27. Chapter 27
Luke looks over at me hesitantly, and I silently plead with him to understand that I want to talk to him, too. He sighs, nods, and then leans forward, giving me a kiss on the lips.
Our first kiss in nine years.
All too quickly, he ends it, but the look he’s giving me says he’d much rather keep kissing me. My cheeks heat in response to the desire in his eyes.
“I don’t like it, but I understand, Siren. I’ll be right outside,” he tells me, and I understand his unspoken request.
To yell if I need him.
Brady’s the last to leave, but he pauses at the door, looking back at me with an eyebrow cocked. A silent question to make sure I really am okay with this. I’d forgotten how protective both of them could be, and right now while I’m at my weakest, I can’t begin to express how much I appreciate it. Giving him a small nod, he nods in return and then leaves, closing the door behind him.
Turning my focus back to Grandfather, I’m surprised to see such a crestfallen look on his face.
“I’m so sorry that I failed you, mi precioso capullo de rosa (my precious rosebud), but I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that you now have men around you that are protective of you. That love you. That will fight for you.” He pauses, almost as if he’s debating about telling me something. “I swear to you, mi precioso capullo de rosa (my precious rosebud), I had no idea Diego and Isaac did that to you. Or Stephan. Or any others. We do many things, but we do not deal in skin. I have made this stance many times with Diego, yet he still thinks we should be involved. Yes, we have strip clubs, but that is as far as it goes. The girls only dance and the men cannot touch. I will get to the bottom of this. Whoever is involved will not get away with what they have done to you. You are family and we do not treat our family like this.”
He pauses, his face going hard, but I know the anger in his eyes isn’t directed at me.
“I hate to speak ill of the dead, but Eileen should be thankful she’s already six feet under, otherwise her punishment would be most severe for what she’s done to you. I promise, you will get your retribution, and if you want, your revenge. You are mi precioso capullo de rosa (my precious rosebud). My family. And I protect my family. I understand that you will be staying with your Luke and the Steel Archangel’s MC. If you ever need assistance, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I will also let Thor know of my offer.”
Once again, he pauses. His face softens and his eyes turn slightly misty, which has my own tears nearing the surface again.
“I would like to visit you again. To rebuild our relationship. I’ve greatly missed you, mi precioso capullo de rosa (my precious rosebud). Since they made you believe otherwise, I wanted you to know that you are always free to call me ‘Grandpa’ or Abuelo (Grandpa), if you so choose. I don’t give a rat’s ass what Carmen thinks. I also promise you, mi precioso capullo de rosa , that I will find out how deep Carmen is in all of this mess. She will already be paying for what she has done to you, but if she is also in this as deep as Diego, nothing will be able to save her. Not even being my wife.”
The look on his face hardens again and I completely believe him.
Swallowing, I can’t believe the words are about to come out of my mouth, but I need to say it. “I want to be kept informed about what you find out about them. All of them. I understand that you may be hesitant to share things with me because of my relationships with Brady and Sam, but I won’t rat any of you out.
“However, if it involves Diego, Carlos, Isaac, and Carmen, then Brady and Sam will be informed. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gianna knows about this clusterfuck. I will do the same and keep you informed as well.” Pausing, I rewet my lips as I try to keep my emotions under control. However, as I feel the familiar sting behind my eyes, I’m probably going to fail at some point.
“I would also like to rebuild my relationship with you and the rest of the family. Also, I’d like to start with me getting to know you all again first. Once I feel comfortable with everyone again, then my children can get involved and learn about the family. However, until my children and I are safe, I’m going to bet our conversations will mostly need to be done over the phone or possibly even Skype. I doubt Thor would let all of you onto the clubhouse grounds for safety reasons.”
The corner of Grandpa’s lips kick up as he nods. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. The safety of you and your three precious bebés (babies) are the most important thing right now.” He pauses as he takes a deep breath and sits down in the chair Luke had been using just moments ago. “I didn’t want to say this earlier, but you should know.”
I wait as he swallows a few times, and hesitantly, I reach out and am relieved when his giant hand clasps mine. When he looks up, the pain in his eyes would have sent me to my knees if I had been standing.
“There were rumors among some of the lower ranks. The guards that we have posted around the house and the property. Rumors about overhearing Diego, Carmen, and Eileen arguing about needing to have, in their words, ‘some bitch taken care of and shown her rightful place’.”
My mouth goes dry. “When was that?”
“It was about a month before Eileen killed herself trying to kill Sam Morgan. I don’t know the specifics, but the rumor was that they had two plans in place. One to take out a cop that they thought had been sniffing a little too close to home, and the other was taking care of a thorn in Eileen’s and Carmen’s side. They never said any names, but knowing what I know now, I think you were the ‘thorn’ they were talking about.”
I frown, but then a memory pops up and I can’t help but question if they are related. “Grandpa, on my fourteenth birthday, my family and friends threw a big party for me since it was my golden birthday. I know she wasn’t invited, but Eileen showed up anyway. She was drunk off her ass as she shouted obscenities at me. That I would never be happy or find love as long as I remained fat and looked like a beached whale. Then she went on, blaming me for not inheriting her rightful place in the family. At the time, I had no idea who you really are. What the family is involved in. Πατ?ρα? (Dad) called the cops on her and because of her fighting the arrest, as well as all the hateful things and threats she said, πατ?ρα? (dad) took out another restraining order on her. What did she mean by ‘I’m the reason she didn’t get her rightful place in the family’?”
Grandpa’s frown deepens and his eyes go unfocused, almost like he’s lost in a memory. He stays like that for a few moments and then he scowls.
“She came to me a few weeks before your fourteenth birthday. I knew Nikos’ stance about us not attending the parties because he was trying to protect you from Eileen. While I missed you and Nikos, and wished things could be different, I respected his decision. With how things were with Eileen, it was the right decision.
“That day, I had just finished writing your birthday card and had sealed it when she stormed into my office. She was ranting on and on about my previous decision to not allow her to work for the family. She hated being a teacher and had gone back to school to be an accountant because she wanted to do our books. I had refused. Mainly because I didn’t trust her not to skim money and I didn’t think she would be professional enough. She had a habit of trying to bed anyone with money and power ever since the divorce, and I didn’t want that to bleed into our businesses. With how many legal businesses we run or have our hands in, there are a lot of people that depend on us for those jobs.
“Also, I suspected she was up to something because I’d frequently seen her talking quietly to Diego and Carmen, but as soon as anyone would approach, they’d switch to talking about something else until they thought they were alone again. I didn’t know what they were talking about because they were careful not to do it around any of our cameras that catch audio, but I didn’t have a good feeling about whatever it was they were discussing.
“When I explained my reasonings to her, and went more in depth, she got pissed and her ranting continued. It got worse when she saw the envelope addressed to you on my desk. She asked why I was still communicating with you since you weren’t part of the family anymore. I told her that you would always be my granddaughter. Divorce or not. I was always going to support you and help you any way I could, just like I do with the rest of my grandchildren.”
He pauses and a sorrowful look crosses his face before turning to grief. “The things she said, mi precioso capullo de rosa .”
My chest tightens and my eyes sting. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes to steel myself against what he’s about to say. When I open them, he gives me a small, sad smile so quick that I almost miss it.
“Tell me.”
Grandpa swallows thickly a few times and squeezes my hand.
“She said that you weren’t worth the effort. That I was throwing away my time and money. Anything that I was giving you should have gone to her as compensation for having to go through the pain of carrying you, birthing you, and then all the effort and trouble of having to raise you correctly. Said that she should have just gotten an abortion in the beginning like she had wanted to, but Carmen, Diego, and Carlos convinced her not to. And we all know Nikos wanted you, there’s no debating that.”
My eyes bug out at that. “Do you think they planned to sell me from the get go?”
He shakes his head sadly. “I don’t know, mi precioso capullo de rosa , but I wouldn’t put it past them now that I know the real history.”
Swallowing thickly, I hate to ask, but I need to know. “What else did she say?”
He sighs. “It wasn’t pretty. She kept saying that you never listened to her and could never follow even the simplest of her rules. She had to fight you tooth and nail on everything. Instead, you insisted on being a fat whale with the fashion sense of a troll, who always shoveled food in your mouth and took after that deadbeat of an ex-husband in almost every aspect. Once you started taking after him, she knew you were a lost cause, but still tried to mold you into an image worthy of the family lineage and business.
“The day that she walked away, she said she was actually grateful to be relieved of the burden of raising you. How happy she was that she didn’t have those balls and chains shackled around her neck anymore. Her dismissal of you, a mother saying her child was no longer part of her family, that she had wished she had gotten an abortion… The things she said about you and Nikos made my decision even clearer.
“I told her in no uncertain terms that she would never work for me or for one of my companies. That she would never regain her place in the mafia side of the family. That she didn’t and wouldn’t understand the meaning of family. You will always be my granddaughter, divorce or not, and she had no right in saying that I couldn’t keep in contact with you and that I would not tolerate her saying those things about you and Nikos in my presence ever again. Once again, she got pissed and said even more hurtful things toward you that I won’t share. I told her if she kept this behavior up, she would be cut off financially. She balked, saying I was playing favorites. That I would never pull something like this with her brother or stepsiblings.
“What she didn’t know is that I had, and I told her that. Diego and Carlos were on thin ice at the time. That was when the first accusations tying them to the human trafficking ring around the Great Lakes came up. Just so you know, in the past, some of my ancestors had a hand in skin, but it stopped when my great-grandfather Antonio, my namesake, came into power. There were a lot of people that disagreed with his decision and there were several attempts on his life as a result. That was the start of our family becoming even more powerful. The amount of blood on his hands would have led one to believe that his heart and soul were as black as night, but that wasn’t the case. To his family and the men that served him, he was loyal to a fault.
“His wife, Veronica, came from the wrong side of the tracks as some say. That’s why some of our businesses are in some of the poorest areas. To provide steady jobs for low-income families. I know that seems a bit odd. A mafia family wanting to improve people’s livelihoods in our backyard, but his decisions were twofold. Yes, he wanted to improve people’s living standards, but he also didn’t want them joining other gangs that were trying to encroach on our territory. If anyone was going to join an organization, he wanted them to join his.”
Shaking his head, he squeezes my hand and continues. “Back to Eileen. After threatening to cut her off, she got so belligerent that I almost did as I threatened. I knew that if I did, there would be hell to pay, but I was about ready to do it, regardless. She’s so much like Carmen in that regard that it’s a good thing our family has a lot of money since it seems like all they do is shop. Something that got worse ever since she moved back into the family estate. Eileen got so out of hand that I eventually had to call the guard in to escort her out of my office and lock her in her suites after the doc sedated her. At the time, I couldn’t understand how she could be so cold and cruel to her own child. Knowing what I know now gives some insight, though it doesn’t answer all of my questions.
“The next day, it was like a light switch was flipped. She was cordial, but otherwise seemed like the young woman I used to know. But it was such a change that I was suspicious and watched her closely for a while. Unfortunately, she didn’t do anything that raised any red flags, so I pulled back some of the extra guards that I had watching her since her outburst. She was so different that I figured maybe I had finally pounded some sense into her head. I’m so sorry, mi precioso capullo de rosa . I should have continued watching her, and then maybe I could have prevented what happened to you.”
Shaking my head, I squeeze his hand. “You had no idea that they would stoop so low and do something like that—”
A knock on the door interrupts us, and before I can say anything else, Luke enters with Alli behind him.
“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for another round of antibiotics. I’ve also got a low dose pain killer since you said you wanted to save the heavier stuff for at night so that you don’t conk out as much during the day. We don’t want you getting off your medicine schedule and possibly have problems arise,” Alli says as she walks over to the computer and starts typing away. Luke marks the time down on the marker board and then comes over to sit down by me, sitting in the chair that I hadn’t even realized Grandpa had vacated.
Reaching over, I slip my hand into his, beyond grateful that I can touch him again. The look he gives me as he picks up my hand to kiss my knuckles has heat curling in my stomach. A feeling I haven’t felt in nine years.
Whenever Stephan would decide to have sex with me, not surprisingly, it was all about getting him off. He never cared about my needs. Also, in those nine years, I never once pleasured myself for fear that he had cameras planted that would catch me doing that. I’m positive I would have gotten a severe beating in response. Especially since he tried whatever he could to erase my past and to enforce that I belonged to him in all ways. Anything I did needed his permission.
Shaking away those thoughts, I give Alli a small smile as she finishes giving my shots into my IV. She takes note of my vitals, logs them, and gives me another quick hug before slipping out of the room. Surprisingly, Luke stays seated at my side.
“Mr. Vasquez,” he starts, and Grandpa raises his hand, stopping him.
“Please, call me Antonio. With everything that mi precioso capullo de rosa has said today so far, I have no doubt in my mind that you will one day be a part of our family. However, if we are ever discussing business with my associates or men, I will need you to address me as Don or Don Vasquez. Though, I guess I need to ask the same for you. Should I be calling you Luke or Patch?”
Luke gives him an understanding nod. “Around the club, it’s Patch. If we are alone like this, Luke is good.”
Grandpa gives him the same nod in return.
“I just wanted to come in here and say something real quick without an ER audience. I’m not against you two communicating, but we need to keep it secure until everything is handled. We can’t be having Diego, Carlos, Isaac, Carmen or anyone else hearing what you talk about. Is that something you can arrange on your end? Making sure there are no bugs wherever you decide to have the conversations? Smoke, our tech guy, can give you a secure line to call, either phone or Skype. Anything sensitive must not be written down, like in a text, in case one of them gets their hands your device.”
Grandpa gives him a curt nod. “Yes, that is something we can do. We have regular sweeps to check for cameras and bugs, but I’ll be upping that with this news. It will also only be done by myself, Mateo, or Lorenzo. Mateo will eventually take over for me and he has chosen Lorenzo as his second. We will be keeping this close to the chest, as we don’t know how far the betrayal goes.”
My eyebrows shoot up at that. “That has to be part of this. I bet Diego is beyond fucking pissed that Uncle Mateo was chosen to be your successor and that Uncle Lorenzo was chosen as his right-hand man. Speaking of, why didn’t Uncle Mateo come today?”
A sigh escapes Grandpa and I swear I see him age almost ten years in a blink of an eye. “Mateo is handling a meeting which could not be postponed. I left Tomás, my right-hand man, behind in case Mateo needed him for anything.” He pauses as he sighs again and shakes his head. “You are correct, mi precioso capullo de rosa . He did not take the news well. As you know, Mateo was born just minutes before Diego. Between the two of them, Mateo has always been the more mature one. The one who thought through situations first and then acted. Diego has always shot from the hip, so to speak, and acts before thinking most of the time. When I spoke with him about the upcoming changes in the organization, he actually threatened me. Told me I would regret passing over him if I didn’t change my mind. Not surprisingly, I told him if he tried anything, he was no longer a member of my organization. He would always be my son, but he would not work for me.
“You may know this, mi precioso capullo de rosa , but Luke most likely does not. It is a family tradition to have the eldest son succeed the Don, and the second-born son is usually their right-hand man. Only three times has that tradition been side-stepped. When Mateo succeeds me, this will be the fourth time that the second-born son will not be the Don’s right-hand man. In those three cases, it was unfortunately due to inside betrayal from the family. We deal with betrayal the same way your club does, I’m sure.”
He gives Luke a hard look, which he returns, and a silent conversation seems to pass between the two of them.
After a few moments, Grandpa smirks and gives a head tilt in approval. “Good.” He pauses and then turns toward me. “ Mi precioso capullo de rosa , I will take my leave so that you can rest. Once Smoke gives us the secure line to communicate, I will be in touch.”
Grandpa comes around the side of the bed, and I let go of Luke’s hand to give him a hug. He kisses my forehead before leaving, and hearing a hushed conversation just outside the door, I’m betting he’s letting Thor, or his men, know of his offer.
Looking over at Luke, I figure now is as good of time as any to ask a question I had thought of earlier.
“Is that what I need to do, too, going forward? Call you Patch around the club?”
Luke smiles as he leans forward and gives me a quick kiss. “Siren, you can call me whichever you want.”
Frowning, I shake my head. “I believe you said there are two other Old Ladies as you called them. What do they call their men around the club?”
For some reason his cheeks pinken a little as he chuckles. “They call them by their road names or a nickname. Though Levi usually calls Smoke by his name, Jax, since he’s one of her brothers. Same for Mae—she calls Punisher by name as well, Kai, though she calls Axe by his road name.”
My eyebrows raise at that. How many brothers do these ladies have?
Luke chuckles and I feel my cheeks heat. “I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
He nods. “It’s a little confusing, but I’ll try to explain it. Levi is an only child, but she has a large chosen family. Her father’s name is Roy, and she’s a few years younger than us. I don’t know if you remember the Russian twins that always hung out with her?”
I nod but then frown. “Yeah, but I don’t remember their names anymore.”
“Sasha and Alexei Petrov. Though, we sometimes call him Lex. They are two of her chosen siblings as well as Ethan Mills. She considers all of them her siblings.”
“Wait,” I interrupt as I frown. “Wasn’t there another guy? Travis something-or-other?”
A vicious look crosses his face which has my frown deepening. “Travis West. He died earlier this summer.”
Something tickles at the back of my mind, but I can’t place where I’ve recently heard that name.
“When Thor and Dragon claimed Levi as their woman, and later their Old Lady, she got to know the club members a lot better. Especially because of the shit that was happening to her, but that’s her story to tell. Soon, she had two more brothers, Smoke and Reaper. Smoke is our tech guy and he also runs our security business. They are the ones who installed the security system on your house for me. Reaper is the President of our Junction Creek chapter. She calls him ‘Andre’ sometimes. When Mae came along, we found out she was Smoke’s long-lost daughter.”
At my confused look, he shakes his head sadly.
“That’s her story to tell. She’s also an only child. Anyway, during everything that happened with her, two of my brothers claimed her as their sister. One is Axe, who is from our club and runs our tattoo parlor. The other is from the Junction Creek chapter, Punisher. He runs the Harley dealership in Junction Creek and also helps to run the attached garage. Punisher asked her to call him by his real name, Kai.”
“Wow.” I pause, my gut clenching in worry. “That sounds like a lot of trouble came to the club. Did they help out with what was going on with Levi and Mae?”
Patch nods, but a look crosses his face that I can’t decipher. “Yes, we did help them. Same as what we’ll do to help you. I meant what I said before. I think talking to Levi and Mae will help you understand a few more things about the club.”
Swallowing thickly, I nod. “I’ll meet with them, but I’d like to wait until I can have more visitors. Also, I’d rather have the conversations here so that there’s no chance for my kids to overhear.”
Relief fills him and a little tension bleeds out of him. “Just let me know when. You’re doing great so far, so I’m betting later this evening, you’ll be transferred up to TCU. I’ll arrange a time for them to come once you’re ready. For now, Thor brought a tablet for us so we can video call the kids.”
My eyes water and the tears threaten to spill over. I’ve missed my kids so much. “Thank you, Luke.” Lifting his hand to my lips, I press a kiss against his knuckles as I chuckle. “Guess I need to start getting used to saying Patch. I’m sure we’ll be around the club most of the time. Just please don’t be mad if I slip up. All this time, you’ve been just ‘Luke’ to me. It’ll take some time to get used to calling you Patch.”
Leaning forward, he kisses me, and I can’t help the moan that escapes. It’s like I’m catapulted back in time as his lips caress mine while his fingers gently thread through my hair. Desire curls through my belly, and when he nips at my lip, I swear it’s like an inferno blazes through me. I’ve always had a weakness for when Luke would nip or bite me, and it seems like that’s still the case.
I’m not sure how long we kiss when he pulls back slightly and rests his forehead against mine, both of us panting as we catch our breath.
“Still sexy as fuck, Siren, and still able to take my breath away. But as much as I want to keep kissing you, I promised Ash a little bit ago that we’d video call when we were done talking with your grandfather.”
Still feeling slightly blissed out, I nod. I want to see my kids. Aside from school, we’ve never been apart this long, even with all my past injuries. If I had to stay in the hospital, Stephan would go home, get the kids, and come back. Though sometimes he just left them here with me while he went to work. Even if it was a school day.
Shaking off those thoughts, I focus on Luke as he refills my cup with water and hands it to me before propping up the tablet on the table and moving it closer. Once he’s satisfied, he dials and not even three rings later, my children’s smiling faces fill the screen.
God, I miss my babies.