Angel’s Promise by Aleatha Romig

Emma

In the time it took for the door to open, the world stopped spinning. Standing with the sunlight streaming around him was Leon. He stepped closer, his shoulders stooped forward and his expression blank. Blood colored his shirt and suit coat in patches of crimson.

My stomach sank as I held my breath, waiting for the world to spin, for time to pass and give me the answers that were hidden. My trembling began nearing full-blown convulsions as I fought to stand. “Rett?” I finally managed the one name.

Leon turned to the side, looking outside of the shop. When he stepped back, the world again spun. The Earth’s axis was righted as the dark stare I’d seen in my dream was once again upon me.

Our bodies crashed together somewhere between the table and the door as Rett’s arms surrounded me, pulling me against him. His lips unapologetically found mine and everything and everyone around us melted away.

With my cheeks sandwiched between his palms, Rett’s brown orbs stared into mine. “I was so fucking scared, Emma. I thought I lost you.”

I took a step back, realizing that Leon wasn’t the only one with blood on his clothes. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“It’s over.”

Leon had stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

“Mr. Ramses,” Edmée said, “please tell me about Ms. North.”

Rett turned to Leon.

Leon’s solemn expression morphed into a smile. “You must be Edmée.”

“Yes, sir, I am.” She stood, her frail shoulders straightening. “Now I asked a question.”

I placed my hand on Rett’s chest, feeling the beat of his heart and relishing the knowledge that he was safe. “Was my mother there?”

Rett nodded as he took both my hands in his. “She was. Kyle and William Ingalls too.”

“But you’re safe. You won?”

He tilted his forehead until it rested on mine. “I succeeded. I don’t know if winning is the right word. I maintained what was mine.”

“The city.”

He shook his head. “Something fucking more important than that.”

“What?”

“You, Emma.”

“Where is Jezebel?” Edmée said louder than before.

Leon lifted his hand. “Ms. North is probably in her home. Come with me. She asked that you be brought to her.”

Edmée bent forward as she stumbled backward. One hand went to the table to steady her while the other went into the air. “Praise be.” Her gaze narrowed. “Why didn’t she and Daniel come to get me?”

Leon pointed to his shirt. “She sustained an injury.”

Edmée gasped as she fell backward into the chair.

“It’s not life threatening,” Leon said. “The bullet grazed her arm. There was a lot of blood, but as far as healing...’cording to her, she’s almost there. The spirits protected her.”

Edmée nodded. “They do. I pray for that every day.” She turned to Rett. “Bullet, whose bullet?”

“Mr. Boudreau’s,” Leon said.

My volume rose. “Kyle?”

“He shot his mother?” Edmée asked.

“It’s a long story,” Leon said. “Come with me. I’ll take you to her.”

“Ms. Jezebel told you where she lives?” she asked as she stood.

“She told us quite a bit,” Rett said, holding tightly to my hand. He gave it a tug, turning me to him. “She loves you very much.”

As Edmée and Leon walked beyond the door, I thought about what Rett said. My eyes filled with tears and my chest tightened. “I barely know her.” The dam broke as the tears cascaded down my cheeks. “I love her too. I can’t explain it, what she’s like, but she’s calm. She was in the back seat of the car when they took me. I was never scared with her. I felt...” I searched for the right word. “...home.”

“Your home is New Orleans, Emma. But it’s not in the middle of the bayou. Your home is with me.”

One thought led to another. “Liam said Kyle would take your house and he—Liam—wanted something else.”

“I know what he wanted—who he wanted.” Rett stood taller, his shoulders squaring. “There’s no easy way to say this. William Ingalls is dead.”

“You killed him.” I didn’t ask. I guess I was looking for confirmation.

“No. I wanted to. I would have and when I did, it wouldn’t have been as quick.”

“If not you, who?”

“The layers of deceit were becoming clearer, but the gist of the story is that there were two coups underway. There was Isaiah’s quest to overthrow me, and Ingalls’s plan to come out on top over both of us. This time when two people walked into that warehouse presuming to be working together, the one ready to betray his partner was the one killed. The clues were coming in, but it came to a head...this” —he looked at his watch— “morning.”

“And Kyle figured it out?”

Rett nodded. “It appears so but not until after your mother did.”

My head shook. “This is all so much.” I ran the palms of my hands over Rett’s sleeves, relishing the feeling of his muscular build beneath. The night without sleep was catching up to me. “You’re safe. My mother is safe?”

“Yes. Like Leon said, the bullet grazed her arm. She’ll be fine.”

“William is dead.”

Rett nodded. “He planned to take control of New Orleans. From what Jezebel and we were able to piece together, his plan was to do it with you. Then he realized you were taken.” Rett smiled.

“I am. I’m taken. Very taken.”

“His plan then changed to do it alone.”

“Kyle killed him? But wait, you said he shot Mother—Jezebel too?”

“He thought she was you.”

“Me?” I shook my head. “Is he...?”

“He’s currently alive.”

“Currently?”

“I’ll explain, but first...” Rett’s finger curled under my chin as he wiped the tears from my cheek with his thumb. “I know we’ve been through an ordeal, but we’ve been asked to make a public statement.”

“A public statement?”

“To tell the world that you’re safe and above all that you’re mine.” He smiled. “From what I’ve heard, New Orleans is anxious to see and hear from their queen.”

I let my forehead fall to his chest and sighed. “I don’t know.”

Rett lifted my chin. “While I’m not always up to taking advice from Richard Michelson and the NOPD...regarding this statement, I believe they’re right.”

My eyes opened wide. “Michelson arranged our adoptions. He changed the dates of Kyle’s and my birth. He helped Mother hide us.”

Rett’s brow wrinkled as his eyes opened wider. “So he’s known all along that both you and Kyle were Isaiah’s children.”

“He has.”

Rett looked again at his watch. “We should go home and clean up. The news crew will be at our house in two hours.”

I turned to the clock on the wall, the one that had been moving painstakingly slow. It was nearly nine and we were still the only two in the shop. “I don’t know who owns this shop.”

“Your mother.”

“She does?”

“Since before I took over New Orleans, she’d become more of a myth than reality. Come to find out, she’s been a vital part of the city.” He smiled. “From what little she shared, she has a knack for understanding business. It seems that she’s behind a slew of well-known establishments.”

It was her dream.

My tears were back. “Is that true?”

“I’m having some of my people try to verify what she told me, but I’ve already learned that Betsy North began her entrepreneurial journey by utilizing shell companies. Leon had told me that she had a way of learning people’s secrets. Apparently, at first, she used capital to invest in struggling businesses. Some of those businesses she rescued and retained part ownership. Others, she took over.”

“She did it,” I said.

Rett took my hand. “Let’s go home, Mrs. Ramses. Your public awaits.”

“Leon left. How are we getting home?”

“There’s a car waiting.”

As we left the shop, Rett entered a code into the security system. After a few beeps, the door locked.

“Jezebel?” I asked.

My husband nodded and opened the door to the back seat of another black SUV. I wondered how many he had in the underground garage. It wasn’t until we had made it to that garage and climbed the concrete steps, hand in hand, that I realized the magnitude of a word: home.

As the door opened to the back entry and I stepped onto the marble floors, I heard them. Instead of heading straight upstairs, I dropped Rett’s hand and made my way to the front sitting room, the one with the large fireplace.

He was a step behind me, stopping when I stopped.

I couldn’t testify under oath that the images in my mind were real. Perhaps I was delusional or dreaming or maybe I’d been manipulated, not by Rett but by Jezebel. Either way, as tears filled my eyes, I longed to touch them, to hug them.

I nodded. “I promise,” I whispered.

There was more that I wanted to tell them. I wanted to say that I would keep the promise Miss Guidry had asked for on the night of our wedding.

I would do what I could to keep their son and grandson safe.

As Miss Marilyn smiled at me from her portrait over the fireplace and Miss Delphine smiled from her smaller picture in a frame on top of the mantel, I felt their relief, their gratitude, and their love.

“Talk to me,” Rett said as his arms circled my waist and he tugged my back to his chest. His chin landed on top of my head. “What’s happening behind those beautiful eyes?”

My body quaked as tears washed away the smiling faces, no longer contained to the portrait or the frame but of the two women standing before the fireplace, holding hands, and smiling at us.

Rett spun me around. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’re home and safe.”

Spinning toward him, my arms went around his neck as I stared into the black holes of his gaze. Similar to the real place in space, I was drawn to him in a way I couldn’t fight, not even if I wanted to. I wiped my tears on my sleeve and smiled. “I want to tell you something.”

“Before the statement?”

“Yes. I don’t want another minute to pass without you knowing.”

“I’m intrigued, Mrs. Ramses.”

“I meant what I said when you first spoke about marriage. I would agree to your stipulations as long as you agreed to mine.” I swallowed. “My stipulation is gone, Rett. I don’t know the moment when it happened, but it happened. Jezebel asked me and there was no hesitation on my part. I love you. My heart is yours.”

Pushing up on my tiptoes, my lips met his.

Before he could speak, I added, “I don’t need to hear you say it. I don’t want to hear it unless it’s true. And like the one requirement of me to be ready for you anytime, you said you weren’t capable of love.” I nodded as I inhaled. “And I’m all right with that. Because, Rett Ramses, I love you enough for both of us.”

There was something in his smile. A gleam as he stared down at me.

“What?”

“You told Jezebel?”

“Yes, she asked.”

“I told Jezebel too.”

I took a step back. “What did you tell her?”

“Well, you see, I thought she was you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Give me time, Emma. I’ll explain it all.” He reached for my hand. “Let’s get ready for the statement so the reporters will come and go.”

The Ramses family crest glowed from the morning sun as we climbed the front steps. I turned to the man holding my hand. “What did you tell Jezebel?”

“The same thing you did.”