Hold Me 'till the rain stops

chapter 38: Not guilty

Elliana:
Anxiety hits me at full speed when Scott starts talking about André.
"So I had to do a lot of digging up, and had my men snoop around and follow him wherever he goes, but I finally found out who he is. As I said earlier today, he works in a small pub and his earnings too are the bare minimum, which do not justify why he lives in a 3 storey mansion, compete with 6 bedrooms. He has been extorting money out of Krimson and Xavier. That's the information we got from the financial transaction reports Elliana sent us. I also had a snitch follow him for his daily routine and he came accross a cigarette butt he smoked, that we sent into the lab, and......"

"And what?" Savannah exclaims

"His DNA has a 27.9% match with Xavier Barton, which means they're brothers."

"Brothers!?" I exclaim a little too loudly and have to remind myself that my parents are also living under the same roof as me. "How is this even possible? My dad is the only child of my grandparents!"

"They're half-brothers. They share a father"

"What!?" Savannah, Martin and I exclaim at the same time.

"Hermit has another son that he doesn't share with Rosalia?" Martin asks.

"Yes sir....the only possible explanation of this is that he cheated on Mrs Barton sometime during the course of their marriage, when Xavier Barton was about 11 years old. He had the baby with the woman he cheated on. We don't know for sure if Rosalia knew about this or not"

"Wait so....why is my half uncle extorting money from my dad? And if he knew.... wouldn't he have told me?"

"Here's where it gets crazier....Elliana your parents aren't criminals. They never were. They were made to appear as criminals."

"What?"

"All the drug deals and black marketting and other crimes....they weren't done by Krimson and Xavier, but they were done by Hermit and Rosalia Barton. Xavier found out about this and he was made to inherit it even if he didn't want to. When he got married, it was forced on your mother too. Rosalia Barton planned on having you join the mafia clan of your family but your parents were against that, which is why they didn't take you to any meetings because they wanted to keep you away from this for as long as they can. Your parents never planned their murder. They're innocent. Very well covered up by Rosalia and Hermit."

"What the actual hell!?" Martin exclaims.
"Martin, calm down!" Savannah hushes "you're on blood pressure pills."

Martin heeds her words, lowering his visit "I've known Martin my entire life and that man was a saint!"

"I understand, sir but....I'm afraid this was all a play. He and Rosalia had connections with the Italian mob and some disagreement between them was the result of their death"

I don't even realise I'm Crying until Massimo hugs me tightly and begins wiping the tears that were sliding down my cheeks while kissing my forehead.  "Shh it's ok, let it out" he whispers.
When I calm down, Massimo speaks up, still tightly clutching my hand "our next plan of action is to not worry about this now, but to work on the solution. We need to immediately stop the arrest, which I've taken care of. Their arrest warrant has officially been withdrawn as of right now and they stand not guilty. "

"So how do we handle this?" I sniff.

"Well, I'd suggest an open chat. Let them know that the cat's out of the bag, though I assume they already have a clue...but Mr and Mrs Laurent, you should talk to them. As their... family"

"No no, of course we'll do that. We'll fly to LA"
after some more discussion and viewing the dna reports and some more evidences, I notice the time is 3 am. Massimo insists on driving me to my home because I told him about an assignment later this week. And even though I'm completely numb, that's what I love about him. We end up reaching my house early due to no traffic and Massimo walks me to my apartment, outside of which he stops to face me.

"I know o should probably not be speaking of this here, but I need you to find out when your parents are going to LA so we can join them. I need you there too."

"Okay"

"And anything, absolutely anything at all, do not hesitate to call me. I'll always be there for you"

"I know" I say as I loop my arms around his waist and burry my face in his chest.

"I love you" he says, kissing the top of my head.
"I love you too"
We break the hug and I carefully open the door, trying to make no noise and sneak back into my room and shut the door. I change into different clothes and lie down on my bed. I fall asleep right away, my tiredness giving away my need to overthink this entire situation.
I don't know how long I slept but I'm stirred awake by someone's arm over my torso.
Massimo?
I don't open my eyes but I'm awake. What's he doing here? And how did he get in?

"Good morning my sweet girl" my mom's voice whispers in my ear.
Ah.
"Mm.. morning" I murmur as I turn on my side to hug her. My mom too, is lying on my bed and we just stay in that position for god knows how long when my mom insists on me waking up because breakfast was ready.
When she leaves my room I pick up my phone from my nightstand to check the time.
It's 8 a.m. I slept for 3 hours? That's it? How am I not crying right now?

I drag myself out of bed to wash up and walk to the living room where my  dad is making pancakes and my mom was sitting on the table, eating them.

"Good morning baby girl" my dad says as he smiles at me.
"Morning dad" I smile back

My dad flips the last of the pancakes on the plate and brings them over to the table to serve me and my mom.

"So sweetie, were thinking about going back to California tonight"

My head snaps in their direction.
That's right, now that their arrest warrant has been cancelled, they've got some answers to give to the Italian mob.

"So soon? Can't you stay for a few more days?"

"I'm afraid not this time, honey" my dad says "there's some urgent work that's popped up and needs to be done ASAP, but we can always come back after its done or you can come by to New York"

"I guess" I groan

My mom places her hand over mine and smiles at me "don't worry sweetheart, were not going anywhere. We're only visiting California for a few days, and that's only because we've got some company stuff to take care of. We'll be back soon"

"Yeah. 15 days, tops" my dad said, smiling.

There was a strange comfort in knowing that they weren't going anywhere. Literally. But also heartbreaking because they had to go through all of that their entire lives. My grandparents were amazing people. At least to me.... but after finding out how they wanted me to join them in the underworld...I can't say that I love and respect them how I used to when they were here.
All I can say is...I'm greatfull to Scott and his men or whosoever risked their lives until now and finally uncovered this secret. And all I hope is there are no more twists and turns in my life. It's already twisted as it is.

That evening, my parents pack some of their things and leave fir New York. I drive them to the airport to see them off and Massimo insists on joining.
It feels normal....like him and I were meant to be.
On our way back, Massimo places his hand on my thigh and asks if I'd like company.
He's the one who perfectly knows when I'm sad.

"Yes, please" I say "I'm coming over to your house" I say with a smile.
When we reach his house, we head to his room where I change and lie down on his bed.
That's when I wonder what living with him would look like.
Will our relationship be so strong one day that we'd move in together?
Will we....get married someday?
I know I'm too young for this but I've always known that I want kids. It never really mattered when, provided I'm well settled in my professional life.
I look up at Massimo who has already fallen asleep, with this peaceful look on his face and wonder what kind of dad he'd be.
I know he loves kids. I've seen the way he adores his sister's baby and he's not even born yet.
I just know he'll be the most wonderful father.