Sweet Hope (Sweet Home #4) (32 page)

Levi’s gray eyes were huge as he leaned forward to inspect the baby in Axel’s arms. “He… he looked after me? Protected me when I was a baby?” Levi asked innocently. I watched as tears began dropping down their faces.

“I… I don’t know why I forgot all that?” Austin said numbly. He looked at Levi, then his wife, “He practically raised Levi until papa left… and me… he was always looking after me.”

Clearing my throat, my heart breaking at the love shining in their faces, I led them to Axel’s newest piece. As I walked in front of Levi, I heard a painful whimper escape his mouth.

I stood in front of the sculpture and looked to my friends. Rome was running his hand down his face. “Shit,” I caught him whisper to Molly who was studiously reading the text board.

“Hamartia,” I announced, pointing at the statue.

“That’s me,” Levi claimed. I could see the agony on his face as he relieved that moment. “Shit, Aust, that’s me and Axe when I was younger.”

Austin was drinking in the piece with disbelieving eyes. “What does Hamaria mean?” he asked gruffly.

“Sin,” Molly said from behind us and everyone turned to face her. She blushed as she realized she’d said it out loud. “It’s Aristotelian philosophy. It means taking someone to a dark place, missing the mark, to err, or doing wrong is how it’s normally interpreted today.”

“Sin…” Levi said.

I heard Cass whistle low in her throat. “That’s some powerful shit right there,” she said quietly. I wanted to look to her, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Levi. Tears were streaming down his handsome face.

As though sensing my stare, Levi looked to me and asked, “How, Al? How did he go from the Heighters, to prison… to this? How is it possible?”

Glancing away from his penetrating gaze, I debated how much to tell them. But deciding that secrets and lies had been the source of so much misunderstanding, I came clean with it all.

“Axel… went through some things when he was in prison.”

“What things?” Austin snapped, his body stiffening in apprehension.

“Beatings, being ostracized by his former crew members. The Heighters inside branded him a turncoat. They pinned him down and blotted out his Stidda with a needle and ink.” Austin paled and he squeezed Lexi tighter.

“A guy called Alessio was sent down to the same prison as him,” I explained. Levi gasped, his eyes shooting to Austin.

“Did you know that, Aust? Did you know Alessio was inside too?”

Austin shook his head. “Ally, when—”

“Two years into his sentence. It was the reason he started refusing your visits. He was worried Alessio would get to you when you came back to Bama, so he cut off all ties.”

Austin looked like he was going to be sick, so I decided to tell him everything at once. “Long story short, Alessio attacked him over Gio’s death and Axel got hurt… bad. They stabbed him in his neck, held him down and shanked him.”

Lexi turned her head and nuzzled into Austin’s chest. She cried.

“It’s the reason he has long hair,” I informed. “It hid the scar so you wouldn’t ask questions.”

“Christ…” Austin rasped.

“He nearly died,” I said sadly. “He was in the infirmary for a real long time. He was so angry, so bitter at the world… so angry at himself for everything he’d done… especially for missing your mamma’s death. To try and help him cope with his anger, they sent him to an art class. He was a natural, and quickly gained the favor of the teacher, who sent pictures of his first piece to Vin Galanti, a marble sculptor. He took Axel under his wing and the rest is history.” I looked into the eyes of every single one of my friends and said, “He came to Seattle for this show. He just never felt he deserved it enough to tell y’all. He’s crippled by guilt and shame.”

“Austin,” Levi croaked, unable to hold back his cries, “We were wrong. We made him leave and he hadn’t done anything wrong!”

Austin was lock still, until his eyes snapped to mine. “But the coke I found?”

Dipping my head, I worked on not letting my anger show, but I snapped, “He bought it after the Seahawks game… when everyone ignored him… including me. I hadn’t known he was Axel Carillo until that day. I’d met and fallen for Elpidio, then when he was introduced to me as Axel, I freaked out. I hurt him so badly.”

“I knew I saw something between you that day,” Molly suddenly said. I offered her a weak smile. “They way you both couldn’t keep your eyes off each other… I should have put two and two together, but I never ever dreamed Axel could do this.” She gestured in awe to the gallery of his works. “The talent he possesses is astounding.”

I nodded and my tears came thick and fast. “I hurt him, Levi hurt him… all of us did, and he stupidly bought the drugs from some street gang. He just wanted to escape the pain for a while… he was so lost and reverted to what he knew best.”

“But he didn’t take the coke, did he?” Austin asked, knowingly.

“No… he didn’t.”

“Shit!” Levi said, “How do we tell him we’re sorry? How do we get him back?”

Everyone looked as helpless as I felt, when Austin suddenly asked, “Which piece was his first? The one that got him recognized? Which one is it?”

Taking calm breath, I led them toward the angel, which was the study of many admirers. But I heard the moment the Carillo’s had seen it. Sobs and anguished cries ripped from their throats.

“It’s Mamma…” Levi said, his voice breaking.

“It’s called
Ave Maria
,” I explained. “It’s how he saw your mamma in this life…” I pointed to the other side of the sculpture, “and how he dreamed she would look meeting the next.”

Reaching out, Austin crushed Levi to his chest as they both broke down at the feet of the marble depiction of their mother.

It was heartbreaking, gut wrenching and I couldn’t take looking at it. Turning away, I tried to breathe despite my tightly coiled chest, when I noticed many of the guests looking my way and smiling as they exited a darkened, cornered-off display. A door separated it from the rest of the gallery. I suddenly remembered Vin putting something together here. Hell. I’d been so preoccupied with Axel’s disappearance that I had forgotten all about it.

Walking toward the door, I heard Molly and Rome following behind me, but I didn’t turn around, couldn’t turn. Suddenly, I heard the melodic sound of my favorite piece of music drifting to me from behind the wall.

My heart hammered in my chest as I slowly opened the door, the sound of Yiruma’s “Kiss the Rain
”
seeping into my every cell.

Flashbacks of me playing this, my favorite piece of music, for Axel in his studio raced through my mind. With every memory, I felt my heart break just that little bit more. A sizeable crowd had gathered around the   sculpture, lavender lights creating a soft glow from above and the scent of Jasmine permeating the air.

As I moved closer through the crowd, many smiled at me as “Kiss the Rain” played on repeat. As if the visitors sensed I needed to be alone, they quietly dispersed. My feet abruptly ground to a halt…

Staring back at me was…
me
…

“Oh, Ally,” I heard Molly sigh from behind me, but I couldn’t look away. I was transfixed by the sculpture in front of my eyes.

A Carrara sculpture, of my smiling face, my chin balanced on my fist and my long hair flowing to one side was staring back at me.

Shivers ran down my spine and butterflies rattled around my stomach as I realized this must have been the piece he was working on this week, outside… this was what he so desperately wanted to carve… this beautifully crafted face… was how he viewed me….

“Hope,” Molly’s said, in awe. My glistening eyes followed the sound of her voice and she looked at me, her eyes watering beneath her glasses as she added, “This piece is called ‘
Hope
’.”

Choking back a sob, I noticed that the room had cleared apart from my friends, a pained and sullen Austin, Levi and Lexi entering the room.

I watched as they saw the sculpture, and Austin had to turn away.

“What have I done?” I heard him whisper to his wife. “What the fuck have I done? Look at what he’s created. Look at all this, what he’s achieved and I made him leave because I jumped to the wrong fucking conclusions… I never gave him the chance to explain!”

Making my way over to the title, I ran my finger along the word ‘hope’, then noticed the text board…

“Hope is a fervent, silent wish that everything will turn out just as you dream…”

Unable to hold anything back, I cried as I read the words Axel had used to explain the inspiration for this piece.

Two strong arms wrapped around me, and I knew it was Rome. “Shit, Al, I… I don’t know what to fucking say,” he said apologetically and I cried harder into his chest. “I was fucking wrong. I was so wrong about him.”

The room was silent apart from tears being shed for all the wrongs thrust upon the love of my life.

As I pushed away from Rome, I looked to Austin and Levi and said, “Axel, or Elpidio, is seen as one of the most talented and inspiring Contemporary Modern Artists in the world. But
Axel
doesn’t see it. He doesn’t see how anyone can think he’s worth anything. Doesn’t see that he deserves a second chance because he can’t move past all the wrongs he’s committed in his past.”

Sniffing, I glanced back at my marble face and said, “It’s time to put the past to bed. Stop judging him on yesterday, and accept the man he is today… the most amazing man I’ve ever known, ever
will
know.”

Austin and Levi lowered their heads, seemingly in regret. Suddenly, Vin rushed through the door. Seeing me beside my sculpture, he rushed over to me, flustered and breathless. The look on his face...

“Vin? What’s wrong?” I rushed out.

Vin’s face was flushed and his hand lay on his chest. “I’ve… I’ve just received a call from the hospital. It’s Elpi…”

My hands instantly started shaking. “What… What’s happened?” I asked, breathlessly.

Vin stilled. “Elpi’s been shot.”

Staggering back at his words, I ran into Rome’s chest. His strong arms stopped me from falling to the floor.

“What?” I whispered. Austin and Levi ran forward. Austin gripped Vin’s arms and said, “Axe? Axe has been shot?”

Vin, clearly seeing the family resemblance, nodded his head. “Yesterday afternoon. He was shot in the stomach. He’s in the hospital now. He had no ID on him at the scene. They took his fingerprints and because he was here in Seattle under my guidance, they called me. It took a while to track me down, I’ve been here all day getting this piece ready for the exhibition.”

All I could visualize was blood and guns, when suddenly a name entered my head. “Remo…” I called out in panic, “Remo must have found him.”

Austin and Levi’s head’s whipped to mine. “Remo? What do you mean
Remo
? What’s Remo Marino got to do with anything?”

My lips and voice quivered, but I was able to say, “He told Axel he was going to kill him. He got word to Axel in prison that he would kill him in revenge for Gio’s death.”

“
SHIT!
” Austin bellowed, his deep voice breaking, echoing off the gallery's walls. “Why didn’t he tell us? Why the fuck did he keep
this
from us?”

“He… he never wanted you to worry about him… he was trying to protect you… all he wanted to do was to keep you safe.”

Snapping his head back to Vin, Austin demanded, “Which hospital?”

In a fluster, Vin told him. In seconds we were all running out of the door.