Embrace
Embrace
Before even realizing what she was doing, Angela dashed towards her mother and threw her arms around her. Cynthia nearly stumbled back but steadied her footing to catch her daughter.
After all those years, even though Cynthia had given her the biggest heartache since childhood by making her feel abandoned, she was still her mother. And what Cynthia did back in the dining room for Angela and Oliver, and her family… Not everyone could've done that.
The resentments Angela had for Cynthia for what happened in the past was still a lingering feeling inside her and that might take a while to subside. But Angela couldn't look the other way now—not when her mother might be in trouble for what she did.
It hurt Angela too much to still love her mother after everything. She couldn't help the rush of emotions coursing through her veins that big tears rolled out of her eyes as she almost crushed Cynthia in a tight hug, burying her face into her mother's shoulder. Cynthia's familiar scent—something Angela could hardly explain what it resembled to, only that it was soft and warm—only made her cry harder.
"Mom…"
Angela forgot about everyone else around them. The Bratva, the scary old mansion, her grandfather, the armed soldiers, and Gael's family—she forgot about all of them. At that moment, Angela was merely a little girl who finally found her mother after what felt like an eternity without her embrace.
"Kylie, my baby…" Cynthia sobbed against Angela's hair, rubbing her daughter's back just like she did whenever Angela was in pain—in a way only she could do for her. "I'm so so very sorry."
Angela felt extremely worried for her mother. She knew that there were a few male leaders directly under the Pakhan. What would happen if they found out what Cynthia did? In a broken voice, Angela whispered, "What will they do to you? Mom, you should come with us."
Unwillingly, Cynthia slightly pulled back, held Angela's face in her hands, and stared into her eyes. "Don't worry about me, okay? I will handle it. Like I always have."
"But—"
Cynthia hushed her, wiping Angela's cheeks with her fingers. She was also quietly sobbing but unlike Angela, she had better control of her emotions. She then placed a kiss on her daughter's cheek. "I love you, my angel Kylie."
"Mom… please."
Cynthia briefly looked over Angela's shoulder and gave someone a silent plea. "Go, Kylie. You must leave now." In the next second, Gael's warm hands wrapped around Angela's arms.
"Mom!" Angela called while Gael all but nearly carried her out of there.
Cynthia's lips quivered, but once again, her mask was on.
As Gael dragged Angela away, she saw the bigger frame. The Bratva soldiers were around her mother and Cynthia had to look the part—she couldn't look weak in front of them. It was no place for a woman as men dominated the organization and she could never lead, but she still stood tall and confident in a house full of brutish men.
Angela didn't know what would happen to her mother. She could only hope that it wasn't the last time she would ever see her.
***
Angela didn't remember the drive home. Gael took the rest of the day off and stayed with her in his brownstone in Williamsburg where it was closer. He tightened the security, putting more men to keep watch outside his home.
His family was busy after they got back as Giovanni brought with him several men to make good on what he planned to do— "put things in order," were his exact words.
If Angela wasn't in the picture, Gael would be right next to his uncle doing what they had to do but his priority right now was to be where Angela needed him to be. She broke down on their way home and then passed out in bed. Gael was more determined to send her back to Mayne to recover despite not wanting to be far away from her. Angela had one hell of a few months and there were still nine months left in the year.
At three in the afternoon, Gael went back inside the room after checking in with his security. He found Angela in a towel, sitting in front of the dresser and drying her hair. He grabbed a set of the dark grey sweatshirt and a pair of joggers from his closet—the ones she loved to borrow from him, and he dressed her with it.
"Thank you," she muttered as she sat cross-legged on the bed and he took the spot next to her.
"Anytime." When she stayed quiet and just stared at nowhere in particular, he wondered, "What are you thinking about?"
Angela angled her body to face him and asked, "What did you talk about with my mother back there? And have you heard from her since?"
"Yeah, she's fine. They already took care of everything."
"What does that mean?"
Gael hesitated but he looked straight in her eyes and hoped he didn't have to elaborate to spare her the gory detail. "It means… No one alive is going to say anything about what happened in the dining room."
She blinked, her gaze sharpening as if she already understood what he meant. "But what about Volkov? There's evidence… His finger. The others will surely question why his finger was cut off."
"Volkov's okay. He got the surgery in time to reattach the…part. In the Bratva, they can't do that if it was a punishment. The loss is forever. But those aware of what happened were either Ivan's men—or the Pakhan's and they're already gone. Your grandfather was too pissed to notice other things happening around him. While he was there locking us up and trying to make me his…soldier," he scoffed, "the Volkovs were already taking over—except for those guards by the gate that Gio and my father had to face."
Angela's brows drew together. "They…planned everything?"
"Not exactly… All your mother told us was that Ivan's family had always wanted to usurp Novikov's throne. So it was bound to happen sooner or later. And the timing is also…well…good because they have a war going on at the moment, so they factored that in."
"They have enemies too? A war with whom?"
"I think you're aware that we have enemies all the time in this world, Angel. Just like us, the Bratva also went through some loss a few weeks ago."
"What happened?"
Gael took a deep breath and fell back on the bed, tucking his hands under his head. "I only found out a piece of news this afternoon from my father, but I've known that the Bratva has a long-standing war against the Irish mafia. They've been attacking each other's territories for years. Apparently, the Irish ambushed a few Bratva establishments recently, and then your grandfather was nearly killed at an assassination attempt two weeks ago."
Angela didn't know what to say. Was that the reason why it took him a while to do what he did today? The old man only bought himself a couple of weeks more until…
"Anyway," Gael shook his head and sighed, meeting Angela's somber gaze. "This is why your mother didn't want this life for you."
Her back straightened in a snap and she scowled at him. "Don't tell me you're talking me out of my choice now."
"I'm not. But if you do change your mind—"
"I will never! Don't you dare go soft on me now, Gael! Not after everything we've been through together!"
Pushing himself up in a sitting position, he smiled down at her and swept her hair away from her face. "I was going to say, if you changed your mind, I'll just have to convince you harder and remind you every day how much we love each other too much to ever walk away from this." He brushed his thumb on her cheek. "Didn't I tell you, baby? I'm never letting you go."
Angela released a breath she didn't know she held. Then she climbed on his lap and straddled him, circling her arms on his neck and resting her head against his. "Our life is so eventful."
This got Gael chuckling. "You mean thrilling?" He kissed her temple as his strong arms wrapped around her. "Baby, you'd die of boredom if you were to marry a boring, nerdy bank clerk."
"If this hypothetical nerdy bank clerk has your hot as fuck body, it would probably not be so boring…"
He growled, digging his fingers into her waist that made her giggle and push off of him—or at least she tried, but he kept her in place.
"I don't think I'd last in that marriage if I were..." She smiled. "What ever will I write about?"
Gael narrowed his eyes on her. "Fucking vanilla sex, that's what."
Angela burst out laughing, her chest and shoulders feeling lighter. Gael was relieved to see her in a better mood now. He pulled her back to him and pressed a kiss on the corner of her lips. "I promise you, Angel. You'll never have a boring life with me. And definitely not vanilla sex."