“Why didn’t you turn him in?” Ria had not been able to bring herself to turn Nicholas in, yet she was curious at her mother’s silence.
“As painful as his death is to me, I know Nicholas is not a cold-blooded killer. He didn’t try to justify his actions; he stated them plainly for me to form my own judgment. I told him I forgave him. I do not want to live a life of anger and bitterness. Matthew took that woman’s life, and if it hadn’t been her, it would have been Emiliano. He was turning into his father and brother. I don’t know if he could have been saved or not, but I can’t bring him back, so I choose to forgive.” Her mother closed her eyes.
Ria felt the room starting to spin at her mother’s words. She tried to process what she was hearing. She missed Nick so much, but she was still angry with him for not telling her the truth. Deep down, she wanted him to fight for her and make her understand; but instead, she had heard nothing from him before she had accidently ran into him at the hospital.
Ria nodded her head and looked back to her mother who was watching her. She had a lot to think about. She hadn’t realized it was Emiliano whose life Nicholas’s mother had saved.
She helped her mother do the dishes then said her goodbyes.
“Ria, Nicholas must have told me because of you. It had to be a hard thing for him to admit it to the mother of the man he had killed. The truth is, we should ask him for our forgiveness. He doesn’t have his mother nor does his sister and father.”
She brushed her lips against Ria’s cheek. “He is very handsome, that man of yours, isn’t he?”
“Yes, Mama, he is.”
Chapter 26
Ria was lying on her bed, trying to force herself to sleep, but the thoughts of Nicholas were keeping her awake. She turned to punch the pillow next to her and jumped when she heard a knock on the door. She looked at the clock. It was after ten, and she wasn’t expecting anyone.
She slipped out of the bed and quietly walked to the peephole to see who it was.
She gasped when she saw his broad chest.
What was Nicholas doing here at this time of night?
She smoothed her features, not wanting him to know she was glad he was there. She opened the door with a stoic face.
“Hello, Ria,” he greeted. She watched his eyes travel the length of her body and could see the plea in his blue eyes. “Can we talk?”
“Can it wait until tomorrow? I work in the morning…”
As he started to turn away, the look on his face had her stopping him. “Wait. You can come in.” She stepped back to let him through the door.
She shut the door and turned back to look at him. “What do you want, Nicholas?”
He smiled. “That’s one of the things I like about you; you don’t like wasting any time.”
His smile was infectious, but she was holding it in until she heard whatever it was he had come here to say.
He took her hand and pulled her to sit with him on the couch with his leg pressed against hers.
“Ria, I’ve been carrying the guilt of your brother’s death since I was sixteen years old.”
Ria could hear the raw pain in his voice and she started to soften.
“When I discovered how their deaths had affected your life, I wanted to help. I should have been honest and told you why.”
Ria nodded. She truly didn’t blame him for either of her brothers’ deaths after knowing what kind of men they were, but him not telling her before they had become so intimate with each other had hurt.
“I wish you would have trusted me enough,” Ria whispered.
“Me, too.” He took her hand in his, kissing the back of it.
Ria felt the goose bumps cover her body at the touch of his lips.
“I didn’t want to lose you. I kept telling myself that I would help then leave you alone. I wouldn’t try to be a part of your life. How could I admit something to you that I couldn’t admit to myself? That I couldn’t let you go.”
Ria teared up at the heartache in his voice. He had missed her as much as she had missed him these last two months.
“Ria”—he lifted her chin up to him—“I am sorry I didn’t tell you about Matthew. You have brought more joy to me in the short time we spent together than I have felt since I was a teenager. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I will do everything within my power to make it up to you.”
He leaned in to give her a soft kiss on her trembling lips then slowly kissed her tears away. His gentleness was more than she could bear.
“Nicholas, I’ve missed you so much. I talked to my mother earlier tonight. She told me you offered to turn yourself in. She said she forgave you, and that we should ask for your forgiveness for our family taking away your mother. I keep thinking of her not being there with Melanie on her wedding day. She won’t be able to dance with you one day at your wedding. Your children will never know their grandmother. Your father—”