Page 96 of Beautiful Life
I exhale and pull up the courage to respond. “And I love him.”
I see the tears that were pooling finally spill over as she gives me a small nod. She releases my hands and brings hers up to cup my face saying full of promise, “He’ll love you fiercely. I know he will. He’s just like his father. You’ll never know anything but love, Leigh. Not for the rest of your life.”
This makes my tears spill over and I nod my head in her hands. She finally pulls me into a motherly embrace. How I know it’s motherly, I have no idea because I’ve never felt anything like it in my life and it makes my breath hitch with a sob.
“Welcome, Leigh,” she whispers for only me to hear as she gives me a final squeeze.
She releases me and gives me a small smile as she brings one hand up to cup my face. She steps back and all of the sudden her face changes as she looks to her son.
Oh, shit.
She loses the small smile and soft look, narrowing her eyes on Tony. She pulls her brows together and her jaw becomes hard as she glares at my new husband. Her one and only son. Her Golden Boy. It’s no secret in this family her son can do no wrong…
Until he gets married behind his mother’s back.
She continues to glare, working her lip in her mouth before she turns on a heel, and marches toward Gabby’s kitchen.
“Oh, no,” Gabby whispers from somewhere close.
I quickly bring my hands up to my face to wipe my tears and turn to Tony in complete freak-out mode. “I told you!”
Tony looks across the room to his mother who has her back to us while starting to unearth the mountain of food Gabby prepared for tonight. “I’ll talk to her. She’ll come around, gem.”
I barely get a chance to glance back at Lizzie because I’m attacked from the side by Paige. “Sistah! Yippee!”
I hesitantly smile down at Paige as she pulls me into a big hug with other Carpinos following suit. Tony digs into my pocket and I feel him pull out our rings. He slides mine on my finger before putting his own on.
Leaning in to kiss me before he grins a knowing grin. “Welcome to my family, sweetheart. It’s too late to run now.”
*****
Tony
“He’s missing?” I’m on the phone as I look across the room at Leigh who’s surrounded by my family, talking to my aunts, uncles, and Rosa. The night has been a whirlwind. All positive energy, except from my mother. I’m going to have to figure out what to do about her and soon. It’s stressing Leigh out even though my mother has made it clear she’s pissed at me.
“We thought we should let you know since he was agitated the night we arrested his father. Almost had to take him into custody that night he was so upset about his dad’s charges and arrest. His mother finally called it in today. Apparently, he took off Saturday night after we hauled his dad in and she hasn’t seen him since. He’s an adult, twenty-three-years-old. But his mom says he isn’t well—even unstable. Some kind of chemical imbalance. He’s fine when he’s on his meds, but she doesn’t think he’s had them for days. She’s freaked, not to mention the shit storm brewing around her husband, and they’re dragging her in for questioning to see if she knew about the money.”
“Thanks for the call,” I say to the detective assigned to the case. “I’ll let my client know. I’d appreciate it if you could keep me up to date. A picture and description wouldn’t go amiss, either.”
“Will do,” he says.
I disconnect and move to my dad and Gino to fill them in. “Richard Blaton’s son, Cory, is missing. Remember he went ballistic when his dad was taken into custody? He took off that night and his mom hasn’t seen him since. I guess he’s not well when he’s not on his meds. The detective didn’t go into detail, but it doesn’t sound good. I’ll call McCurdy when I get home tonight and fill him in.”
“Great,” Gino huffs. “One more thing to worry about.”
“It’s getting late,” my dad says. “You’d better go if you’re going to make that call tonight.”
I sigh and look across to the kitchen—this time at my mother—who’s busy helping Gabby clean her kitchen that already looks pretty damn clean.
“You’d be doing me a favor if you talked to her before you go,” my dad says from my side and I turn to look at him. “I have to go home with her. I’m happy for you son. I even understand why you did it on some level. But she’s hurt. You need to smooth that over.”
I silently agree with a lift of my chin and walk to the kitchen. Leigh catches my gaze as I walk across the room when she sees where I’m headed.
My mom has her back to me again, so I move in and put my arm around her neck from the back, pulling her to me.
Surprised, she lets out a little shriek before realizing it’s me, grabs my arm with her hands. “Tony!”
I lower my voice for only her to hear. “You can’t ignore me all night, Mom.”
