I lowered my head and pressed my lips to hers. She kissed me back, arching her body into mine. I took the chance to rub my hands over her breasts, loving the feel of her hard nipples.
Feeling my cock straining against my pants, I had to pull away. “I’m taking you from behind when I see you tomorrow. I’ll come by early.”
“I look forward to it.”
I dropped my hand to her sweet ass, more than looking forward to tomorrow.
I looked forward to a time beyond this when she could really be mine.
That was what I wanted.
I watched Pa pour another glass of scotch and down it. My father only drank scotch when he was pissed.
Claudius glanced at me from across the room, legs stretched out on the coffee table. He was wearing his biker boots and leather pants that clung to his legs.
He and Pa got back nearly an hour ago. We’d gathered in the sitting room, where I thought we’d talk, but nothing was said.
Just drinking.
I drank beer.
Honestly, all I wanted was my girl. That’s it, and if she were here now, I’d be with her. Not watching these two take a vow of silence.
“So, are we ever going to talk?” My voice broke the silence.
“Pa told Raphael to go fuck himself.” Claudius smirked, then started laughing out loud. “You should have seen his face, bro.”
Great, what did that mean?
“Pa,” I thought I should see how he was feeling.
Pa looked at me with weary eyes. “I don’t know when I’m going to be ready to talk, son. It’s a lot to take in.”
“Talking helps.” I’d heard that at some well-being place.
“Tag was a very good friend of mine. Very good. He valued his sons more than anything in this world, and to hear that Raphael’s rage killed them cuts me deeply. I don’t mean to be the outsider, but I get it. If anyone did anything to either of you, they’d be dead. That’s it, they’d be dead.”
“I know.” I understood why Raphael had held back on telling him, but now I could see for myself the impact.
I couldn’t imagine what he must be feeling.
Claudius reached for his new phone and dialed a number.
“Who are you calling?”
We were supposed to be talking.
“Cassandra. I’m going to need her tonight.”
“Can’t you skip whores tonight?” Pa slammed his glass down on the table.
Yep, he was pissed and probably drunk. He hated that word, and I doubted I’d ever heard him call a woman that before. Even if she deserved it.
Claudius tucked a lock of hair behind his ear and set the phone down beside him.
“Skipped. But can we talk if we’re talking? I’m not the sit-around-and-glare type.”
Pa gave Claudius a long, hard stare, then turned to me. “Luc, what’s the situation?”
“Pa, can we drop the outside world for a few minutes and stop being Raphael’s servants?” We’d been that ever since we got to Chicago. Felt like all we did was run to Raphael’s every need, didn’t matter what he wanted. He called, we answered. No personal time taken. Sure Raphael got us to where we were today, but it didn’t mean he owned us. “I want you to talk about what you’re feeling.”
“I feel betrayed, son. That’s the best way I can put it.”
“So, are we in or not?” Claudius asked.
If Amelia weren’t involved, I would have asked the same.
“You two, you’re in. I’m… still on the fence,” Pa huffed.
“Pa, Raphael aside, Amelia is who I care about.” I actually hadn’t spoken to him yet about her.
He raised his brows and took a good look at me. “Well, hell, you went and fell for the girl?”
Claudius laughed again. “You’re so late, Pa.”
“How can I know these things if I’m not told?”
“I’m telling you now. And I need you in.” I nodded.
“What Raphael did was so wrong. Luc, you know what I went through with your mother.”
“I know. We both do, and it’s a time we’ll never forget.”
“Pa, I know you’ll hate me for saying this, but if I catch some guy fucking around with my woman, he’s dead,” Claudius jumped in, much to Pa’s dismay.
God, my brother had the worst timing.
“So, you think what he did was right? Tag should have lost his sons and nearly his life?”
“I’m not saying that. That was unfortunate, but I don’t think that’s what Raphael intended.” Claudius straightened. Something in his demeanor changed. “It sounded to me like he just wanted the feds to have them, as in take them to prison, and then it all went wrong. No way did he want his wife to get killed. Think about it. It was a plan that went completely wrong. At least, though, the man showed he had some balls. It was more than what you did when you found out Mom left us. You did nothing but continue to live that shitty normal life and we stayed and suffered with you.”
Claudius rose, hair swishing over his shoulder. The blue of the blue eye darker as his cheeks reddened.
He’d never quite said it before, but I knew he’d always resented Pa for our bad experience in LA. While I understood on some level that Pa was just trying to live the normal, hoping Mom would come back to us, Claudius thought he should have taken more of a stand and at least try to get her back. He thought Pa was a coward who’d put up and shut up then ran away with his tail between his legs when he ran out of steam.
Maybe a part of me thought that too. We stayed with him because we loved him. We were in our twenties when we came back to Chicago. Either of us could have left well before that time. Especially Claudius.
Now wasn’t the time to bring this up. Although I could see the similarities in the situation. Our Mom and Raphael’s wife weren’t that much different. They did the same thing.
“Ease off, man,” I tried, but Claudius shot me a hard look, showing me he was pulling rank in seniority.
“This is the problem. We don’t talk about anything. We just do. Sure, let’s forget about us and what happened with Mom like we normally do and—”
“She was pregnant,” Pa suddenly said.
We both snapped our heads to him in an instant.
“What?” I asked.
“The day she left she told me she was pregnant, and the baby wasn’t mine. There was no sorrow in her words. It was very clear what she wanted. Of course, we argued, and then she left, but it was never that I just allowed her to leave.”
“Why didn’t you tell us that?” Claudius spat.
“Because you may be grown men now, and yes, you would have been old enough to understand what happened at fifteen and thirteen, but to me you were both my little boys. My children. I had to look after you and make sure you knew you had a parent who would always be there for you. No matter what. I wanted to come back here straight after, but I thought maybe if we stayed in LA, it would be better. I thought she might come back to me. To us. That was wrong too. It was stupid of me not to see that she didn’t want us. So, that’s on me and I take full responsibility for that. I guess my heart just got the best of me.”
I pulled in a breath. The years that had followed after Mom’s departure were awful. Things had been bad, but Pa was still trying the normal life for her. He’d paid off his debts with the money he earned working at the used car sales job he hated, and with his second job as a waiter. He tried, and we had such a terrible time.
Pa shook his head and continued. “I wish Raphael had told me what happened because I would have understood the pain from betrayal. The story is so similar. I would have understood. Both our wives cheated on us, and mine cheated on me well before his did. He knew how hurt I was by it, how hurt we were by it, and should have confided in me. Maybe if he’d told me, no one would have died.”
My head was a mess of fog and turmoil. What the hell kind of day was this? I was ready for it to be done.
“Maybe. We can’t dwell on it,” I offered. “And you
did what you had to back then. All of it.”
I didn’t want to think about Mom anymore. Hearing she was pregnant at the time she left us made me sick. It pushed the knife deeper in my heart and resounded my need to completely forget her.
Claudius sat back down and glanced at me, then back to Pa. “Agreed. I’m sorry, Pa. I… get it.”
Pa nodded his gratitude. I couldn’t imagine what he must have gone through during that time.
Claudius sighed and focused back on me. “If we’re in this, we’re doing it together. I’m not leaving Luc in the lurch. Are you, Pa?”
Pa sighed, then rested back in his chair. “No, I’m in.”
“Thanks. Now that that’s cleared, can we brainstorm a few things?” To be honest, I just wanted to stop talking about Mom. She was someone I would never get over, and I needed to push her out of my mind for good. Over the years, she’d never made contact. Her silence and absence made her intentions very clear.
“Let’s do it.” Claudius nodded. Pa did too.
“Who do you think told Tag about Raphael?”
Pa shook his head. “I have no idea. I’ve been thinking about possible people, and I keep coming up blank. It’s worse because we weren’t around then.”
“How about we look at who was around at that time and start questioning people,” I offered.
“We can, but the guys from back then wouldn’t have been included on anything as big as that. Raphael didn’t tell anybody what he was doing.”
“So, it’s someone who heard something?”
Claudius shook his head. “Why would they stay silent for so long? I think… it was an accident.”
“What do you mean?” I narrowed my eyes.
“I think he found out by accident, and whoever told him didn’t exactly tell him.”
That was all so vague and speculative.
“So, he figured it out by what was told to him?”
“Could be, right?” Claudius bit the inside of his lip.
I considered it. Yes that could be right. “There must be more, because they knew I was in LA,” I pointed out, going over all the key events that had taken place. “They knew I was in LA, then shortly after that, Amelia’s house was broken into and they took her stuff to ID her. Someone must have told them I was in LA.”
“Who was at the house that night when we met with Raphael? The night he chose you to take over,” Pa asked.
“No one.” Claudius offered. “The butler opened the door for us then left.”
I remembered that too. It didn’t seem like there anyone else was in the house. Unless if they hid.
My phone rang.
I picked it up and frowned when I saw the unrecognized number.
That could only be one person.
I held my hand up to catch Pa and Claudius’ attention, then I answered the phone.
“You know what I miss about Chicago?” came Victor’s voice over the phone.
“What’s that?” I balled my fists.
“The hot dogs.”
“Oh yeah.” I tried to keep my voice under control, but it was hard. Damn, it was fucking hard. I wanted to kill this guy so bad I ached.
I promised Amelia I’d change, but this guy pushed me the wrong way.
“Absolutely, they taste the closest to human flesh. They have that extra sass that you can only capture from eating someone in their prime.”
“You fucking bastard, what do you want?” He made me sick every time I spoke to him.
“You know what I want. Your little girlfriend. You guys made me look real bad in front of my boss. Imagine what an idiot I looked like when I returned to him empty-handed.”
“Why do you think I care?” I barked.
“You’ll care. You do care. We’ll be striking soon, so look out for us. We want those diamonds, Luc, and we’ll get them. I got a new incentive too. I get to keep the girl when we get the jewels. I’ll be sure to fuck her first before I eat her.”
I hung up and threw the phone into the wall.
The phone smashed.
I needed to kill that guy and cut off his head.
Chapter 15
Amelia
“Gigi, are you sure you’re okay?” I hadn’t spoken to her properly since coming here. I got a phone yesterday and called her the first chance I got.
“I’m more than fine. Are you okay?” She actually did sound fine.
“I’m as good as I can be.”
“How was seeing your dad?”
“Hard, but I’m here.” Last night was okay. Went better than I’d thought. Millicent made us dinner, and we’d all talked like nothing ever happened. I was making him breakfast, and Luc was going to be here in about an hour.
“You did it. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks. I miss you.”
“I’ll come and visit when it’s okay to come.”
“That’ll be nice.”
Visit.
I didn’t even know how long I would be here.
Luc was from here. This was where he lived.
I lived in LA and worked there too.
Suddenly I heard a man’s voice in the background.
“Is that Maurice?”
“Yeah, can I call you back later?”
I narrowed my eyes and widened them quickly when I heard her giggling. Him too.
What was going on?
I swore she moaned into the phone.
“Clothes off now,” I heard Maurice say.
“Gigi,” I gasped.
“Amelia, I have to call you back. Bye.” She hung up.
Holy crap, what did I just hear? Gigi and Maurice. But he was so annoying. Then again, her annoying ways were kind of similar to his.
What had I done? Maurice was Luc’s best friend. A mobster.
God.
I’d have to deal with them later.
I adjusted the bowl of oatmeal on the tray and set a bowl of fruit next to it. Dad liked fresh fruit. Especially from the garden.
Millicent had picked strawberries and blueberries earlier. She was in the garden now, pruning. It felt like old times.
Dad was in the sitting room watching the morning news. He switched off the TV and straightened when he saw me.
“Morning,” I said.
“Good morning. Is that for me?” He looked me over in adoration. I couldn’t deny that I’d missed that.
“Oatmeal and fruit. Fresh, just the way you like it.” I smiled.
We hadn’t been alone since I arrived. This was the first we’d gotten a chance to speak.
I guessed maybe this felt more appropriate too. My reason for staying last night.
I set the tray down on the coffee table in front of him.
“Thanks, are you going to join me?”
“I am.” I sat next to him, shuffling so I could face him, and rested my hands in my lap.
It was so strange looking at him. I’d seen him so often in my dreams, it was hard to accept that this wasn’t one of those.
“Thank you for coming home. It’s good to see you.”
“It’s strange being back. This place felt like it existed in some sort of alternate universe.”
“That’s my fault. I know. You have to know that I never wanted things to turn out this way.”
“I know.” I nodded. “That doesn’t make it okay though.” I didn’t mean to jump straight into attack. The words just slipped. “Then you never told me you were so sick.”
“Would that have brought you home?”
“Yes.” I might have struggled initially with myself, contemplating whether or not I could allow my father to die without seeing him again, but I knew me. I would have come around to my senses and headed home, despite the past.
“You stayed away so long.” He looked away and focused on the Ming vase sitting on the Oakwood floor by the long French windows.
I gazed too, getting lost in the patterns and Mandarin characters.
“I said I was never coming back.”
“W
ell.” He faced me, and I looked to him too. “That’s why I would never have expected my illness to bring you back.”
“So, you would have just allowed me to get a message or something telling me that you died?” That would have killed me.
He lifted his shoulders into a shrug. “When I first found out, I tried to deal with it without telling anyone. Then, when the doctors said the tumor was inoperable, I thought about reaching out to you, but I knew it was best not to.”
“You always kept tabs on me. It wouldn’t have been hard.”
“My dear, in my line of work, you do what you have to, to protect those who you love. In my case it meant letting you go. It was during the time when I got worse that all this started happening. Tag contacted me, then I felt doomed. I knew I couldn’t fight him, so I sent Luc. Holding over him the one thing I thought would make him do what I wanted.”
“The business,” I filled in.
“Yeah.”
“The business.” I knew what we did. I’d filled in the blanks, but I wanted to hear it from him. “What do we do? What do you do?”
His gaze became more pensive. He must have understood my intention in asking. “On the surface, real estate. Behind the scenes, we used to do a lot of money laundering and smuggling. Now it’s mostly loans at high interests. Luc does the books, keeps the feds and the cops off our backs.”
Well, that was a little more detailed.
“Do you kill people?”
His brow furrowed. “Never for no reason.”
“Agent Peterson. I have to know. Did you kill him?” An image of the agent’s face flashed through my mind. The terror I saw, then all that blood on the floor as Dad and his men took him away.
He continued to gaze at me. I swore he could see every single emotion that swirled through me. I was buzzing with anxiety. My nerves tingled with it.
“Yes.” The answer came on the edge of a breath.
A heavy weight pulled on my heart. I knew he’d killed him, but having it confirmed was something else entirely.
“I’m sorry, Amelia. I—”
I held up my hand and shook my head. Talking about the past, dwelling on the past and the things that made me leave, were not helping.
Mafia Scars (The Accidental Mafia Queen Book 2) Page 13
