For the Empire - Inganno

Chapter 28

Back at the house, I'm researching rentals in Paris while snacking on the cookies Carmela made this morning when I hear a knock on my door. I call out for them to come in and see JP standing in the doorway after he pushes my door open.

"What do you want?" I turn my attention back to the laptop on my bed. I can see him moving towards me from the corner of my eye.

"I came to see how you are doing? I don't like how we are constantly fighting all the time lately."

I don't say anything, but I feel the same about not liking how we seem to argue more than our usual silly bickering.

"Charmaine? Please talk to me." He leans over and picks up my hand to grab my attention. I sigh as I look at him, but I secretly like how warm his hand feels as it encompasses mine.

"What do you want me to say, JP?"

"Anything. Everything. We've never had problems talking to each other, and I feel like there's a wall between us. I don't like not being able to talk to you, not knowing what's going on in that crazy head of yours," He teases me.

I look up at him, and he smiles softly at me. I don't know if he's aware that he's rubbing circles on my hand with his thumb; he's been doing that a lot lately. I feel the warmth moving through my body from his touch.

But I pull my hand from him to focus. "What about you, JP? I know you've trained to work your way up the ranks with my Uncle. And your dad drills you on loyalty constantly but at what price? You're keeping things from me, JP, and you expect me to be some docile, quiet friend. I can't do that, especially when I know it involves me."

"I don't do it to hurt you. You know that," He says, running his hands through his hair.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't feel hurt. But, you know what? More than ever, I know I need to get away from here; the longer I stay here, the worse things seem to get," I laugh half-heartedly, "And my Uncle can't stand being around me, more than usual."

"There's nowhere safer than being here with family, with...me." JP holds my hand again.

"It doesn't always feel like family, for me, JP. If Pops were here maybe, it'd be different, but with him gone more and more—I don't know. He did say he'd figure out a way to stay longer or permanently after this trip.

The irony is, I'll be the one leaving this time. And you're going to get busier doing whatever it is my Uncle will have you do, and I need to go and experience life for myself, away from all of this."

"Does Timo know you are leaving, then?" He lets go of my hand to stand and shoves his hands in his pockets. He walks over to the picture board on my wall; pictures of Annalisa and me, a few with Elena, cover the board.

But most are of just me and JP. Everything we've done together since I moved here. The pictures include nights of our movie marathons, baking with Carmela, riding our bikes around the property.

There are other pictures of our summer vacations at my Uncle's lake house, many silly face selfies, laughing, and even some of our school dance pictures when we went together.

"Yes, I told him right before we left for the trip, and he said I could go. I'm not going to lie; I was surprised that he said yes." I chuckle. JP doesn't say anything, so I continue, "I think we both knew this was going to happen eventually, right? You said it yourself a few weeks ago, remember?"

I walk to where he is near the board and hook my arm in his. "Sooner or later, you will have a more prominent role in the "family." Although, I really hope you follow your dreams and goals with traveling and using your engineering degree. These next couple weeks are probably going to be the last ones that we'll be living together, you know?"