Chapter 8- The letter

Walking into her home, Theresa had a feeling that something was wrong. She walked into her bedroom, changed her clothes then joined her guests in the living room. About an hour had passed and there was no Paolo, thinking that maybe his meeting withthe client went late, she didn't worry too much. It wasn't until 11 o'clock passed, long after her guests went to bed for the night, that she started to worry. She never knew what compelled her to go to his room, but she did, opening up the door, she came up short. Paolo was usually a neat and organized man; he would never leave his room in such a mess. That was her first thought, her second was that someone broke in and only trashed his room, but even that sounded ridiculous to her. Walking further into his room she turned and faced his closet. That was when she received an even bigger shock, everything was gone, his clothes, his shoes. Everything! Wildly looking around she saw that even though the room was messy, there weren't very many clothes to the mess. Pulling open his bureau drawers she found them practically bare. Not understanding why he would leave like that, she went over to his bed and sat down, reaching over to grab one of the many pictures of them that he kept by his bedside. Cold, nervous fingers touched the frame, and stroked the outside of it, falling slowly to the table. It was then she spied the envelope with her name on it. Trepidation of what was to come washed over her. Tracing her hand over his familiar scrawl, she turned the envelope over and took her time opening it, laying back onto his pillows she took out the letter and began to read.

My dearest Gabby,

Where do I begin! I thought that writing this would be easier then telling you what I have done to your face. Boy was I wrong. This will be one of the hardest things I have ever done. Tonight seeing you with your brother, made me realize how much I have kept you from and how wrong I have been. I thought that I was doing it because I was keeping you safe, but that would be a partial lie. I did it mostly for my own selfish reasons.

I guess I now know where to begin, when I saw you earlier you forgot to mention something. Your name isn't just Theresa. It's Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, how do I know you ask, well that is the hard part that I was telling you about. I know because I knew you when you were that person. I was hired to do a job, befriend you, get close enough to you to make you leave your fiancé Ethan, and if that didn't work then I was to take drastic measures. I did meet you; I even befriended you. I tried to tell myself it was all part of the job, but I knew deep down it wasn't. The moment I met you in that coffee shop, I knew I loved you, it didn't matter to me that we had never met before. The moment I looked into your eyes I was lost and knew I couldn't and wouldn't go through with my job. I told whoever had hired me that, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. They threatened my life and the life of my sister. So I went through with it; when I couldn't get you to leave Ethan, I set fire to the hotel you were staying in, but something went wrong. To this day I don't know what happened, the fire should have spread slowly, slow enough so that I could get you out. But it didn't, once I set the blaze; I knew there wouldn't be much time. The place was relatively empty, just like I had planned. You were supposed to be waiting for me to take you to dinner in the lobby, but I guess you forgot something cause you went back to your room. I have never been so scared in my life as I was at that moment, when it dawned on me where you were. When I finally got to you, you were unconscious on the floor, by the looks of it the window to your room exploded and a beam had hit you on your head.

Right then I should have listened when my head said to take you to the hospital, but my heart fooled me into thinking that hiding you was best. If no one knew you were alive, then you would be safe from whoever wanted you dead. I carried you to the place where I was staying, miraculously no one stopped me and asked what I was doing. I bandaged you as best I could, then went back to the hotel to make sure the body I planted was found. When everyone was accounted for except you, they assumed that the body found was you. Getting you out of the country was easy enough, I do have my pilots' license, and the money I paid kept mouths silent. Not knowing what to do I brought you here, remembering how much you loved fashion, I thought that this would be as good a place as any to give you at least one of your dreams. All the time I wondered how would I keep you here, with me. I didn't have to wait long for the answer, when you finally woke up, it was as if my prayers were answered, you had amnesia, the only thing you could remember was the breaking glass. That's where I came up with the excuse that I was your husband and you were in a car accident. After a couple of months passed you seemed to accept the fact that you weren't going to regain your memory, but I wasn't so sure. That was the first time I took you to the specialist. He told me that you may remember flashes of your life, or that you may never regain your memory, either way it was a 50/50 chance.

These past couple of months, when you would tell me about your dreams, I was always on edge. I was sure the next day you would come to me, with anger blazing in your eyes, telling me you remembered everything. Hence why I tried to make you believe that those dreams were just your way of coping with everything. If I had known this vacation would have turned out the way it did, I don't know if I can honestly say I would have let you go.

I'm worried about what you may find now, my secrets are out, I have told you everything I have done, and I deserve your hate, but there are still things that you don't know. There are things that even I don't know, like who hired me to get rid of you and the reason why.

If you are wondering if I will come back, don't, I won't. I don't think I can face seeing the hatred you and your family will have for me in their eyes. That's the cowardly way out, I know. But since I have told you the truth, I'm pretty sure you will want to get back those years with your family, that I stole from you. And once that happens whoever wanted you dead will know that I failed, and they will be after my sister, to get to me. I can't protect you anymore, but I can still protect my sister, from whoever may try to harm her. Knowing Luis he will feel the same way I do about protecting family, so I know you are in safe hands. Also tell Luis that even if he does try to run a background check on me, he will find nothing. The name Paolo was an alias, if you do ever regain your memory I'm sure you will tell him my true name, but by then I have hope my sister and I will be out of harms way.

The house and all possessions inside are yours, as well as your shop. Before I left I put everything in your name, your true name, not Gabrielle. Theresa, I am not asking for your forgiveness, but I am hoping that one day you can understand what I did. In my own selfish way I meant well. Before I go I have one last thing to say, look on my closet floor towards the right, even though I left the place a mess I made sure the box was easy to find. What's in that box is yours, it's all the keepsakes you had when you were in New York at the hotel. Originally I wanted to throw them away, but something stopped me and I kept them, just in case your memory ever did come back.

I guess this is where our journey together ends, we have traveled a long road kid. None of it I regret, I did what I did to keep you safe. If you ever need me just call out and I will find you, no matter where you are. Wish me luck with my sister. Be safe.

Goodbye.

Stunned beyond belief, Theresa just sat on the bed, clutching the letter to shocked to cry. Slowly a range of emotions and feelings flashed in her eyes, betrayal, anger, sadness, and lastly a sense of understanding. She didn't agree with what he did, but she could understand why. He did it to keep his sister safe, and thought he was doing what was best for her. Remembering that the letter mentioned something about a box she ran to the closet, and moved things around. There sat a plain shoebox, something she would have normally overlooked. Grabbing it she ran back to the bed, and spent the rest of the night going through her keepsakes. There she found pictures, most were of her family, others where of her and a girl, she assumed was Whitney. She found many of her and Ethan, and towards the bottom of the pile she found one of her with another man and then one of just the man. Though she didn't remember him she felt drawn to him, there was a connection there with him, stronger then the one with Luis. She took in his spiked blonde hair, and beautiful brown eyes, the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Her gaze wandered to the rest of the photo, by the looks of it he works out, she thought taking in the way his clothes were tailored to his body, blushing to herself for the direction her thoughts went.

Laying the pictures down, she pawed through the box some more, finding sketches, make up, a good luck charm, a movie ticket stub, until her hand brushed something cold and metal. Wrapping her fingers around whatever it was she pulled it out of the box. There sat a locket, she turned it over and saw the engraved I love you, wondering who it was from she opened it thinking to get a clue. Out popped a piece of paper so small it was barely noticeable, before picking it up Theresa looked at the photo of her and Ethan, they looked so happy together. Closing the locket she picked up the note and read it 'this side is reserved for our kids, but until then know that I love you and will miss you everyday that you are not in my arms. Signed heart Ethan'. She laid back on the bed putting her head on the pillow, locket still in hand. Just before sleep overcame her she prayed to God, please help me get my memory back Amen.

A/n- thanks to everyone who has read this so far. This will be my last update at least until Sunday, going on vacation and not taking the laptop. please read and respond. Thank you again.