Love and Truth Read online

  Love and Truth

  Copyright © Karen Frances 2019

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, without the prior consent of the author. All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design by

  Kari March, Kari March Designs

  Editing by

  Karen Sanders

  Proofread by

  The Word Fairy

  Interior Design and Formatting by

  Clydeside Publishing

  Paul

  Thank you for always believing in me, even when I don’t believe in myself.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Epilogue

  Books by

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Maria

  My head spins and I close my eyes, trying to blot out the pain. Not the physical pain of what I endured by Pete’s hands, the emotional pain that is ripping my heart in two, and I have no one to blame but myself. All the possibilities of a good life that I could see before me have been washed away. There’s no way back for me.

  Whoever said honesty is the best policy was talking crap. Look what it’s done to me.

  Jack brought light into my world. He gave me hope and also a belief in myself that I could be better, but I’m no better than Tony or Pete. I might be worse, because most of the time they committed their own crimes. Me, I didn’t even get my hands dirty. Asking my brother for his help has all but cemented my own downfall. Maybe I’m destined to live a life of crime after all. Or maybe I’ll just pay the price by serving a long jail sentence. I have to be the one to take the fall, no one else, especially not Giovanni. It’s what I deserve. He only did what he did to protect me.

  Local and national press will have a field day when news of this gets out. Tony Fraser, killed by his own wife.

  I’m so confused, yet so relieved that Jack and Joe got to me in time. They saved me, although now, it might’ve been better for all concerned if they hadn’t. Around me, there’s a buzz of voices discussing what Pete did to me. Lou is mourning the loss of a child that would’ve been her only connection to her brother, as far as she knows. I’ve still to tell her about Colette and I’m dreading that. And sooner rather than later, when all this comes out, she’s going to hate me. I’m not prepared for that. She’s my best friend. She’s my sister, and I’ve betrayed her friendship. She’ll want to kill me for what I’ve done, and who could blame her?

  “Lou, you should come home. The girls need you.”

  “I can’t. Look at her. You go. I’ll stay here. I can’t leave her alone when she’s like this. You do understand, don’t you?” Lou might be keeping her voice down, but I can still hear her as she stands in the corner, speaking to Mark. I’ve not been able to look at or speak to her since she entered the room.

  “Of course, b…”

  The room door opens, and I don’t have to look to see who has just entered. The atmosphere is thick, and I can feel the tension roll in waves around me. Giovanni is here.

  “Lou, she won’t be alone. I’ll stay with her.” I can imagine Lou’s scrunched up face as she eyes my brother up and down, hating that the two of them are in the same room, which they’ve managed to avoid over the years.

  “I’m not sure,” she says quietly.

  I open my eyes, turning to face them. “Lou, go home with Mark, back to the girls. Give them a kiss from me and tell them I’ll see them both soon. I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep. Giovanni, you can go home too. As you can tell, I’m not really in the mood for visitors.” I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince with my statement, but I’d rather be on my own because I know it’s something I’m going to have to get used to.

  “Maria DeLuca, you don’t get to lie there and have your own fucking pity party.” I freeze at Giovanni’s words and I’m more than surprised he hasn’t decided to scold me in Italian. Lou opens her mouth and I already know what she’s going to say, that I’m not a DeLuca, I’m a Fraser, but she closes her mouth just as quickly. I’m not sure if she’s avoiding an argument with me or Giovanni, but I think I already know.

  Lou steps toward me, shaking her head, and I know it’s Giovanni that has annoyed her. My suspicion was correct. She leans down. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” she says, kissing my cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Joe said he’s staying here at the hospital with you.” My chest tightens at her words and I look away, scared that she’ll see through me, breaking the intensity of this moment.

  I’m not sorry. The thought of Tony’s baby growing inside me is enough to make my skin crawl.

  “If you need us to bring anything tomorrow, get Joe to call me,” Mark says, taking Lou’s hand and tugging her gently away from me.

  “Thank you,” I say as they say their goodbyes, leaving me alone with my brother. “We need to talk.”

  “No, you need to rest. Get your strength back. The baby?”

  No. I need to talk. I need to know every last detail of what happened, so that I’m prepared for the moment Jack comes back to take me into custody. Because he will. It’s what he does; brings the bad guys in and gets justice.

  “If I had known I was pregnant…” Tears run down my face. I’m sure my brother thinks he knows what’s wrong. If only he knew the truth.

  “Hush now. Everything will be okay.” He sits on the bed and wraps his arms around me, and I wince from his touch, my tears falling uncontrollably. Pain radiates through my body and I embrace it because it’s distracting me from the pain of losing Jack. “Merda! Non intendo farti del male. Tutto andrà bene.” I’m not so sure I believe him when he says everything will be okay.

  The door opens again. “Sir, I’ll have to ask you to refrain from sitting on the bed.”

  I want to laugh at my brother getting into trouble from the lovely petite nurse who is scowling at him, her hands resting on her hips.

  “Fine.” He huffs, standing, and the poor nurse… I’m sure she’s about to pass out looking at him towering above her, but she keeps calm, whereas Giovanni looks put out. I think the last person to give him a telling off was our mother. I don’t think anyone else has ever dared.

  “Maria, there’s a detective that would like to speak to you. I’ll show him in after I’ve done your checks.”

  “Okay,” I say, watching on as she takes my notes, reading through the last lot of checks that were done. “Giovanni, go home. I’m tired, and after I’ve spoken to the detective I plan on getting some sleep.”

  “It’s not Jack,” he says, his eyes narrowing, silently questioning me. “What’s going on? I know he and Joe found you.”

  “Nothing is going on. I’d expect him to st
ay clear given… well, you know why.”

  He stares and I can already sense his next line of questioning. “Okay. I’ll call you later to see how you are, and if there are any problems or you need me, get Joe to call me straight away,” he says, giving me a kiss before leaving the room.

  Weird. Not what I was expecting.

  I sigh heavily, thankful that everyone has left the hospital. Well, except for Joe. Although I’m sure he will have more than a few questions of his own for me.

  “Your brother?” the nurse asks.

  “Yes. He can be a bit…”

  “Over-protective. I have one too, but he’s not as handsome as yours.” I laugh and want to stop because it bloody hurts, but I can’t as I watch her face turn a very bright shade of crimson. “I shouldn’t be making you laugh. We’ll both get into trouble.”

  I like her. I contain my laughter and allow her to take my temperature and my blood pressure, which she has to take a second time because it’s too high. We both blame the laughter.

  “Now, how is the pain?”

  “I could do with something to take the sting out of everything.”

  She reads my notes. “You’ve been through a lot today. Everything is bound to be sore. I’ll go and speak to the doctor and see if we can get you something a bit stronger, although it may make you a bit drowsy.”

  “That doesn’t matter. I really could do with some rest.”

  “Okay. I’ll send in the detective and I’ll be back soon.”

  I smile as she leaves the room and I wait for whoever is here to see and question me. Now I’m wondering what the hell to say. Do I only tell them about today, and Pete attacking me? Or do I come clean about my part in Tony’s death?

  There’s no time to make a decision as the door opens and Craig, Jack’s friend, enters the room. He doesn’t speak as he pulls a chair across the room, positions it beside my bed, and sits down. I attempt to pull myself into a sitting position, but it doesn’t go well as I struggle to find the strength.

  “Here, let me,” Craig says, offering his hands for me to lean on as I move. “How are you feeling?”

  “Not so great, but then I suppose that’s to be expected.”

  His soft eyes study me. “Who attacked you?”

  “Pete Jamieson, but I’m sure you already know that.” I smile and pain shoots up my face. It’s easy to forget the injuries I have when I don’t have to look at them.

  “Why?” he asks.

  “Are you here to take my statement or just to try and piss me off? If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been beaten up and also had a miscarriage. So, if you want a statement about the attack, I’ll give one. If not, can you leave?”

  “I’d like you to answer my question.”

  I have to remember he’s Jack’s friend and a detective. “I don’t know. You’d have to ask Pete that question.”

  I can see his frustration with me as he taps his hand against the metal rail of the bed. “Maria, I’m sorry if this is uncomfortable for you, especially today, but you have to understand that it’s my job to catch Pete and put him away for this. I need the information while it’s all fresh in your head.”

  “I’m not sure anything is fresh in my head. I opened the door without looking at the security camera because I thought it was Jack,” I say softly, avoiding looking at his eyes. “After he entered the flat I don’t remember much. It’s all pretty foggy. I don’t want to go over all the details of what he was about to do to me. It was bad enough telling Jack.”

  He places his hand on top of mine, and I lift my head. “Maria, we’ll catch Pete. I’ll go and let you rest.” As I look at him, I see the sincerity behind his words. It’s not hard to understand why he and Jack are friends; they seem so alike.

  He has no idea about what’s been said between Jack and me. But I’m sure all that will change in the coming days.

  Craig stands, removing his hand from mine, and walks toward the door. He pauses, his back to me. “I have one more question.”

  “What?” I reply as he turns around.

  “Why the hell did Jack leave here in such a hurry?”

  And there it is, the only question he really wanted to ask. “You’d have to ask him that yourself.”

  He nods, knowing there’s something going on. He opens the door and walks out, allowing it to bang closed behind him, leaving me finally alone with my thoughts.

  Wrapping my arms around my body, I turn my head to the side, closing my eyes. I rock back and forth. Memories of every moment Jack and I shared flood my mind.

  My world is empty.

  My life has no purpose, again.

  I’m back in a dark place. A place I never thought I’d ever be again.

  Darkness and pain.

  It’s all I see and feel.

  But it’s what I deserve.

  Chapter Two

  Jack

  I press the volume on the remote, turning the music up, hoping that it drowns out her voice, the one that is lingering in my head. The words playing over and over. I laugh when I hear what’s playing – Let Her Go. The words hit me hard. How appropriate. Maria… I’ve let her go. I have to. What choice do I have? She can’t stay in my life, not now I know the truth.

  Her pained scream still rings loudly in my ears, even after all these hours. Turning my back on her was the hardest thing I’ve ever fucking done in my life. And still now, in this state, it would be easy to jump into a cab, head back to the hospital, hold her broken body in my arms, and tell her everything will be okay. But how can it be okay?

  I wander back through to the kitchen, take another beer from the fridge, and open it, taking a long gulp, trying to ignore the seven empty bottles sitting on the counter.

  There will be eight in a few more minutes, then nine, then ten. And I’m going to continue drinking until I can’t feel anymore. Until the pain stops.

  But, this time, I’m not sure the pain will ever leave me.

  All my training, yet again, has failed me. Letting a woman fuck me over again. Although, this time it hurts so much more than it did before. I’ve fallen for a woman who is incapable of telling me the truth. She hid it so well. But then, I should’ve expected it. Maria fucking Fraser, the woman I fell in love with, even when I knew I should have kept my distance. She was the one who ordered the hit on her husband.

  It all makes sense now.

  Perfect.

  Fucking.

  Sense.

  That’s why she left the house completely unharmed. Well, from the intruders, anyway. She’s one hell of an actress. All these weeks, she’s played me. What a fucking fool I’ve been. She’s as bad as him, if not worse. She thought about it and carried it through. This wasn’t some spur of the moment decision. She wanted her husband dead. Fuck, so did I, but I don’t think I would’ve executed a plan, not to this extent. I would’ve happily settled to get him behind bars.

  I laugh. “And all this time I’ve been trying to get the gangsters off the streets. Maybe I should’ve focused my attention on the wives. Seems they could cause more damage than the men in their lives.”

  I stare out of the kitchen window and gulp down the remainder of the beer, tossing the empty bottle in the sink before me. This is the one place that hasn’t been tainted; she’s never been here. So why the hell am I seeing her vision every fucking where I look? At every damn turn.

  I stomp over to the fridge, taking out yet another beer and opening it. “She isn’t allowed to be here. Fuck off and leave me alone,” I shout, before swiping at the bottles on the counter, sending them flying across the kitchen and smashing as they hit the floor.

  The music stops.

  “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to clean that shit up?”

  I look at him filling the doorway, hoping he’s not really here. That it’s just my drunken imagination playing tricks on me. But he’s here, larger than life and looking mighty pissed off. About what, though, I have no idea.

  I look at the mess on the
floor. “I think I’ll leave it. Want a beer?”

  “Nope. I want to know why you ran out of that fucking hospital today, leaving Maria coping on her own.”

  “She has her family. She won’t need me,” I slur. Finally, the alcohol is starting to take effect.

  “That’s total bullshit and you know it. I have no idea what’s happened, but have you seen the fucking state that bastard has left her in? I hardly recognised her.”

  So, he’s seen her? What the hell does he know?

  “Yes!” I shout. “I was the one that fucking found her lifeless body on the floor. Blood everywhere. I left because I had no choice, and no, I won’t tell you.”

  “Okay, I’ll respect your decision, but I won’t stand back and watch you turn your back on everything because you’ve decided that you need alcohol more than anything else. You’ve worked hard on rebuilding your life. Don’t throw it all away, especially your happiness. Because this isn’t the path for you.”

  How the hell would he know what’s right for me? He isn’t in my shoes. He’s got the perfect life, with the perfect wife. Craig knows nothing about feeling so low that you want the darkness to swallow you whole.

  He knows nothing about having not one, but two fucking women lie to him. So, I hope he forgives me if I don’t listen to his words of advice.

  “Go away,” I say, taking another swig from my bottle. “I never asked you to come here.”