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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I called Mom from the restaurant kitchen.<\/p>\n
She answered on the third ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cSweetheart?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, do you know Joseph Salvini?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Not confusion.<\/p>\n
Not hesitation.<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
That told me everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he there?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked through the kitchen window.<\/p>\n
Joseph stood in the dining room while his men questioned the stranger who had taken my photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom inhaled sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst tell me who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you love him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, he thinks I might be his daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went completely quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice was barely audible.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome home, Audrey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty minutes later, Joseph\u2019s black SUV stopped outside our modest house.<\/p>\n
I had refused to tell him the address.<\/p>\n
Then Mom surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring him.\u201d<\/p>\n
So I did.<\/p>\n
Joseph stood on the sidewalk staring at the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou okay?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least he was honest.<\/p>\n
I opened the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
She appeared at the end of the hallway.<\/p>\n
Joseph stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
Rose Bennett was forty-three now.<\/p>\n
There were faint lines beside her eyes and a few strands of silver in her dark hair.<\/p>\n
But for several seconds, neither of them moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cRose,\u201d Joseph whispered.<\/p>\n
Mom crossed her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoseph.\u201d<\/p>\n
Twenty years collapsed into one word.<\/p>\n
Joseph stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAudrey, sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not five.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don\u2019t protect me from a conversation about my own life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph glanced at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gets that from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom almost smiled.<\/p>\n
Almost.<\/p>\n
We sat in the living room.<\/p>\n
Joseph\u2019s men remained outside.<\/p>\n
Mom looked at the constellation around his wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou kept it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJoseph\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you tell me our baby died?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause people were trying to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t your decision to make.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became my decision when one of them followed me home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph went still.<\/p>\n
Mom continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was pregnant. Twenty-two years old. Terrified. Your enemies knew about me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour uncle Dominic happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n
Mom looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came to see me while Joseph was out of town.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d Joseph asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said your family would never accept me. He said if I stayed, eventually somebody would use the baby against you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph\u2019s voice became dangerously quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cDominic knew you were pregnant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe showed me photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe leaving work. Me visiting my doctor. My apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach twisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said those photographs came from your enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me the only way to keep the baby alive was to disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me my child was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s eyes filled, but her voice remained steady.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my child lived.\u201d<\/p>\n
That ended the argument.<\/p>\n
Joseph looked at me.<\/p>\n
Twenty years of anger seemed to drain from his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Dominic know where you went?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoseph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked a question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph pulled out his phone.<\/p>\n
I stood too.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo disappearing into some mafia revenge movie because you\u2019re angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
One corner of his mouth twitched.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look like you want to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m discovering my daughter gives orders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPotential daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom looked between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
She walked to a cabinet and removed a small envelope.<\/p>\n
Inside was a hospital bracelet.<\/p>\n
My hospital bracelet.<\/p>\n
She handed it to him.<\/p>\n
Joseph read the date.<\/p>\n
October seventeenth.<\/p>\n
Then the name.<\/p>\n
BABY GIRL BENNETT.<\/p>\n
His thumb trembled.<\/p>\n
Mom spoke quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never stopped loving you, Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn\u2019t you come back?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause once Audrey was born, I had more to lose than you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Joseph could answer, headlights swept across our living room.<\/p>\n
A car stopped outside.<\/p>\n
His expression changed instantly.<\/p>\n
He moved toward the window.<\/p>\n
One of his men entered without knocking.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoss.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re being watched.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph turned to Mom.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many people know where you live?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFriends. Neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. From my old life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody.\u201d<\/p>\n
His lieutenant held up his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone does now.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the screen was a photograph posted anonymously online.<\/p>\n
It showed Joseph and me leaving the Golden Crown.<\/p>\n
The caption contained five words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I called Mom from the restaurant kitchen. She answered on the third ring. \u201cSweetheart?\u201d \u201cMom, do you know Joseph Salvini?\u201d Silence. Not confusion. Not hesitation. Silence. That told me everything.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions\/193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metropolitantimeshock.pics\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}