Piercing My Heart

61

I noticed the time and realized Mila and Z would be returning soon. After our Parisian trip, Z was kidnapped by my friends to go skiing. I also asked Sophie to teach Z how to snowboard since she needs to know how to do both. I'm sure Lexi schemed to make Nick look bad at skiing. Anyways, after her outdoor funtivities, Z expressed how she'd love to hike through the French Alps. There was no way in hell I was gonna do it, so Mila offered. Mila is more of an outdoorsy person, so it was a no brainer.

Mila loves sports, so she's pressuring me to take Z to a football game. The only team I'll watch is PSG or the French National team. Since there isn't a World Cup qualifier anytime soon, I booked tickets to the PSG game. Tae and Lexi will be joining us as well since they love football. Hailey and Sophie will be doing other fun stuff instead of being forced to sit through a match.

The only sport thing I love is the fashion runway. I know Alec and Sophie want to do something privately with Z, so I advised them to do something artistic. Sophie immediately suggested taking an art class with a world renowned painter. I shrugged and admitted it was a great idea.

Because Sophie wanted to do something with her niece, Nick stated that this had now become a competition. He was determined that him and Tae would do something even more fun with Z. I shook my head in amusement and allowed their competition to commence. I think Nick wants to show Z how to design clothes, so that'll be fun.

"Lara." I looked up at my brother. "Mother is here." He smiled and showed mum and Audrey.

"What a surprise since we weren't expecting you." I got up and gave Audrey a hug. "To what displeasure must we award your arrival." I teased and gave my mum a hug.

"The displeasure is my lack of trust in your experimental skills." She smiled. "We wanted to run some more tests on Zena, so we decided to come."

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see you both." I addressed my mum and Audrey. "She's currently hiking through the Alps with Mila, so not sure when she'll come back."

"And she'll be tired." Alec added. "Perhaps, we should delay the announcement of your arrival until tomorrow." He suggested.

"That'd be best." Audrey smiled. "I'm so happy to be back in France. It's lovely to be home!"

"Yes, we've been meaning to come back sooner, but work has kept us in America." My mum explained.

"That's not a problem." Alec walked forward. "Now that you're here, you can help in our search for Naomi and her family." My mum sighed at this. "We haven't made any progress so far, do you-"

"Italy." My mum cut him off. We arched a brow at her. "And the wolves now know." She groaned. "Matt and his team found a lead and connected it back to Naomi's family. Lexi informed me right before takeoff. Matt likely already briefed Dante, who's probably trying to reach out to Mia."

"Why didn't Dante contact Lara?" Alec asked.

"Because he assumed that mum would want to deliver the information to me in person." I answered. "We need to speak with Dante to find out how much he knows."

"They won't know about your involvement with her." Alec assured me. "What concerns me is why she's back in Italy." He stated.

"We need to interrogate her." My mum commented.

"I agree, but my hands are a bit tied right now. Me going is opening the door for her to reveal more to Mila then I want. And not going will make me appear more sus." I groaned.

"Why doesn't Mia know about your involvement with her?" My mum wasn't happy.

"She was involved intimately with Naomi when she went to the alternate reality." Alec stated.