Chapter 6
Friday – A few seconds earlier
Brooklyn
Matt wasn’t a murderer. And neither was I.
Yes, I’d dreamed of killing my father. Yes, I’d dreamed of wanting revenge for Miller.
But if I had the gun, I wasn’t sure I’d actually be able to pull the trigger.
It was one thing to want something. It was an entirely different thing to actually do it.
I knew Matt wanted to protect me. And I was so grateful. I was grateful that he’d shown up. I was grateful that he was even contemplating doing this. But Matt wasn’t Miller. And I didn’t need him to be. I just needed him to be…him. “I love you exactly the way you are,” I said. And I meant it.
Tears ran down his cheeks. It looked like he was about to lower the gun.
But then a shot rang out. The bullet pierced Locatelli right in the middle of his forehead.
No. I was glad Locatelli was dead. He deserved it. But I hadn’t needed Matt to pull the trigger for me. I didn’t need him to be something that he wasn’t.
Matt stared down at his gun in horror.
Oh, Matt.My heart shattered for him.
“What the fuck?!” Magnus King yelled and lifted his hands higher in the air.
Matt dropped the gun. He looked like he was going to throw up.
I knew he’d done it for me. But I hadn’t wanted him to. I didn’t want him to ever feel like he needed to be different. I didn’t want him to feel like he wasn’t good enough exactly the way he was.
I’m so sorry you thought I wanted that. I hugged him.
He put his arms around me. I pressed the side of my face against his chest. His heart was racing so fast.
There were so many times that he held me when I needed him. It had always felt like he was taking my pain away. And all I wanted to do was take away his.
Tanner put his hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Your first kill is always the hardest. Taking another man’s life is no easy feat. But you will get over it. Trust me.”
“What the hell, Tanner?” Rob said. “How many people have you killed?”
“I just meant from shows I’ve seen. War shows. It’s a history thing, Robert, you wouldn’t understand. But you will get over this, Matt,” he said.
I had a feeling that Matt wasn’t going to get over this. Because this wasn’t him. And this wasn’t me. We didn’t want to be part of this world. I didn’t want danger to be lurking around every corner. Danger. Shit. I pulled back. “Jacob? Is he okay?! We need to go…”
“Just got the text from James,” Rob said. He showed me the picture on his phone. James was sitting on the floor in his tux reading Jacob a bedtime story. “All the kids are safe. Although Penny crying woke them all up. Just so you know, the first thing Matt did was send James to check and make sure Jacob was okay.”
Matt.I hugged him again. If I hadn’t already said yes to his proposal, I would have now.
“Perfect shot, Uncle Richard.”
I pulled back from Matt and turned toward the door to see Poppy standing there with Nigel and my father. The gun in my dad’s hand was smoking.
“Dad?” my voice cracked. He’d come. Even though I told him I wanted nothing to do with him. And he was the one who’d pulled the trigger. Oh thank God.
“Angel,” my father said calmly. “Are you alright?”
I nodded.
“Oh thank fuck,” Matt said and looked up at the ceiling in relief. “I thought I killed him.” He still looked like he was going to hurl. “Jesus.”
I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief that Matt wasn’t the one who had shot Locatelli. But Poppy was behind all of this. And it wasn’t exactly soothing seeing my father so easily murder someone right in front of my face.
“Everyone stay where they are!” Nigel yelled. “I have a hand grenade and I’m not afraid to use it!” He lifted the grenade above his head and waved it around.
My dad turned to him. “Put that away before you hurt someone, son.”
Nigel smiled up at him. “Do you think of me as a son?”
“I barely know who you are. Put the pin back in that now.”
“I think I misplaced the pin,” Nigel mumbled. “I expected to be using it.” He looked around the floor and started checking his pockets.
“Why does no one ever offer you their jacket when you’re in duress?” My father asked and walked over to me. “James let you run around that hotel half naked back in high school. And here you are again in nothing but a towel.” He shrugged out of his suit jacket and put it around my shoulders.
I remembered him taking care of me after Isabella tried to murder me at homecoming. I remembered the smell of the cologne on his jacket making me feel safe. But I also remembered the smell of his cologne at the lake house making me feel anything but safe. I felt trapped. I knew there were a lot of sides to my father. I knew that he loved me in his own way. And I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. I at least wanted him to be alive long enough so we could talk about everything. All of it. I was just about to open my mouth when my dad turned to Magnus.
“As for you,” my father said. “No one touches my daughter without my permission.” He lifted his gun.
“Wait!” I stepped in front of him. “Magnus was just following Locatelli’s orders. And he was actually kind of nice about the whole thing.”
“He kidnapped you,” my dad said.
So did you.But I knew my father didn’t see it that way. He’d thought he was protecting me from Isabella. He thought he was doing the right thing. “Magnus isn’t the bad guy here. And Locatelli was just a pawn, dad. Your wife is behind all of this. All the Cannavaros are. You should be threatening her.” I pointed to Poppy. “Poppy betrayed you. She’s working with your wife to…”
“No, Poppy was the one that warned me what Patricia was up to. I told you, Angel. Poppy is on our side. She found out what Patricia was doing. Well, not just what she was currently doing. What she did. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. But I was wrong. It wasn’t just Luigi Locatelli who had a hand in Miller’s death. It was Patricia’s plan.”
I swallowed hard.
“That’s true,” Poppy said. “Aunt Patricia completely lost her mind when you returned to the city. Well, actually before you returned. Since she was the one that planned to blow you up. Which for the record, I only just found out about recently. I told Uncle Richard as soon as I uncovered the truth. And I tried my best to talk to Aunt Patricia. But she wouldn’t listen to reason. And why do you not believe that I’m on your side? I killed the Locatelli heir for you. Well, a little for Matt.” She winked at him. “How are you doing, sugar tits?”
“Stop it, Poppy,” Matt said and put his arm around my shoulders.
I melted into his side.
“And I’ve been trying to warn you all week that you might be in danger,” my dad said. “Why haven’t you answered any of my calls or texts, Angel?”
Because I thought you killed my husband!I hadn’t believed that he was innocent. But now? Tanner had already told me that my father hadn’t done it. But I’d kind of needed Locatelli to admit all of it to truly believe it.“Did you really step down, Dad?”
He nodded. “You told me I had to. So I did. Poppy has taken my place.”
“I love being on top,” she said and winked at Matt again.
“What the fuck?” Matt mumbled under his breath.
“Why now? Why not when my mom…” my voice trailed off. Why not when my mom needed you?
“Patricia’s parents were still alive then. And Poppy’s parents,” he added a little quieter.
“Oh, it’s okay, Uncle Richard. They definitely would have offed you for running out on Aunt Patricia. My parents were totally nuts. No need to hide it.”
So are you, Poppy.
“I’d only just taken over,” my dad said. “I didn’t have the alliances I do now. I never would have survived. And I would have put your mother in danger. And you. But as I told you before…I didn’t know you were born. I didn’t know, Brooklyn. Or maybe I would have done things differently. I want to believe that I would.”
Tears pooled in the corners of my eyes. He’d wanted my mother to get rid of me. He’d thought that she had. And it was hard not to wonder how everything would have turned out if he’d known the truth.
But you couldn’t rewind time. I knew that better than anyone. All you could do was move forward. “But won’t Mrs. Pruitt retaliate now?”
“You mean Ms. Cannavaro. She’s no longer my wife. Distancing myself from the mafia was what you asked me to do in order to be a part of your life and my grandson’s. So I took that very seriously. And…” He looked at his watch. “Oh, look at the time.” He smiled. “A helicopter crashed into the Hudson River two minutes ago. My ex-wife was on board. There were no survivors.”
I should have been horrified. My father wasn’t looking at a news report. He was just checking the time. He’d clearly just had his ex-wife murdered. But having Mrs. Pruitt out of my life made me breathe a little easier.
My dad hadn’t murdered Miller. And he’d gotten revenge for Miller’s death. Twice over. Three times if you counted Locatelli’s son.
And he really had retired. He was out. For real. For me.
“Did you seriously kill her?” Rob asked.
My dad turned to him. “It’s better not to say these things out loud, Robert.”
“Yeah, probably not,” Rob said. “And um…speaking of killing people. We need to go check on a few security guards probably.”
“They’re fine,” Tanner said. “Why do you never believe anything I say?”
“Because you’re a crazy person.”
“Ah, Poppy,” my father said and turned to her.
I pressed my lips together. Was I the only one that caught the transition there?
“I think it’s best if you team up with Magnus from here on out. The two of you can take over where I left off.”
“But, Uncle Richard…” protested Poppy.
“No buts,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s cleaner this way. Two families can keep everyone else in line easier. And he has certain skills that you do not. And it expands your connections and power.”
“I have to say I don’t love this idea either,” Magnus said.
“Would you rather be on the ground next to your boss?”
Magnus cleared his throat. “No, sir. But the Cannavaros…they’re…they’re…”
Crazy?
Poppy glared at him. She knew what he was inferring too.
“You’ll keep each other in line, yes?” my dad said and turned back to me. “Now where were we? I see you’re engaged again! For real this time. Because I’m done meddling.” He lifted his hands to show that he was innocent.
Matt told me that my father never intended to let us get married back in high school. That he’s always planned to take me away from the city. But I couldn’t hold on to that anger anymore. Besides, his meddling let me live a beautiful life with Miller. It gave me sixteen years of happiness. It gave me Jacob. The only thing I regretted was hurting Matt. I’d loved my little bubble. And I loved my life right now too. I’d always love both.
“I think a celebration is in order. Magnus, order us a bottle of your best champagne, will you?”
“I really think we should discuss this a bit more,” Magnus said. “Maybe privately?”
“Do you really think this is a negotiation? You were working with Locatelli to murder me and my entire family.”
“I didn’t know why…”
“And now you’ll be in the know. Poppy, get closer to Magnus and discuss things, will you? I don’t want to be a part of this anymore. I’m retired.” He moved his hands together to show them that he actually wanted them to move closer together.
“Wait!” Tanner yelled and stepped in between Poppy and Magnus. “Magnus King, I want to formally introduce you to Poppy Cannavaro.” He grabbed both their hands and made them shake. “That counts, I think,” he said. “I introduced them. You all saw it, right?”
“That definitely counts,” Nigel said. “Has anyone seen the pin to my grenade? My thumb is getting tired. And explosions aren’t always good for coitus.”
“Ew what?” Poppy said. She glanced at Magnus with her nose turned up.
Nigel kept pulling out his pockets. “Love is in the air. Don’t you feel it? I just hope it’s not explosive.”
I had no idea what Nigel was talking about. I just wanted out of this room. And away from that grenade. I looked up at Matt. “Take me home.”