Chapter Twenty-Two
Caity
“Did you really not know?” my daughter asked.
I bit my lip, not wanting to answer her question. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes against the tears. I’d just gotten her back. I didn’t want to tell her the truth and risk her getting angry again.
“You can tell me the truth, Mom. I know I hurt you. And I might get angry, but I won’t run away. Not again.”
I opened my eyes as a tear ran down my cheek. I shook my head and stood up. “Let’s go back to the kitchen. This conversation will need something to drink.”
I left Cian’s office, trusting that Maddie would follow me. I went to the coffeepot, and Maddie stopped me.
“Neither of us wants coffee.” I chuckled at her tone. And watched as she reached under a cabinet to pull out the kettle. I didn’t know Cian even had a kettle.
Maddie filled it with water and placed it on the stove, turning the burner on high. I didn’t say a word as she moved around the kitchen grabbing two teacups, which I also didn’t know he had.
She walked to the pantry and came back with a container filled with tea bags of different flavors.
“I didn’t know he had tea,” I said softly, again feeling inadequate. My whole life I’d felt like I was on the cusp of being perfect, only for my father and my husband to remind me of my downfalls.
I’d spent my entire marriage being a housewife, yet in the weeks I’d been living with Cian I hadn’t done any of the things I normally would do, other than making dinner and cleaning up after.
I was lost in a world of confusion and indecision. Did Cian want me to be the wife I was to Nolan? I was still Maddie’s mom, but she didn’t need me the way she had when she was growing up.
Did anyone really need me?
Was that the problem I was having?
I didn’t feel needed?
My mother passed away a few years ago. She was still young, only seventy years old.
Her heart had given out. The doctors said she had an undiagnosed condition.
I’d become an orphan at forty-eight years old.
I thought at my age I would be taking care of my elderly mother or helping my daughter take care of my grandchildren.
I didn’t have either.
I was lost. Like Maddie, I felt like I didn’t have a purpose.
“He didn’t for a long time. But I used to come see him when I needed to talk. When I mentioned that I preferred tea, the next time I came over he had all this.” Maddie shrugged.
I was happy that she and Cian were so close, but her words were bittersweet. She went to him instead of me. I was her mother. I should have been her best friend.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me.” I wiped away a tear and turned away.
“Mom, no, that’s not what I meant.” Maddie grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
“You have always been there for me. There were just some things I couldn’t trust Nolan with.
” I nodded, understanding what she meant, but she explained anyway.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you. He just had a way of finding things out.
I never once believed you’d tell him things I didn’t want you to. But...”
When she paused, I asked, “But what, Maddie?”
“I sometimes wondered if the house was bugged.”
My eyes went wide, and I felt the blood drain from my face. “Oh my God.”
I walked away from Maddie.
“I’m sorry, Mom, I didn’t mean to—” I waved away her concern, cutting off her words. I knew what she thought.
“The only reason I’m upset is that I didn’t fuckin’ think of that.”
Especially after Cain confessed to bugging my father’s house. It made sense, though. Nolan became paranoid after Sal killed our father. And he always knew when I was lying.
It was stupid things, like who I had lunch with, or why I didn’t get something cleaned, or the laundry done. He always knew the truth.
The whistle of the kettle blared into the quiet. Maddie quickly filled our cups and brought them to the table. I absently added sugar to my cup as my mind raced with all the times Nolan knew I was lying.
He’d taken great joy in telling me he knew the truth and even greater joy in disciplining me for lying to him.
“Maddie, there is a lot you don’t know.” I lifted my cup and blew across the top of the liquid before taking a sip, letting the hot tea soothe me inside and out. “I knew Cian was your father. I’ve always known. But I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t tell anyone.”
Maddie didn’t say a word. She sat in her chair, her face unreadable, and I knew I was going to lose her again.
“Your father—” I stopped and shook my head. “Nolan beat me.”
Maddie gasped, her hand going to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. “What?” she whispered.
“No one knows. Not your father, not my brother. Eamon knew, and he did nothing. He believed it was a husband’s job to keep his wife in line. By any means necessary.”
“Grandma?” Maddie asked, and I shook my head.
“They weren’t married. He provided for her financially because she was my mother, even after I married. But he never dictated her life. Not that I know of anyway.”
“I never saw him hurt you,” Maddie whispered as she reached over and held my hand.
“No, he was good about not doing it in front of you and not leaving any marks where they could be seen. Except for that one time.”
“The Foundation Ball.”
I nodded. I’d told Maddie I’d been mugged, but I didn’t want anyone to know. I’d lied to her. It wasn’t the first time, either.
“You should have told Uncle Sal,” she chided.
I shook my head. “I couldn’t.”
“If you had, I might still have Henry,” she said.
I knew her words weren’t meant to hurt me.
“You might not have Henry at all. You might not have met your husband.”
Maddie took a deep breath and nodded. She sat back, and I saw the question in her eyes.
“If I’d known about Henry, I might have said something. I might have let Cian kill him. But, like you said, hindsight is always 20/20.”
I saw the files on the table and pulled them closer. I placed my hand on them and took a deep breath. Cian would be angry when he found out I’d brought Maddie into this. But this involved her. This involved her family.
Henry’s family.
“Henry might never have been safe. I went into your grandfather’s office and found files of information, things he was involved in.
Unfortunately, all the information we found is over two decades old.
We don’t know who took over when he died.
There are numerous names in these files; most of them are dead now as well.
But even with the Society and the Trick Pony gone, given what is going on with King’s club, it feels like maybe this is all still happening. ”
I looked at my daughter, hoping she saw the compassion in my eyes.
“Your father-in-law is one of the names on this list. Now I know you’ve never met him. He died in 2014, but is it possible his sons took over his division?”
Maddie shook her head. “No. Not after what Layla went through. Giovanni would never.”
“Who’s Layla?”
“Giovanni’s wife. Salvatore told me about his family. About what they’ve been through. Layla was raped by her father, Sebastian Capribella.”
“Wait, that’s one of the names on this list.” I dug through the papers, looking for the list of names. “Here it is.” I passed the paper over to Maddie, letting her look at the list of names.
“I’ve heard about Capribella and Bianchi. Capribella worked with the Society, as did Bianchi. Salvatore’s cousin’s wife was taken by Bianchi.” Maddie’s voice was quiet when she added, “She was taken to a breeding farm.”
“I have files on the breeding farms. Records of transactions. Do you know when she was taken?”
“It was before I knew him. Before his father was killed, but not before Grandfather died.” Maddie looked up at me, her eyes wide. “Do you think Salvatore’s father was involved?”
“His name is in the files, Maddie. He was Bianchi’s competition; I assume Bianchi was responsible for your father-in-law’s death.”
“I’m not sure if Salvatore knew any of this about his father.” Maddie’s brows furrowed. “I’ve not heard anything about the Pisanos or Romanos, other than that they lived in New York.”
“We need to find the information on Valentino. Do you think Giovanni would tell you?”
Maddie shook her head. “Illyria is the only one I’ve spoken to. And the last time didn’t go well.”
“What happened? I always thought Illyria was a sweet girl.”
“She was until she realized who I was. The day we moved to Boston, I went to watch Henry on the playground. Mr. Fedorov came over and spoke to me.”
“What did he say? Did he threaten you?”
Sal wouldn’t let me go after Henry, saying Maddie made her choice and he wouldn’t go to war with the Bratva.
But I would.
I would do anything to protect my daughter and grandson.
“No, he was very sweet, actually. He offered to let me meet Henry.”
“Did you?” She shook her head, and I frowned. “Maddie, why?”
“It would be too hard to walk away a second time. It would break me.” She took a deep breath. “I hadn’t realized they knew who I was. But Illyria came over after Maxim, and it didn’t go well.”
Maddie told me about the things Illyria had said to her, and my mother’s heart wanted to storm back to New York and put the little bitch in her place. She had no right to say those awful things to my daughter. I might not have agreed with Maddie’s choices, but she was the strongest woman I knew.
“Anyway, there is someone else we can ask.”
“Who?”
Maddie bit her lip as she watched me. “Mr. Sinclair.”
“Maddie, no. Sinclair is not someone I want you involved with.”
“Mom, that ship has sailed.”
“Anymore,” I shouted. “I don’t want you involved with him anymore.”
“Mom,” she pressed.
I slumped back in my chair with a heavy sigh. “Information from Sinclair comes with a price. One you can never repay.”
“It’s the only option, Mom. And besides, while I’m in New York, maybe I can see Henry.”
The hope in her eyes broke my heart. I couldn’t take that away from her. “You know you can’t tell your father.”
Maddie smiled and sipped her tea. “I know.” With a look at my furrowed brow, she said, “I promise, Mom, I’ll be okay.”
The elevator bell rang just before the doors opened wide, revealing Cian. Maddie and I both smiled.
“We may have found something,” Maddie said excitedly.
I studied the man I was in love with, the man I’d had a child with, and his angry steps belied the emotion he was trying to hide.
I knew it was for Maddie’s sake. My smile fell.
Something had happened, and I knew by the way his eyes went cold when he looked from our daughter to me that whatever it was had to do with me.
And he was angry.
Angrier than I had ever seen him.
It was the anger I had expected when he learned the truth about the night we spent together. After finding out Maddie was his daughter, I expected him to be mad. To yell and shout at me. A small part of me expected him to hit me, though my heart knew he never would.
Nolan would.
It was how I knew he couldn’t have found out before he disappeared. If he had, I likely would have ended up in the hospital. But he never said a word to me.
And Cian didn’t either.
Until now.