Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Jagger
W hen we get to the bakery, I head straight to my Quinn and wrap her in my arms.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Quinn whispers as she burrows into my hug.
“Are you okay? Tell me what’s going on.”
“That woman over there? She’s saying she’s my birth mother. And that she knows who’s behind the letters.”
“Do you believe her?”
“I don’t know. But I didn’t want to be alone with her.”
“You’re never alone, Quinn. Now let’s hear her story and see if she’s telling the truth.”
“You said that you’re Quinn’s birth mother? And you know who’s behind the threats that Jagger and Quinn are getting?” Salvatore asks Veronica.
“It’s a long story. And I need to start before Quinn was born. My family is the Portside Mafia, my father is the boss, Vincent Burrows. He’s never been a good man and he’s never treated me or my siblings well. From my earliest memories, he’s treated my mom badly too.”
“What does that have to do with you abandoning me?”
Veronica looks sad. “I promise it will all make sense. I didn’t want to leave you. I wanted to keep you. But I did what I had to do to make sure you survived.”
“I almost died!” Quinn yells at her.
I take Quinn’s hand, I can feel her trembling.
“Baby, I know it’s hard, but we need to hear her out,” I whisper to her.
Quinlan
Jagger taking my hand and talking to me helps me to calm down. Because he’s right. I need to listen to what Veronica has to say. This could give us the information we need to fight back. I turn and look at Veronica.
“When I was sixteen, my father’s second-in-command, Elmer Woodman, raped me. I had known him my whole life, and when that happened, I had no idea what to do. When my father found out, he killed Elmer. And then we found out that I was pregnant. My father tried to get me to abort you, but I was already six months along. So my only option was to have you. I was told that once I gave birth, I wouldn’t be allowed to keep you.”
I have to give Veronica a lot of credit. She’s telling this story in front of all of us.
“I felt that since I had to give you up, I wanted to choose where you would go. So I ran away. My older brother, Vincent Jr. and my older sister Victoria came with me. We knew the consequences if and when we were caught. But I had to try. We grew up in Portland, and I knew we couldn’t go too far. Vinnie was eighteen and Vicky was seventeen. We started our journey and agreed that we would stop when the town felt right. We stopped in Portwalden for a few days and I ended up going into labor. I was only eight months along. I had you at the hospital in Portwalden. And the next morning, Vinnie helped me sneak you out. That night we tried to figure out what to do. Vinnie had spent the day before walking around the town. He said it was a cute town and maybe this is where you would be safe.”
Listening to Veronica talk, I can’t help the tears that are falling. I had convinced myself that the woman who gave birth to me abandoned me. That she didn’t care about me at all. But seeing her and the pain on her face as she’s telling us her story…I don’t know what to think anymore.
“We watched the church and saw that the priest was there all the time. So we put you in a box with some newspapers. I had nothing to give you. Vicky opened the door, yelled hello and then we ran across the street to watch. I wanted to make sure the priest came out to get you. We watched him open the doors and look around. Then he looked down and saw you. I knew you would be okay so after a day of resting, we headed back home to Portland. My father tried to get me to tell him where you were. I refused. The three of us kept that secret together. I read any news that I could find about Portwalden. One day I read an article that the fire captain and his wife had adopted an abandoned baby. I was so happy, you had a mom and dad, and I hoped you would have a good life.”
By now, tears are streaming down Veronica’s face. I look at Jagger and he nods at me without words, he knows what I need to do. I walk over to Veronica and hug her.
“Please tell me you had a good life. That you grew up loved and happy.” She sobs.
“I did. My parents are wonderful, they loved me so much. I have two brothers and two sisters. You gave me a good life.”
“Thank God. Now I don’t know how my father found you. But I know he did. You’ve gotten an anonymous letter from someone, right?” she says as she looks at Jagger.
“I did. There’s been two now. One with the initial threat and the other names an amount with a deadline. But I don’t understand why. Why does your father need money?”
“My father made a lot of bad decisions. And most of his crew is gone. This money will allow him to make alliances with other families. And he wants to take Quinn so that he can sell her or marry her off to another family. I overheard him talking to his second-in-command. As soon as I did, I told Vinny and Vicky. That’s when we saw the article about you and Jagger. It said you were from Portwalden. It also had some information about your parents. I knew it was you and had to come warn you.”
“Thank you for coming. And telling me your story. I’m so sorry that you had to go through all that. I always wanted to know why I was left on the church steps. I never thought it could be something like this.”
Veronica hugs me again. “I’m sorry I left you. If I had any other choice, I would’ve taken it. But I was so young and I had no money or skills.”
“I understand. And I promise, I had a great life. You made the right choice.”
I really need to make this up to my parents. Now I know I was an asshole to them for nothing. I was angry for as long as I can remember for no fucking reason.
“I need to ask you a few questions,” Salvatore says to Veronica.
“Ask me anything,” she says.