Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
D id she just call Mary mum ? She did. What the actual fuck?
“Who the fuck are you?” I ask the young girl who just scrambled out of the gardens.
“Who the fuck are you?” she counters, folding her arms over her chest.
“Gio, she didn’t mean that. She’s just a kid. She didn’t mean it.” Mary walks over to the girl. “She didn’t mean it,” she repeats.
I look from Mary to Tommy. “Wanna explain what the fuck is going on?” I ask as I shove my gun back into its holster. Without a word, my brothers do the same. Probably in shock.
Is this girl Mary’s daughter ? That would make her our sister.
Fucking hell. She left us to be tortured by that fucking monster and went off and started a new family. I knew this meeting was a bad idea.
“Mary, relax. They’re not going to hurt her,” Tommy says.
“Why the fuck would we hurt her?” This comes from Santo.
“Okay, someone needs to explain what is happening… And why are you two meeting with these wannabe gangster-looking guys?” The girl waves a hand in our direction.
“Esther, stop, please,” Mary tells her before turning to me. “She doesn’t mean anything by that.”
“I agree with her. Someone needs to fucking explain what the fuck this is. Who is she? Is she yours? We have a sister you didn’t think we needed to know about? What the fuck, Mary?” I’m beyond fuming. “Do you have any idea what people would do to her if they knew? What kind of sick fucking shit would happen to her? You’ve left her in the world unprotected? For what? Your own goddamn selfish agenda?”
“Okay, that’s enough. First, don’t speak to my wife like that. I don’t care who the fuck you think you are. Second, my daughter is never unprotected,” Tommy snarls.
I look the filthy fucking biker president up and down before laughing in his face. “You really think your little group of crotch rockets can protect her if word got out she’s our sister?”
“Okay, stop. What does he mean sister ? Mum? What’s going on?” Esther asks Mary.
“You didn’t know about us? Fuck, I didn’t realise just how much you forgot you had kids, Mary. We’re her sons, the ones she left behind without so much as a backwards glance,” Santo says.
“How old are you?” Vin asks.
“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to ask a woman her age?” Esther fires back at him.
“Never had a mother, and you’re not a woman. You’re a little girl.” He smirks at her.
“Is it true?” Esther turns to Mary. “I have brothers? Granted, they all look like right cunts but really? I have five brothers? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Okay, I think we should all sit back down.” Tommy wraps his arm around his wife before turning his glare on his daughter. “Esther, sit.”
I wait until all three of them have taken a seat. I considered just leaving. I knew it was a bad idea to come here, but this is more fucked up than I even thought it would be.
“I, ah, please, let me explain what happened. I know that what I did is unforgivable and I’m not asking for your forgiveness,” Mary says. “I just need you all to know the truth.”
I look to my brothers and nod my head. This is for them. They want to know. They have questions. And for them, I’ll sit my ass in this chair and listen to whatever shit this woman is gonna try to spew. Then we can all move on with our lives. Just like she fucking has, clearly.
“Thank you.” Mary sighs when I reclaim my seat and the other four follow my lead.
“Why?” Vin says. “Why would you leave us and start a new family?” There’s no emotion in his voice. No accusation either. It’s just a question. Same as if you’d ask someone about the weather.
“I… I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t want to leave you. Any of you. I love you. All. I tried to take you. He was meant to be out of town. But Giovanni was there. He caught me. And the guard who was helping me…”
I figured as much. “I heard the gunshot. The day you died. I heard the body drop to the floor in his office,” I tell her.
“He didn’t shoot me. He beat me until I was barely conscious and then he banished me. He told me if I ever came back that he would…” Mary shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. “He said if I came back for any of you that he would cut your throats in front of me.”
“And you believed him?” I ask.
“Giovanni never delivered empty threats,” she replies.
“You married him, you should know,” Gabe scoffs. “You still left us. Most mothers would fight for their children. Not just leave them to grow up with a monster. Do you have any idea what he did? What happened to?—”
“Gabrielle,” I snap, cutting him off before he can say more. That isn’t our story to tell. It’s Vin’s.
“For years, I didn’t remember who I was. And then, slowly, it started to come back. At first, just faces—your faces—and then names. By the time I remembered everything, I was scared. Giovanni was never going to let me have you.” Mary takes in our surroundings. “I never thought I’d ever be back here.”
“That makes two of us,” Marcel mutters. “Fucking place is cursed.”
“Okay, but why didn’t you tell me about them?” Esther turns to her mother.
“Because I knew you’d seek them out and put yourself and your brothers in danger. I was just trying to do the right thing. For all of you,” Mary says.