

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. I pick Lara up and carry her in my arms as I go to check on my guest. Through the peephole, I see two women, one with brown hair and one with black. I open the door.

"Agent Chandler," I greet the raven haired woman.

She smiles. "Please call me Allie. I'm your sister-in-law."

I look away. "Actually, about that, I..."

"Bella!"

To my surprise, the other woman takes Lara from my arms.

Bella?

Even Allie is giving her a puzzled look. "Wait. Jodie, do you mean this baby is..."

"She's Bella. I'm sure of it!"

Jodie presses Lara to her chest and whirls. Lara laughs.

I'm still confused. What's going on?

Allie places her hand on my shoulder. "You said you and Antonio adopted this baby, right?"

"Yes," I answer. "At least, we were planning to."

"Well, you see, this baby happens to be Jodie's," Allie explains. "Jodie entrusted her to someone for safekeeping because she knew it wasn't safe at the mansion, what with the suspicion of a traitor in their midst and the fact that her father's killer was still at large. But the person vanished and so did Baby Bella. I've been helping Jodie look for her ever since, but I didn't really have any leads. It's hard to believe she's suddenly here."

"It's a miracle." Jodie says as she hugs her baby and rains kisses on her head. "I never thought I'd see you again."

I smile. There's no doubt from the look on Jodie's face that she's Lara's - I mean Bella's - mother. And La - Bella seems happy, too. Maybe that's why I don't feel at all sad about her being taken away from me even though I used to dread it. Right now, she is where she belongs.

"Oh, you still have your bracelet." Jodie holds her hand and kisses it. "I had a feeling it would protect you and bring you home to me."

Then she turns to me. "How can I ever thank you?"

I shake my head. "It was my pride and joy to take care of... Bella."

I really have to get used to saying that.

"By the way, I'm Jodie." She offers me her hand. "I'm Leo's fiancee."

My eyes grow wide as I shake her hand. "Really?"

So Bella is Jodie and Leo's baby? She's Antonio's niece? No wonder she looks like him. Maybe that's why she was unearthing his memories, too. What are the odds?

"And you're Triss. You're Antonio's wife, right?" Jodie pulls me in for a hug.

As I pull away, I rub my neck. "Actually, that's not entirely true."

"What do you mean?" Allie asks.

I explain everything