Sufferable Acceptance

Forty-Nine

Amelia

I asked Alfie to help me with the journals. He worked with Dominic at the company, and when I was getting back on my feet. There was a lot of decoding for us, but eventually we figured out how Dominic tracked his jobs.

We didn't expect a lot of the old journals. Most of the people we knew from those journals were dead or living a different life. We focused on anyone in the past ten years. Someone Dominic had built a relationship with. So far no one was standing out.

We were about to take a break for lunch when one of the house maids came into my office.

"Amelia, this came for you." She said with tension in her voice.

I walked over to her at the door and was handed a letter. It was identical to the ones that Theresa had received.

"What is it?" Alfie asked.

I turned to him and held up the letter. His expression changed, and his face went pale.

"Open it." Was all he said.

I broke the wax seal, and slid the letter out of the envelope.

My dearest Amelia...

It's time to quit playing these games of yours and come home. I've tried to give you space, but I'm losing my patience. I can't stand by and watch you play house any longer and avoid your professional responsibilities. I don't want to see you get hurt Amelia. Come home, and avoid the heartache. It would be a shame if one of the Romano's who you love so dearly got hurt again because of you. I'm sure you'll make the right choice.

See you soon...

I looked up at Alfie unable to find the words. I stared blankly at him. Alfie didn't waste a second. He ran out of the room and down the hall. I could hear him screaming for Theo as I stood there with the letter in my hand.

Shortly after, I watched Theo run into the room. He looked at me then at the letter. He walked over to me. I stared at him with tears in my eyes. He took the letter out of my hands and threw it on a couch. He laid my head into his chest, and pulled the rest of me close to him.

I stood there unable to move. I could feel Theo's arms around me, but I felt stuck in space. After processing the letter I went into shock. He wanted me to go back. I couldn't go back. What if I didn't go back? Would he hurt Theo again? I started to hyperventilate.

"Amelia.. look at me. Breathe, you're safe. It's just a letter. Look at where you are. You're here at the house. The company is far away. There's nothing here that would hurt you. Just breathe." Theo said, calming me down.

I stood there in Theo's arms until I calmed down then pulled away to pick the letter back up again. Theo looked over my shoulder and read the letter. I felt suffocated in my office, so I handed the letter to Alfie and walked out. I walked down the stairs, past the kitchen and into the back yard. I found myself walking to the garden. I found the bench and sat down for some fresh air. I thought I was alone, but I could hear Theo a few feet away watching me.

"I can hear you. Stop hiding."

Theo walked over to the bench and sat next to me. He faced the roses, and sat in silence with me.

"I'm not going back." I told him.

"He's a power hungry narcissist who turned his own daughter into his own personal puppet. The rumors say it started when I turned thirteen, but now that I think about it he broke me from the beginning."

"You don't have to tell me this if you aren't ready Amelia." He said.

"It's time I told someone."

Theo grabbed my hand and let me continue.

"From the very beginning he isolated me from the family. I never got to do anything unless it was related to work. I think he always knew what he was going to turn me into. Before I knew it training started. That's when I met Dominic. He was the lead trainer at the time.

I started spending less time at home, and more time at the facility. I went to work with Dad and Dominic. At first I sat in a corner, and watched my dad take care of everything, but then he started making me complete the jobs." I said.

Theo squeezed my hand, and moved closer to me.

"When I did visit home it only made my mom and dad argue. She would see the cuts and bruises from training and they'd get into this big argument. My dad eventually got tired of fighting, so I only went home for holidays. A few years in I realized I was never going back home. Things got easier when I turned fourteen or fifteen. The beatings hurt less, going on jobs didn't bother me and I was numb to training. It wasn't so bad. I thought I could get used to that type of life. When I turned sixteen I met Alfie. Dad let us start working together when we both turned eighteen. We didn't take jobs like everyone else. Dad saved us for his best clients. We were his satisfaction guaranteed unit." I paused.

I wasn't sure if I was ready to tell him about Mom. I hadn't talked to anyone about her besides Alfie. Just say the words Amelia, admit what happened.

"And then one day Dad told me we were going home. I didn't know why at first because there wasn't a holiday or event he needed me at. Waiting for me at the house was a doctor who told me Mom had died. He lied and said it was lung cancer. I found out later through people who worked at the house what really happened. I had no idea she was in that much pain. Next thing I knew my dad was planning her funeral and Alfie and I were flown away to Germany".

Sometime during the story I had started to cry, and Theo would slowly wipe away the tears from my cheeks. I calmed down my breathing, and then continued.

"We landed in Germany, and both agreed that was our chance. Dad was distracted and none of his men were with us. We went our own separate ways, and reconnected in New York. Dominic pulled me off the streets, gave me a few clients and a place to sleep. When I had built up enough clients I bought my first apartment. Since then I've never stopped working."

"What happened to your sisters?"

"Dad sent all of them to boarding school days after Mom's funeral. They rarely went home after that. If they did go home it was to keep up the family image. I heard that when they all turned eighteen they all stopped going back to the house. Juliana got married and lives in Chicago with her wife and their baby boy. Vera and Adaline are both studying at university." I told him. "I hadn't spoken to them in years, and when I did they wanted nothing to do with me. They knew what I did for a living, and they asked me to leave and not come back. They don't care that I did what I had to do to survive. In their eyes I'm just as evil as Dad."

Theo wrapped his arm around me, and let me rest my head on his shoulder. "Juliana told me she didn't want me anywhere near her family, and the other two blame me for not coming back often enough. They think if I did, Mom would still be alive."

"That's not true. You can't blame yourself. None of what happened to you is your fault Amelia. The only person to blame is your father."

I nodded my head and wiped away the rest of my tears. We sat there together in silence. Eventually Theo walked me back to the house. We told Lorenzo about the letter, and sent it to Gio so he could take a look at it.

The rest of the day was hazy. I remember going back to Theo's room, and lying down, waking up for dinner and then going back to bed. Somewhere in the middle of the night I felt Theo lay down in bed, and wrap his arm around me.