Chapter 129

Ethan

Layla’s sardonic laughter felt like receiving a slap to the face.

I knew ahead of time the kind of risk I was taking by showing my face around the Marcello estate. Especially when I was dressed in the full police get-up.

When the order came through from the captain, himself, I had little to no choice about having to take the trip out here. In my own way, I’d been wanting to pay them a visit. Ever since Aldo had revealed the truth about my background, the list of questions in my mind continued to expand.

Aside from that, I wanted to check in on Eli and even though things weren’t the best between Layla and me, her well-being still counted for something. Although, I could tell from a single glance that she wasn’t doing well.

She looked rough. Ragged. Worn out and drained. It was as if she’d been pulling several back-to-back twelve-hour shifts at the hospital.

“The only reason you think you care about this family is because of the fact that Aldo told you about your past,” she said accusingly. “But before that, you were no different than any other police officer wanting to take down the Marcellos.”

Layla took a step closer. The anger behind her eyes was staggering.

“Tell me, what troubles you more? Knowing that you ultimately betrayed your badge the second you agreed to work with Aldo? Or that fact that you’re actively betraying the only real family you have every time you put on that uniform?”

Her words struck me hard in the chest. She was right.

All those times I’d kept throwing the notion in her face about how she wasn’t able to exist in both worlds simultaneously. How was it any different than what I was trying to do now?

Somehow a bit of the air around us had lost its malevolence. I turned to face Layla once more and was shocked to find her features were drawn into deepened sorrow.

“It’s horrible, isn’t it?” she said. Most of her malice was gone and was replaced with a broken tone of distress. “Having to make that kind of a choice...You’ll end up doubting yourself over everything to the point where it’s going to drive you to the brink of insanity.”

Both Aldo and I dared to take a step closer to her, only for Layla to recoil back from us. She brought her arms up to wrap around herself.

“You don’t get to be a martyr and a hypocrite, Officer Smith...Or, should I actually call you Matteo Marcello now?” she questioned coldly.

My list of regrets was really beginning to rival my list of questions about my past. How could I have thrown out all of that good-guy rhetoric at her when I, essentially, came from one of the highest-ranking crime families in the country?

My only defense was that I didn’t know any better. However, in the midst of looking into Vanessa and her brother, I had a weird feeling when I came across the name ‘Matteo Marcello’. I should have looked into it more instead of ignoring it.

Worst of all, I should have never used our friendship as some kind of collateral for the mess that was happening around her.

“Regardless of the choice you decide to make, it changes nothing between us,” she stated. “You’ve proven to me that our friendship is not worth keeping when you make it so easily leverageable.”

All the air stilled in my lungs. “Layla...I should never have said that to you.”

She lowered her eyes to the floor. “Do you know, given everything that’s happened, part of me actually feels sorry for you.”

The tension returned to the air. However, this time around, it was weighted down with an immense feeling of anguish.

“When I realized that you and Aldo had gone behind my back to get Eli back, I was mad. Fuck—I was livid. I wanted to physically hurt you in some way that would leave a permanent mark.”

I raised my brows in shock, but it wasn’t as though she was taking any physical action on her words.

“However, I came to a rather startling realization as time went on,” she said. “Why would I bother to hurt you when the possibility of your memories coming back could easily end up knocking you back on your ass? When you find out just the kind of person you were, will you be prepared to deal with the consequences that come with bearing the Marcello name? Will you own up to your own crimes?”

My throat grew sore from the overwhelming dryness. The pressure that continued to press down on my chest was nearly unbearable. It was difficult to breathe.

“I...” Whatever words I was planning to say, easily faded without much thought. Hell, what could I have said?

Everything Layla threw at me possessed a strong tangent of truth that I couldn’t overlook. She was right. What would I do if my past memories got triggered by something and came back? What would I do?

How could I possibly continue on as an officer of the law?

It would bring so much more than just my career into question. My entire moral stand ground would crumble beneath my feet.

“Leave Eli alone,” she said. “I refuse to give anything else over to the NYPD.”

My brows pulled together in question. What did she mean by that?

I hated to see her leave. For what it was worth, I didn’t want this to become our last conversation even though it certainly felt like it was. Who could blame her?

I glanced at Aldo. Poor bastard looked as though he were in even worse shape than me. As soon as Layla emerged from down the hall, I knew there was something off between her and Aldo.

The two lacked their usual spark of closeness that I’d always secretly admired. Instead, the space was filled with a cold bitterness. Layla hardly glanced at Aldo during our entire conversation.

Surely, she wasn’t mad with him any worse than she was with me. With all my envy aside, I knew that Aldo loved her with a burning passion that went beyond logical thinking. The man would find a way to move mountains for her if asked.

To see that Layla was even placing him at a distance told me that something was seriously wrong.

“Alright,” I said. “I won’t bother Eli. I’ll write it down in my report that he doesn’t remember most of it since Vanessa had him tucked away in that one room most of the time.”

Layla hadn’t so much as bothered to comment. She merely turned on her feet, ready to make her descent back into the shadowed section of the hallway.

Perhaps, there’s a chance that Aldo would be willing to continue our chat in his office...

One of the men who had initially let me into the house swiftly dashed past us. He wore a panicked look on his face as he called out to Layla.

“Dottore! Dottore Marcello!”

“What is it, Luca?” she asked tiredly.

Luca heaved to catch his breath. “Please, come quick, one of the new trainees has dislocated his shoulder.”

Instead of jumping into action like I’d personally seen her do so in the past, Layla did nothing but stand there. Her eyes glossed over with what looked like tears while her voice remained steady.

“I’m sorry, Luca. You’ll have to reach out to one of the doctors we have on standby,” she told him. “Going forward, I won’t be able to take on any more medical emergencies.”

Aldo looked utterly affronted. “Why?”

“My medical license has been revoked until further notice,” she admitted. “Compliments of Agent Carter.”