Read Online The Proposition 5: The Ferro Family by H.M. Ward - Free Book Online

be scarred forever in one of the most intimate places on my body, but I can’t manage to care. I keep thinking about Bryan in that cold bag. The hysterical sobbing starts again and Maggie asks them to give me something.
    A needle is shoved into my arm. Maggie sings softly, as she strokes my forehead. Suddenly my eyelids feel like lead. They flutter as I try to keep them open. Sean appears between blinks and asks about me. With Maggie’s consent, they tell him what Victor did to me. He doesn’t say a word. The man just stares at me like I’m a piece of trash, like his cousin’s life wasn’t worth this.
    “He loved me.” The words sound strong and proud in my mind, but they fall over my lips as a whisper.
    “Without a doubt.” Sean replies and stands there, watching me fall asleep.

Epilogue
    The wind cuts through my coat as I walk to the grave, my bundle close to my chest. I shouldn’t be here, but I had to come. I’m drawn here every few months. I have to talk to him and this seems like the place to do it. Bryan promised he’d always be with me, and although I know he is, it’s still hard. The baby is asleep in my arms, indifferent to the chill in the air. I have him bundled from head to toe and hold onto him tight.
    Since the night Bryan died, so many things have happened. I felt so alone without him, or so I thought until a few weeks after Bryan’s death. A pregnancy test affirmed my suspicion and I carried a baby boy to term. He has bright green eyes, just like his daddy. He’s my life now. Maggie, the baby and I live together, an unlikely but content family. I still write—a bleeding heart never heals and the pages call to me. Writing gives me peace when things get unbearable.
    I stop in front of my father’s grave first and tell him about his grandson. “I gave him my name, Dad. Well, your name. I don’t want them to know about him. If they find out…” That’s my biggest fear. What if the Ferros find out about little Bryan Raymond? What if they find out he’s the only son of Bryan, the youngest heir to that fucking fortune? They’ll take him from me. I know they will. So I gave him my name and when the papers asked, I said he was Neil’s. That we were getting married. The papers ran wild with articles about Neil and me, depicting us as a modern day Romeo and Juliet. They couldn’t have been further from the truth. Meanwhile, Bryan was linked to the murder of Amanda Ferro and another man they found in the woods. The gun had been used several times. Bryan wasn’t a murderer. The only person he ever killed was Victor, and he did it to save me. I don’t care what forensics say. Eventually, I stopped reading articles about him. During his trail, the way they’d written about Sean was horrible, but the way they slandered Bryan was far worse. I avoid newspapers and stay off of Huffington Post. I live in a bubble with Maggie and my baby.
    After talking to Daddy, I risk it. The cemetery isn’t exactly bursting with visitors today. It’s too cold. I walk over to Bryan’s tomb, a huge mausoleum with FERRO marked on the outside. Originally, the family wasn’t going to allow him to be buried with them, but Sean fought them on it, so here he is—my lost love. I lean against the heavy door, pushing it mostly closed. I don’t want anyone to know I was here, so I keep it dark inside, lit only by what sunshine can make its way through the door. It’s overcast today, so it’s darker than usual. I shift baby Bryan in my arms as he wakes up. He smiles up at me with the same grin his daddy wore so many times before.
    “We’re visiting Daddy,” I tell him and loosen his blankets. “He was a great man and he loves you very much. Right now, Daddy can see us. He’ll watch over you, Bryan.” I’m standing in front of Bryan’s tomb with my back to the door. I never heard him enter.
    When he speaks, his voice is softer than his brothers’ voices. “Hallie?”
    I startle and whirl around. Peter Ferro is