Page 149 of The Obsession
I wasn’t able to have her laid to rest beside my mother, but at least they’re in the same cemetery.
There’s no fuss, no real fanfare, but at least in death, she may realise how much she was cared for. From what I’ve heard, nobody has claimed Tray’s body.
Emily asked if we should bury them together, and I replied, “No fucking way.”
I’m not naive enough to think my sister didn’t make her own choices. Choices that ended up in her death, but therewas no way I was letting him be buried with her, dragging her memory down for the rest of eternity. He’d already done enough.
The only good thing to come out of their fucked up relationship was their daughter, and now that they’re gone, Emily and I have already submitted the adoption papers to make Lil’ Peach ours permanently.
When it’s time to leave, Violet’s adoptive parents’ approach. “I’m sorry for your loss,” Marjory says.
“I’m sorry for your loss as well,” I reply. They may not carry the same DNA as us, but my sister meant something to them once upon a time. Obviously, she still does, or they wouldn’t be here.
Marjory reaches into the bag that’s hung over her arm. “I bought this for you. I thought you might want it for …” she nods her head towards Lil’ Peach as she speaks. “She looks so much like her mother,” she whispers as tears rise to her eyes.
“Yeah, she does.”
It’s not until we’re back in the car that I chance a look inside the album. I only get a few pages in when a knot forms in the back of my throat. They’re photographs of Violet. There are countless images of the part of her life I missed out on. Something that I will cherish for the rest of my days. I know Lil’ Peach will as well, when she’s old enough to understand.
Chapter 51
Dominic
Two weeks later …
I’m standing in the main room at the Mancini residence. Today is Matteo’s Christening, and Romeo insisted we all gather before church.
The women are currently in the nursery, dressing the baby before we leave. I can tell by the way Romeo keeps rocking back on his feet and smirking that he’s up to something.
“What the fuck has gotten into you this morning?” Dante asks, frowning at him, before his eyes skim to me. “And why the fuck are you two even here?”
“Arabella wanted the girls to help her dress …”
Romeo’s words die off when Dante suddenly leaps to his feet. “The dress! Hell, fucking no,” he bellows as he storms from the room.
“Am I missing something?” I ask.
“Come, you don’t want to miss this,” Romeo replies, crooking his finger for me to follow.
By the time we reach the hallway, Dante is alreadytaking the stairs two at a time, like a man on a mission. Romeo chuckles to himself as he breaks into a jog.
“What the fuck is going on?” I ask, falling into step beside him.
“Do you remember that hideous, haunted dress poor Gabe was forced to wear at his Christening?”
I grimace. “The one with the lace and pearl buttons?”
“The very one,” he replies with a shudder.
“Didn’t your grandma make it?”
“My great-grandmother.”
Dante’s sudden departure now makes sense. “Matteo’s wearing it?”
“If my wife has a say in it, he is.”
“Brutal,” I mumble as a grin curves my lips.
