Bellissimo Rilascio (Beautiful Release): The Family Series #3 by Leigh Ann Lunsford

from college, people do it all the time, and they act like I’m the first.” She rolls her eyes. I can’t help but laugh at her.
     
    “They’re just proud.” I say to her back as she walks into the living room. “I’m proud of you too.”
     
    “I know. I really just want to relax this weekend; I’m exhausted.” She plops down on the couch next and I follow her lead.
     
    “Come here.” I pull her to me and lay her back against my chest and hold her. I kiss the top of her head while breathing in her scent. Sweet, she smells like peaches.
     
    “This is nice,” she murmurs, sinking back into me.
     
    “Would you ever consider moving from New Orleans?”
     
    “I’m not set on living in one place or another. This is home; I was born and raised here. Why?”
     
    “I’m set on Miami, and it’s just something we need to discuss. The future and if we have one.”
     
    “You’ve never wanted to talk about it before. Why now?”
     
    “I know in a few months this case will be over, and I’ll be returning to Miami.”
     
    “Oh.”
     
    “I’m not saying I’ll leave you. That’s why I want to discuss this.”
     
    “Okay. Why are you so hell-bent on going back to Miami?”
     
    “My friends became my family. I have a godson, Angelo, and I miss him like crazy.”
     
    “I didn’t know that, but my friends and family are here.”
     
    “But you said you weren’t stuck on staying here.”
     
    “I’m not. So is he your nephew or just godson?”
     
    “I’m an honorary uncle. In a way. My best friend Bronson and his wife have a son, and I’m his godfather. Bianca is his godmother and Bronson’s sister.”
     
    “Bianca is your self imposed exile?” I didn’t realize I had said her name. Maybe tonight is the night for this talk.
     
    “She was someone I was in love with. My first love.”
     
    I hear her intake of breath, and her body stiffens a little, “What happened?”
     
    “I hurt her.” I explain the whole sordid tale, not sugar coating anything; claiming my fault in it all, and hoping like hell she isn’t disgusted.
     
    “Wow. Do you still love her?”
     
    “Lisa, I don’t know how to answer that.”
     
    “Honestly. That’s what we promised.”
     
    “I always will. Not in the romantic way, but she will forever hold a piece of my heart, and I hope we can be friends some day.”
     
    “Friends?”
     
    “Yes. She shares a huge part of my past, and our lives are intertwined with our friends and her family.”
     
    “What if she forgives you?”
     
    “I don’t think she will ever fully forgive me. Could you?”
     
    She shrugs. “Love is a powerful object. I’m not saying what either of you did was kind, but sometimes you can’t explain that to the heart. It doesn’t always make sense.”
     
    “What are you trying to say?”
     
    “I’m asking you, if she showed up at your door right now, or even next week, what would you do?”
     
    “I don’t work like that. Hypothetical questions don’t make sense to me.”
     
    “Could you reject her if she showed up here?”
     
    Could I? Would I embrace her because I wouldn’t want to hurt her or because I’m not over her?
     
    “Your silence tells me all I need to know. When you figure it out, let me know.” She pulls away from me and goes to leave.
     
    “Wait.”
     
    “No. You need to figure this out. I won’t be your second choice. You haven’t made any promises to me, and I don’t want them if you can’t keep them.” She walks out the door, and I fall back to the couch.
     
    What would I do if she wanted another chance? I try to picture it in my head, but I can’t.
     
    We had closure.
     
    I told her if she walked away I was done.
     
    I chased her, begged for forgiveness. She couldn’t give it to me.
     
    I put her in the hospital with the pain I caused. Broken. Shattered.
     
    She wasn’t the girl I fell in love with. That girl is gone. The fight drained out of her in part because of me, so I’m