The Holy Ghost - M.E. Clayton Page 0,13

practically unheard of.

The third year was when I got my job at Brighton and met Robbie and Mona and everyone else. Robbie and I clicked immediately having guy names, but I became friendly with almost everyone who worked at Brighton. No one knew my story, not even Robbie, as I lied to everyone and told them I had dropped out of college because I was no longer happy in life. I gave a speech about how happiness was more important than money and I’d rather be a waitress with real friends than a corporate rat drowning in Wallstreet waters.

They all bought it.

I sold it so well, it was hard not to believe it sometimes.

The past three years have been spent going through the motions. Sure, I had girls’ night and enjoyed my job and friends, but the hole in my heart was always there. I missed my brother, best friend, and lover. I never contacted Phoenix or Luca, but because Ciro was my brother, and we lost our parents the way we did at such a young age, I owed it to him to let him know I was alive and well. So, after I got a new phone and I texted him that it was me, over the years I sent him random texts here and there just to let him know I was fine. He never pushed for conversation and his texts were always the same.

One word-Okay.

But come to find out it was all for nothing as Luca so casually informed me. The entire drive back to Morgan City, he thought it necessary to inform me that they’ve always known where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. I wanted to be pissed off and surprised, but, deep down, I wasn’t. They let me walk too easily and now I knew why.

I had never really left.

By the time we reached the hospital, I’d reached my limit of Luca Benetti and was ready to see Massimo. My plan was to jump out of the car as soon as it came to a stop in front of the hospital, but it didn’t work out that way. Luca hadn’t pulled up to the front of the hospital. He had driven around the back of the five-story building and had pulled into the physicians’ entrance.

When I reached for the door, Luca’s voice stopped me. “Don’t you fucking dare.” I froze where I sat and waiting like a good underling as Luca got out, rounded the car, and opened the door for me. The entire time his eyes danced across the parking garage, and he was on high alert, as always. It wasn’t until I got out of the car did I notice a handful of Benetti sentinels scattered throughout the place. Seeing them, once again, hammered home that being in Morgan City was nowhere near being in Cedar Creek.

Luca placed a hand on the small of my back and escorted me to the elevators, his eyes seeing everything even though he had guards everywhere. Luca was never off. He was always on, and he’s always been that way. Even as children, Luca had always been…aware.

Once we entered the elevator, I asked the one question I didn’t want to, but I needed to. “Will it be just me and Massimo in there?”

Luca pushed the button that led to Massimo’s floor as he answered, “You have two hours of privacy with him, Francesca. That’s what’s been allotted and deemed reasonably safe.”

The elevator jolted upwards, my heartbeat increasing with each floor we passed. “Who all knows I’m here?”

“Up until the guards saw you downstairs just now, only me, Ciro, and Phoenix knew you were coming,” he replied, and I hated how he answered so casually. I hated how he could say those two names like they meant nothing when, to me, they meant everything.

I wanted to ask him if they were here, but Luca already knew I was asking that question when I asked if it was going to be just me and Massimo in his room. So, the fact that he hadn’t answered my underlying question kept me from asking him outright.

When the elevator came to a stop, my heart almost did too. I knew there was a possibility that Ciro and Phoenix would be on the other side of these doors, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. Seeing Ciro wouldn’t be nearly as hard as seeing Phoenix, but it would still be an emotional punch to see my brother after