Blood for my Rose |• Crimson Rose series✔️

Epilogue

                  ***One Year After***

Carrying the newborn out of the suv, Rose covered the tiny and adorable baby's head with a flannel and adjusted the small sized cap that trimmed her frowning forehead.

She smiled at her two-month old baby as the little thing squeezed up in her arm, hating the sun. Then she held the baby properly and her bouquet of flowers, before walking further into the cemetery.

Rose made a few steps down the grass path and knelt in front of Romero's tombstone.

She placed the flowers there and smiled, tracing his name on the headstone. "I miss you brother," she said, sniffed back her tears and smiled. "And Elvira misses you, too." Her eyes went down to her baby's partially opened eyes. "She should have met you. You left me, Roe. You did. I still feel so sad."

Rose always had this conversation like she didn't already say it the last time she was here. Or perhaps if she said it again, Romero would appear to her and take her pain away.

Elvira began to scoff softly and finally burst out crying. The tiny voice reverberating in the air.

"You're probably hungry," Rose said and looked back at the car she came in.

Mauricio was standing near the door, shades over his eyes, and he gestured for her to bring the baby to him. He had reached out to her exactly two months after Romero died, explained that he'd tried to stay away from the mafia, calling it quits after everything that went down. And now, Rosemarie lived with him in Sicily, had been living with him for three months, while she and Riley still maintained the agreement of joint custody of the child.

Mauricio's and her father's house were just seventeen minutes apart. Riley never visited, but Rose always took Elvira to him every Fridays and returned to Mauricio's on Mondays.

Today was Friday, Mauricio was taking her to the ranch as usual, but she'd decided to stop by here before going. Truth is, no one wanted this; for Rose to be with Mauricio. She didn't feel good about it, too, knowing he had a play - as much as she did - in the turn the whole issue took. But it felt like the right thing to do. Raising her daughter away from the mafia.

Elvira would be loved by all, and Rose intended on keeping the truth, about the family she was from, away from the little girl. She could not afford to watch Elvira grow up in fear the way she did. Fear of being bullied into harshness, fear of being killed. So making the choice was simple, even though her heart felt wronged.

After Mauricio had rocked Elvira back to sleep in the car, he locked her in the car seat and took charge of the wheels. They drove down to get stuff, and in the evening, finally parked outside the gates of Rose's father's ranch.

Mauricio drove off, just as Rose carried hers and Elvira's bag that contained enough of their things for the weekend.

From inside, through the study window, Riley watched Rose walk in, her magenta dress, cramping up her body and making her look appealing as hell. She sure had changed from the oversized pregnant woman to being slender again. The night wasn't doing her a disservice, even if he couldn't see a lot of feature he loved to see.

It didn't make him smile. He always had a straight face whenever he saw Mauricio's car, because it meant he was with her. He didn't understand Rose but acted like the arrangement was just fine. That grudge was still hung in the air between he and Mauricio, though they were never in the same space for more than fifteen seconds. And whenever they were, Riley always felt like punching him, and destroying whatever spell he'd casted upon her.

He walked out to meet her halfway so he could carry Elvira, but Giovani stopped him at the door.

"A call from Mexico for you," he said, looking mysterious as he passed the landline and walked away. They were still working on their relationship as brothers, but weren't quite there yet.

At first thought, Riley concluded it must be Josephine, because he heard she'd gone back to Mexico after narrowly escaping dying that day. She still very much worked for Rocco, so Riley was hella pissed she had the balls to call him for whatever reason.

But when he put the phone to his ears and heard the distressed and sorrow-filled voice say "Hello, Loius," he had every reason to believe this wasn't Josephine, and worse, his day was about to be ruined. He knew that voice from anywhere, even if it sounded like she'd been beaten by life.

Why was she calling now? His face creased. "What do you want, Tatiana?" He asked menacingly.

"I know you'll not want to talk to me of all people right now, but please, hear me out," she begged and Louis could tell she was sad. Was she ever happy? "Josephine told me where you are and how I could reach out to you."

He rolled his eyes. "Why did you go through the stress?" He said, eyes now on Elvira as he played with her soft cheeks. He looked up to Rose, both of them showing signs of awkwardness as usual. But he defiantly kissed her lips anyway, and turned around, gesturing at the housekeeper to carry the bags from her.

Tatiana carried on, "You need to come home, Louis. Something terribly strange has happened."

His stomach churned, anger and curiosity an obnoxious mix that made him feel sick instantly. "You can't just order me around. Why do I need to come to Mexico because you say so?"

The woman on the other end of the call was hysterical, he could tell. That she wasn't only shaking but was falling apart.

"I just learned the true story about Brad's death, it's not what we all thought, and I bet you'd cuss the earth too if you found out."