"We need to keep my dad safe."

"I will make sure of it," Vincent spoke.

I threw my clothes and other belongings into my suitcase.

Our flights were leaving in less than an hour and my mind swirled with anxiety.

My hands shook as I stuffed my last shirt into my bag and I fumbled with the zipper.

I could still see the life leave that man's eyes. He would no longer see his family again. He would no longer see anyone again.

"Let me finish packing while you get cleaned up. We have a long night ahead of us." Vincent put his hand on top of mine and gave me a concerned look. "Not much of an assassin, huh?"

"Har har," I tried to joke as I waddled to the bathroom to wash my misery down the drain.

The moment I peeled off my shirt there were holes cascading down my shoulders to my chest to my stomach. Taking off my pants revealed even more damage.

Tears pinched in my eyes as I yanked every single bullet from its nest and tossed them in the sink.

13 blood covered bullets laid staining the white sink red and leaving my wounds to heal.

Even though the pieces of lead were no longer lodged in my body, I could still feel the burning of them entering my skin.

In minutes, heck in seconds, someone's life can change forever.

Hours ago I was excited that I had received my first acting job and now it pained me to think about it. Mainly because it was another choice that I had to make. Others or myself? Selfless or selfish?

After rinsing off the bullets I grabbed a bag from the cabinet to put them in. Thankfully we were able to drag those bodies out of sight; well, Vincent and I. Dad was still in shock.

"Never leave evidence behind," Nova always said. Especially for Leonardo's capos or the paparazzi to find.

After a thought filled shower, I wrapped a towel around my body and threw my frizzy hair into  a low bun.

"Why is life so hard?" I mumbled to myself and turned around to open the door but stopped when I saw Vincent through the crack of it.

"Yes, I'm leaving again, piccolo. I'm meeting with someone who I haven't seen in a while and it's very important that I go." Vincent's eyes closed as he explained to the little boy on the other end of the phone.

I know how hard it was to tell his only son that he was leaving him again.

"Don't worry. I will be back very soon," he paused and chuckled deeply. "I will have to check to see if Amari would be up to coming back to see you. She does have a new show if you want to see her even sooner."

I couldn't help the lift of my lips.

"Don't forget to ask your aunt to help you with that new piano piece. I love you more than anything, Joey. I hope to see you very soon."

After hanging up the phone, Vincent stared down at the screen as if it was going to ring again. I walked out before it could have the chance to.

"How are you feeling?"

"Holy," I replied jokingly.

"I think you're still in shock Amari," Vincent piped before tossing me a T-shirt and some shorts.

"Do you think things occur by chance or by reason?"

A tinge of a smile met his face as he turned around for me to change.

"You're the only one who quizzes me like an English professor," he chuckled and my face became warm from his observation. "And to answer your question: reason."

I scoffed as I slid the shirt and shorts over my body.

"Do you think that I'm being untruthful?"

"No, you're just being predictable," I said. "You're the guy who expects a certain answer for everything and plus you're a scientist. For you, everything has to happen for a reason."

"I understand that everything in the world doesn't make sense and it's much easier to blame it on chance than to scavenge for a reason, but I enjoy searching for a deeper meaning that something happens. It makes me feel like—I'm in control of what I know."

With his back still turned I walked up to him and looked down at my feet as if they would help me form my question better.

"Do you think us being...involved...is by chance or has a deeper meaning for happening?" I asked timidly. "I know now that I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Vincent turned around with soft eyes and placed his hands on my cheeks. I noticed that he was wearing one of his rings from the show when I felt the cool metal on my skin.

"You believed that you could help me go to sleep which was risking your life. You believed in me. No one has ever been there to encourage me to do something for me. Without you I might still be an obnoxious asshole who believed that not caring was caring," he paused and put his forehead against mine.

Like the way he always did.

"You still are," I joked and his lip twitched.

"I left my mom with him knowing he doesn't give two shits about her. Seeing you fight for your dad makes me want to fight for her. Us being 'involved' with each other is by luck. I'm fortunate to have met you, Amari."

And I'm sorry that I might have to leave you.

I kissed his lips and I wasn't sure if he noticed the tear that fell from my cheek to his, but he pulled me closer.

Though we were in the same room feeling each other's skin, it felt as if I was a century away.

* * *

The floor in the guest bedroom was hard oak and creaked when walked on. Joey was so scared that night be slept over because he thought a monster was in here.

It's weird how kids form an imaginary being in their heads for them to fear. It's almost like they purposely want someone to save them. Like they don't want to be alone.

Dad sat on the edge of the guest bed whilst counting his fingers silently. He used to do that before starting a song. I guess old habits don't die hard. Much like believing that monsters are real.

When he noticed me he patted the spot next to him and I settled myself beside him.

"I thought I was going to lose you today," he started. "You remind me too much of your mother. Hell bent and determined to protect the things she cherished."

"Why didn't you tell me about the Passaretti's?" The question was one I had wanted to ask for years.

"I had a sense that you already knew, and it would've been so hard to explain to a six-year-old girl." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a bracelet I knew too much of.

"Mom's tour bracelet?"

Every time Mom sang, rather it be for a musical or a jingle for a commercial, she would put a charm on this bracelet to represent the places she went. Wisconsin had a cheese charm, New York an apple, California a smiling sun, but the biggest was a Ferris wheel charm for Chicago. She started her career there and that was her home.

"The night I was first in prison Vince had visited me. He brought me this along with his regrets." Dad grabbed my wrist t clip the jewelry on it. "He said one of the guards who were there had this on him."

"He couldn't have been more than 17 right?"

I was 13.

"He had just turned 18. His father started him in the family business very early."

I could only wonder how Vincent felt. Being pushed into a birthright he didn't even want.

"Do you know where her body went?" I realized that we never did have a funeral for Mom. I guess when something hurts as much as this you wouldn't want to remember the harsh details. Or so Leonardo wouldn't find us.

"When the police went to the store it was as if nothing had even happened. No body and no blood. They asked the workers and they didn't recall anything happening in the lot or hearing gunshots. They took a look at the security cameras and there were thirty minutes missing from the tape."

"Leonardo definitely had something to do with it." I put my head in my hands because it felt so heavy.

"I don't want you stressing over this because you still have a future to think about. Didn't you nail that audition today?" He reminded.

"I can't think about that right now. Dad, just hours ago we were ambushed and I have to plan the next move." I stood up and paced the room.

"Excuse me, but when did you become so war vindictive? Last time I saw you you were trying to figure out what song you were going to audition with for freshman theater."

"I'm not the same innocent girl you raised!"

I bit my tongue because I could feel my words bubbling over. I always hated yelling at him.

"It's just not smart to think about things other than what is in our faces."

His face broke for a second but then he stood up.

"The shame is on me for not being there for you and Jaden. I wanted a better life for the both of you, but I am not going to sit here and let us both feel sorry about ourselves and reflect on the past," he lectured gravely. "I don't know about me, but I know you can still walk away from this. You have a chance."

"I don't know how," I slumped back down onto the bed and laid  my elbows on my thighs.

"Vincent, your mother and I— we all got a chance to make our own decisions about our lives. Now it's your time to make yours. Just remember that you don't owe anyone anything because you have yet to live."

"But Vincent-" I tried to argue.

"Vincent is a grown ass man and I'm sure he can take care of his business. Now you take care of yours," he said. "I don't want you to be held behind by him any longer."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders to pull me into a hug.

"Do you hate Vincent, dad?" I mumbled.

He pulled back with a frown on his face.

"I've known him since he was a boy and he was so shy that your mother had to show him photos of the cities she traveled to so his hands could stop shaking. He's not a boy anymore."