Chapter 17
Melody leans against the kitchen counter, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands when I burst into the room, Kaz barely three steps behind me. Her eyes widen at his presence, but she hides her amused smile in her cup.
“Sienna, I asked a question,” he demands. All that’s missing is a foot stomp.
The overgrown toddler is brewing for a fight.
“And I answered.” I pull out a mug from the top cabinet and brush Melody aside to get to the coffee pot.
“Who is that little boy? And what are you doing here?” The strong undercurrent of authority in his voice fills the room.
Melody glances at me with a knowing raise of her eyebrow.
She’d told me an hour ago, I’d have to tell Kaz about Tommy sooner or later.
And she’d even pointed out the fact it was probably going to have to be sooner since I planned on visiting him as often as possible now that I lived only a short drive from him.
“How did you find me?” I pose a question of my own.
“All of my cars have a GPS tracking device in them. In the event one of them gets stolen. Like today.”
“I didn’t steal anything. I told your goons I was taking a car.” I shrug.
Kaz runs his tongue over his top teeth. His hands pump at his sides. I’m not sure if he’s trying to calm himself down or gear himself up to kill me. There’s definitely a struggle within him about what he wants to do to me.
“Sienna,” Melody whispers to me, turning to put her coffee down on the counter so she’s facing me. “You’re going to have to tell him. So just tell him.”
“Tell me what, exactly? What’s going on?” He flicks his gaze to Melody. “Is this your house?”
“No, not in the way you think. Sienna will tell you. I’m going to go check on Tommy. I’m sure you scared the hell out of him when you showed up.” Leaving her coffee behind, she walks past him and disappears down the stairs to Tommy’s rooms.
Silence stretches as I stare at him, knowing I have to tell him, but wishing I could do something to protect Tommy for just a little while longer.
Kaz tears off his overcoat and throws it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Folding his arms over his chest, he settles a dark stare on me. It’s meant to intimidate.
But I’ve felt his touch in the dark, and a man who can bring my soul alive like that isn’t a man I need to fear.
“Do you want some coffee? We just made a pot before you arrived,” I offer.
“No. I just want the truth.”
“Okay.” I gesture to the table. “Sit down if you want.”
“Just tell me.”
I roll my eyes. If he could leave the ogre behind for just a few minutes, talking to him would be so much easier. It would make bridging this gap he’s put between us after he saw me walking down that aisle, possible.
Maybe he if could try just a little to bring back the Kaz I met at the club, we could make our time together more tolerable.
“You hate my family.”
He arches a brow. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“It’s why I didn’t tell you about Tommy right away. You hate my family, and I have to assume that hatred flows to him.”
“Keep going.” He tightens his arms around his chest, settling in for whatever I’m about to tell him.
He probably still thinks Tommy’s my son.
“Tommy is six years old. He’s deaf. And he’s Tony’s son.” I lay it out.
“Your brother had a son?”
“Yes.” I nod. “No one knows about Tommy. Tony was adamant no one would. When it was discovered that he would never hear, Tony wanted nothing to do with him.” I pause a beat.
“I think that was just an excuse. He wanted nothing to do with him to begin with, but Uncle Vicente demanded Tony not abandon a DeAngelo son.”
“Until the son came with an imperfection?”
“Yes.” I nod, resting my hands on the chair back and leaning on it.
“Tony had no relationship with Tommy’s mother.
She was just a woman he’d been with a few times.
He had no intention of marrying her or anything like that.
So, he set them up with a place to live and sent a check every month. But she died last year.”
His jaw ticks. “How did Tommy end up here and who is that woman?”
“Melody is his personal aid. When Marie, Tommy’s mother, died last year, Tony hired Melody to be his full-time caregiver. That way he could just keep writing checks without having to actually be a father.”
“Why not put him in an institution?”
“In a full time care facility there would be paperwork, something that could lead anyone who wanted to find Tommy to my brother.” I lift a shoulder.
“He said he was protecting him from his enemies, but I know Tony better than that. This was his way of putting Tommy somewhere he couldn’t be found and wouldn’t be used against him.
It wasn’t for Tommy’s safety; it was for his. ”
“With your brother gone, you’re the kid’s guardian now.” He lifts his chin.
I leave the thought hanging in the air, watching him consider what that might mean for him. Part of me expects him to get angry. To demand I leave him in this place and never bring Tommy up again.
“If that’s the case, he shouldn’t be here.” He drops his arms from his chest. “He should be home, with you.”
Warmth spreads through me. His eyes are still hard, fierce, but there’s something else under them. Understanding and compassion, maybe? If a man like him is truly capable of those emotions.
“Tony made Uncle Vicente Tommy’s guardian. Not me.” I grip the back of the chair tighter, wishing the bite of the wood into my palm would take some of the sting away, but it doesn’t.
“Why the hell would he do that? Vicente doesn’t even live in the States.”
“I’m positive it was my uncle’s doing. My brothers never—” I take a breath. “I wasn’t considered, is what I think. But Tommy gets to keep living here. And now I’m closer, so I can see him more often. And I can be part of his life now.”
I say this last part tentatively. Kaz can do the unthinkable right now if he wanted. He could forbid me from coming here again. He could lock me away in his brownstone and leave me to rot.
“This is how your uncle got you to agree to the marriage. He used the little boy as leverage.” There’s a heaviness to his words. His expression contorts back to anger.
“Did you think I was marrying you for love?” It’s meant to be a joke, but his eyes are stormy.
“He was afraid of me when he saw me. Why?”
“Have you seen yourself?” I laugh. “You’re enormous. Your neck and hands are covered in tattoos, and you didn’t exactly look like Santa Claus when you saw him.”
His left eyebrow arches sharply again. “I was surprised to see him.”
“Of course you were. And he was surprised to see you.”
“Does he know about Tony?”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “Tony rarely came here. Almost never. Tommy didn’t know him. Which is good. Tony wasn’t—” I stop myself.
Tony was my brother. A monster by every definition of the word, but still my blood. And this man standing here is supposed to be my enemy. He killed my brothers.
Yet he stands here in this kitchen with more concern for Tommy’s well-being than any of my flesh and blood relatives ever did.
“Tommy’s going to be fine without Tony. There’s no difference now that he’s dead.” I explain. “He’s still grieving for his mother, though. He misses her.”
Kaz nods, and I think I’ve comforted him with that admission. Could this big bad mobster actually feel some remorse over something?
“Vicente doesn’t give you problems for visiting him?”
“My uncle doesn’t care what happens to Tommy, so long as it gets me to do his bidding.”
Kaz narrows his eyes. “And what is his bidding? What has he told you to do now that you’re here?”
Tommy runs up the stairs and into the kitchen, skidding to a stop when he sees Kaz standing two feet away from him. His eyes go wide like saucers as he tilts his head back to look up at him.
When he finally turns to me, I’m able to sign to him that everything is fine.
“What are you saying to him?” Kaz asks.
“I’m telling him who you are.” I explain to Tommy that Kaz is my husband, his uncle now.
Tommy signs back that Kaz is too big. I laugh.
“What’s he saying?” Kaz asks, and he manages to keep his tone low. But even in the short time we’ve been together I’m getting to know his tells. He’s trying to be patient.
“He said you’re too big. Like a gorilla.”
He grunts. “I’m not that big.”
“You’re a full head taller than me, and to a little boy you’re basically a skyscraper.”
Kaz looks down at Tommy. “What happened to his chin?”
“He fell off his bike yesterday. Three stitches, took it like a champ I’m told.”
“Ah, good man.” Kaz flicks his gaze over to me, watching as I sign our conversation to my little nephew.
“He’s asking to watch a movie. I’m going to put it on for him. I’ll be right back.”
“Sienna.” He stops me when I pass him, his hand resting on my arm.
“Yeah?”
“When I get home tonight, you’ll tell me what your uncle wants from you.”
Tommy yanks on my arm.
“Yeah. Okay.” I nod, then follow my nephew down to the toy room where his television is set up.
“That went well,” Melody says from the corner of the room, making me jump.
“If you’re down here, why did he come up to get me?” I ask with my hands on my hips. “You wanted Tommy to meet him.”
She laughs. “You were taking forever to come get him. Anyway, he didn’t sound angry, right?”
“Yeah.” I nod, adding not yet silently in my mind.
Because if he finds out what Uncle Vicente is up to, we could all be in danger.