Page 57 of Infinity Chronicles 2
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I’m sittingin a chair and Dante is on the arm of the chair next to me. The rest of the guys have taken seats around the room. We haven’t been in here before, it’s much more formal than the rooms we’ve hung out in so far. The furniture is heavy with thick patterned fabric and wood accents. There’s a huge fireplace taking up almost one entire wall. You’d have to have a small mountain of wood to fill it. The stone extends up to the ceiling, making it seem even larger.Several seating areas are dotted throughout the room. Ares and Milo are to my left on another sofa, while Ollie has opted to sit on the floor near my legs. He’s not touching me, but he’s close. I appreciate the support.
Rosa and her men are all on a couch across from my chair and they look completely at ease with each other. Something I find envious at this stage of our relationship. Before I can ponder too hard what it was like for them when they first met, Ares pipes up, “Who was Leon?”
Rosa closes her eyes but takes a deep breath. “Until recently I haven’t thought about this in years.” William places his hand over Rosa’s and she gives him a small smile in return. “I met Amanda by chance. I had taken Ares to the park one day and there was this lovely young girl there. She was with a little boy herself. I still didn’t have very many girlfriends here, especially one with a little boy. We chatted while the boys played, and by the end of the afternoon we had exchanged numbers and had planned to meet again in a few days.”
“Who was the little boy?” I can’t helpbutask, do I have an older brother out there somewhere?
“I think his name was Teddy, turns out she was just babysitting him for the summer while she was out of school, but we met up a few more times for playdates with the boys.” The emotion that filters through me isn’t quiterelief, but it’s something close. I don’t know how I would handle finding out my mother hid even more from me.
“I don’t remember him,” Ares mutters.
“Well you were young, you only played with him a few times before Amanda confessedto methatshe was a Synergist.” Rosa looks to the left, a frown falling over her features. “She had heard Ares talking about his papas, as in two, and asked if I had remarried. I didn’t want to lose her friendship, but I wasn’t willing to lie to either, so I told her I had two husbands. Her face lit up, and she asked me if I was in an Infinity.” Rosa’s lips lift with a small smile.
“After that I knew why Iwas always drawn to her, our lives aren’t always easy. Especially when outsiders judge us. That’s why so many groupschose to settle close together, so we have people around uswe can share our lives with who won’t judge us.”
“So, she knew what she was?”
Rosa looks over at me, her eyes shrewd. “Yes, of course.”
“Laura’s mother never told her what she was, never toldher about Infinities,” Dante announces, brushing his hand over my back.
“But…” Rosa opens her mouth, her words failing her.
“My mom was… withdrawnat best,paranoid to say the least. She seemed to get worse as I got older. Iwasn’t allowed to have friends, or to do anything that would draw attention to myself. We moved around a lot and it got to the point where she never even left the RV.” I sigh as guilt for thinking she was crazy eats at me. If she would have only talkedto me,told me the truth… I don’t even know if I would have believed her. Iprobably would have thought it was just her delusions. Ares makes his way over to the chair, taking up a seat on the opposite arm of his brother.
“She probably thought she was protecting you,” William adds.
“She always told me that there were bad people, people we were hiding from, but she never told me who. She made it like a game when I was little, but as I got older, Ithoughtshe had problems, you know…” I look down not meeting any of their gazes. “Like mental problems, but I still loved her, I took care of her,” I defend, but I can’t even convince myself, did I try hard enough, listen to her enough?
“We know you love herCara, no one blames you for not knowing.” I let Ares’s words settle over me, but that’s not true. I blame myself. I should have tried harder to understand her.
“If there is anyone to blame, it would be me,” Rosa tells me, looking right into my eyes. “I’m the one who convinced her to upload her information in the database, I’m the reason Leon found her.”
Mal objects immediately and argues, “Rosa you couldn’t have known. Finding your Infinity is a blessing, you were trying to help her.”
“Well, look how that turned out.” I can hear the beginning of tears in her voice, but none fall from her eyes. Rosa’s back is straight as she looks at me like she’s ready to accept any punishment I’m have to give.
I look away. Could things have been different if she hadn’t interfered? I shake away the question as soon as it forms, there’s no point in dwelling on the what-ifs.
“Why don’t you tell us about the real person to blame for this, Leon.” Ares leans down and grabs my fingers, placing them on his thigh.
“Leon Whitmore,” Rosa says the name like it tastes bad. I expect to feel something hearing his name, but I don’t. It’s no more familiar thana stranger’s. “He took less than twenty-four hours to track Amanda down after we uploaded the information about her and her identifier.” Rosa pulls her hand out from under William’s. “At the time, we thought it was amazing. Amanda had only turned sixteen a few months earlier and here she was finding one of her partners. Leon was older, already in his early twenties, from a well-established family out west.” Rosa stands then, like she can’t bear to talk about this while she’s sitting.
Walking over to the fireplace, she sets her fingers on the high mantle and looks into the empty hearth. “Amanda was smitten with Leon the moment she laid eyes on him, we all were.” She looks over at her pairs with a sad smile on her lips. “He seemed tobe just as taken with her. I was sad that I was losing my new friend, but we made promises to talk to each other, even visit since her family was still near.”
“I have a family?” I can’t keep the shock from my tone, and maybe even a little hope there too. Maybe Mom is with them.
Rosa’s shoulders fall, “You did,bellara gazza.”
“Jesus Christ,” Milo curses from the couch, his hands balled into fists over his thighs.
“What happened to them?” My voice sounds detached, but I can’t help it. Until this moment I never even let myself believe in the possibility of a family. If we had them, then surely we would have been with them.
“Leon.” Rosa spits the one word like it’s enough of an explanation.
Mal looks over at Rosa then leans forward so his elbows are on his knees. “Amanda stopped returning Rosa’s calls,” he tells me, saving Rosa from speaking. “We didn’t think too much of it at first, theywere newly paired, and it canbe overwhelming at first.” He looks away clearing his throat.
