“Whatever you think is best, mi hija.”
Sin kissed her forehead and helped her into the house. She made sure Carmelita ate and then helped her to bed. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her eyes welling up with tears.
“Mi hija,” Carmelita said as she wiped a tear from Sin’s cheek, “you have nothing to be sorry for. If I had done what you said, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Yeah, but—”
Carmelita placed a finger over her lips. “No buts. You go and do what you were born to do. I’ll be here when you’re done. I’ll always be here when you return.”
Sin whispered she loved her, kissed her cheeks and tucked her in. She stayed by Carmelita’s side until her mother had fallen asleep.
Back in the kitchen she asked Tiffany for the keys to her Jeep. “I hope you don’t mind her staying here for a little while. I should have asked before I assumed.
Tiffany hugged Sin. “You didn’t have to ask. That’s what friends do.”
At the Johnson place, everyone was waiting outside when Sin pulled up. “Marcus and Wilson, I want Savio and Sawyer brought to the basement. Cuff them then join the others.” Eyeing her team, she said, “Find a bathroom and get cleaned up, we meet in the library in an hour.”
Sin made her way to the second floor. From the elevator, she could see Dominic and Aria, all smiles, talking to Pia. As she made her way to the room, Aimee met her in the hall. Sin couldn’t help but notice a difference in her countenance. She seemed to sparkle with life.
Aimee hugged her. Sin groaned. “Easy, Priestess, I’m a bit banged up.”
“Sorry. I’m just thankful you were able to . . . you know.”
“Yeah, I know. How is Pia?”
“As soon as you did what was necessary, everything changed. Her body finally started to heal. It was a miracle.”
“Not a miracle,” Sin said. She pulled the ruby-studded knife from her belt and handed it to Aimee. “Obeah.”
Aimee shed a tear as she took the knife from her. “Obeah,” she nodded.
In the room, Dominic thanked her for all she had done. “You have given us more than I can ever repay,” he said. He looked at Aria. “How do we ever thank you?”
“You can start by giving the money in the back of the Hummer to Aria.”
“To me?” Aria seem startled by the gesture.
“I agree with everything Dominic did. His deal with Lancaster. But, I think he’ll agree that the LaBarbara holdings should go back to you.” She eyed Dominic. He nodded in response.
“I think this will be a grand way of reestablishing our family,” Aria grinned.
Sin looked at the three of them. “As in all of you?”
“We’ve been doing quite a bit of soul-searching since you’ve been gone. We have decided to try our marriage again,” Dominic said. “For real this time.” He reached out and held the hands of his daughter and ex-wife. “This ordeal has brought us a renewed sense of what is important in life.”
After speaking to Pia for a little while, Sin was about to leave when Aria asked, “Savio, is he alive?”
“He is, but I’m afraid you can’t see him. Not until I know his part on all of this.”
“I might be able to help in that matter,” Aria said.
“Oh?”
“Dominic and Pia know what you and I already do. I told them the truth, the whole truth.”
“About?” Sin said.
“About my relations to Savio.”
“Come with me, he’s downstairs.”
She and Aria left, not saying another word.
Downstairs in the basement, Savio and Sawyer were handcuffed to chairs. When Aria saw Savio, she ran to him and covered his face with kisses.
Sin uncuffed Sawyer from the chair, but kept his hands cuffed behind his back. He opened his mouth to talk, but Sin smacked him across the face. “Not one word, or I swear I’ll kill you and drop you so far in the Atlantic that no one will find you.” She dragged him across the room and cuffed him to the staircase banister.
She eased herself down and watched as Aria spoke in hushed tones to Savio. She could tell that as the conversation progressed the more heated it became. It ended when Aria slapped him across the face, both of them crying.
Sin stood as Aria approached.
Savio told me he found out that I was his mother.”
“How?”
“He wanted to try and find out who his mother was, so he took one of those DNA tests, ‘23 and me.’ I had done one a while back. He found it one day while going through my desk. That’s where he got the idea. He was surprised to find we were a perfect match.”
“Okay, but what was his part in what happened?”
“He said he wanted to make me proud. Prove that he belonged. He was contacted by an unknown person asking for his help in stealing money from Dominic. He thought if he could extort money from my ex and give it back to me, that I would be proud to call him my son.” Aria wiped a tear that slid down her cheek. “He swears he was told that Pia would be safe. That she would be returned unharmed. All he had to do was get her to Key West.”
“You believe him?”
“Every word. His actions were misguided, but he had no idea what would actually happen to his sister. He loves her.”
“Let’s hope you’re right. I need to talk to him. Alone.”
Aria nodded.
Sin sat facing Savio and asked him to tell her everything, constantly checking his non-verbal cues. He spoke the truth as he rehashed the plan and what happened in Key West. “Tell me about the numbers you called,” she said. “The West Palm Beach and Washington D.C. area codes.”
“I don’t know who I spoke to. One had a Jamaican accent, the other American.”
“Why did you text your location to the West Palm Beach area code?”
“I was told that Pia would be dropped off at
