Chapter 26 Allie
ALLIE
Elias sits with his back propped up by pillows. He’s in a heavy button-down flannel shirt, his hair combed back, a pair of glasses perched on his nose. He looks almost like a grandfather who got into a terrible car accident.
But I know what those ugly knots of twisted scar tissue mean.
“You’re back,” he says as I take a seat beside him. The door slides shut, leaving me alone with the old man. I nudge Rosie on my knee, bouncing her up and down. His eyes slide to my daughter, and he genuinely smiles. “But you brought someone with you.”
“Elias, this is Rosie.”
“Hello, little girl.” He reaches a gnarled finger out for her. Rosie’s usually slightly shy with new people, but she happily grabs at him. “Strong grip for such a small thing, but I shouldn’t be surprised. You come by it honestly.”
I’m not sure what he means by that. I adjust Rosie as she starts squirming and let her climb down onto the floor. “I hope you don’t mind. She’s going to explore.”
“Not at all. The place isn’t exactly baby-proofed, though.”
“I’ll keep an eye on her.” I scoot my chair back to give myself a better view. Elias keeps staring at Rosie with a strange look on his face. It’s almost wistful and sad. “Should I have left her somewhere else? You seem unhappy.”
“Not at all.” He meets my gaze, smiling again. “She’s wonderful. I assume that’s Massimo’s daughter as well?”
“He’s her biological father, yes.” I don’t know why I have to specify that. Like I can still keep him at a distance or something.
Elias notices. His eyebrows raise. “But not more?”
“I don’t know. It’s complicated right now.”
He nods slowly. “Yes, family always is. Never easy.”
“You have family?”
“Everyone does. I had a daughter too. Your Rosie reminds me so much of my Maggie.” His smile goes distant as the little hairs on the back of my neck start to stand up.
A chill tingle runs down my spine. “I did my best to take care of my family. I hoped keeping my distance would protect them, and it did for a time. But nothing’s ever perfect. ”
“Where’s your daughter now?”
“Still alive, if that’s what you’re wondering.” He sighs and leans back into his pillows. “I’ll admit I was never a good father. Massimo would shame me if he knew how many nights I spent away from home without my wife and baby girl. Despite the way he comes off, he’s a traditionalist at heart.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“I think that’s part of why we became friends from the start.
I saw someone strong in Massimo. A man truly worthy of the Dragon title.
But I was penned in by Medved and fighting a war of attrition.
I was too busy fighting to maintain control over my empire to really get to know him. I still wonder why he saved me.”
“What happened?”
“Medved ambushed me and some of my top lieutenants. We’d gone to a meeting with several important African politicians to hammer out new mining rights and some export deals when a missile struck the building we were in.
Most of my guards died on impact. I survived by pure chance.
Massimo and his crew were in the region dealing with Somali pirate captains who were refusing to pay his protection price, and when he heard what happened, he dropped everything and flew hours in several choppers to get to our besieged location.
My last remaining fighters and I were giving Medved and his people hell, but we were losing.
We would’ve died if Massimo hadn’t pulled off an audacious rescue.
But in the process, I lost my legs and nearly lost my life.
Medved’s forces were severely weakened but not destroyed, and now here we are, years later, still fighting the same old war. ”
I let that settle in my stomach. Massimo doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would fly across a continent for a friend, but clearly, I’m wrong about that. Maybe I’m wrong about a lot of things when it comes to him.
I move over to Rosie and keep her from making a mess. She settles herself on the floor and plays with the remote as I sit on the couch. Elias watches very carefully.
“Your daughter,” I say, not looking at him. “You called her Maggie. Was her full name Margaret?”
“That’s right.”
“And she married a man, didn’t she? What’s her married name?”
Elias’s voice is very soft. “You know that already.”
I sit up very straight and turn to him. “Her last name is Russo now, isn’t it?”
Elias only smiles. He tilts his head, studying me. “You look so much like her. And your daughter has it too. The Thorne genes are strong.”
It strikes me like a hammer. A part of me hoped he’d deny it and laugh like this is all some absurd joke. But so much of what has happened to me suddenly clicks into place.
“You’re my grandfather.” I stand and face him. My hands are shaking and I feel sick. “She told me you were dead.”
“Smart girl. She knew you’d never meet me, so why bother?”
“This doesn’t make any sense. I can’t be the granddaughter of a Dragon.”
His eyebrows raise. “Why not?”
“Because…” I try to think of a good reason. “We were struggling.”
“Think back to when those struggles started. Do they happen to coincide with my fight against Medved?”
He’s right about that. The mansion was always kept pristine until about eight years ago.
“Everything got worse when you ended up in here.”
“I’m sorry about that.” He looks like he means it. “I’ve had to be even more careful. The less contact with my family, the better.”
“That song you were singing.” I close my eyes, fighting back against a sudden flood of tears. “That Italian lullaby…”
He seems surprised. “Stella, stellina, La notte si avvicina. La flamma travalla, La mucca è nella stalla. You mean that one? Your mother used to love it.”
“She sang it to me all the time.” I whisper the English version. “Star, little star, the night is coming, the flame flickers, the cow is in the stable, the sheep and the lamb, the cow with her calf, the hen with her chicks, the cat with her kittens, and they’re all asleep, in their mother’s heart.”
His nose wrinkles. “Loses something in translation.”
“I heard you through the door and I knew. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“About a year after you were born. You were around Rosie’s age, actually. I’m surprised you remember.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? When I was here earlier?”
“I wasn’t sure.” He gestures at the chair. “Can you bring my great-granddaughter over here again?”
I scoop Rosie up and sit back down beside him. She fusses with his blankets and seems content to let him poke at her and make silly faces. She laughs when he tickles her, and it seems to make him happy.
It’s strange. This man is one of the most powerful criminals in the world. If he’s a Dragon, that means he did some truly awful things to reach his position. Yet he’s sitting there playing with Rosie like he’s just some normal grandfather.
“Mass knew, didn’t he?”
Elias grimaces slightly. “You can’t blame him for that.”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“There’s no way he could have without letting my secret out.”
“But he was there that night…” I trail off, remembering when we first met.
“Family has always been important to me, nipotina. There are few things I’m sentimental about in this world, and only God knows how much blood I’ve spilled.
But family persists even after we’re gone.
You are a gift and so is your little girl.
I thank the Almighty every day my line continues.
Because of that, I made Massimo swear that he’d check in on you and your mother as often as he could.
Perhaps, in the course of fulfilling a promise to an old man… ” He makes an uncertain gesture.
My mind’s a storm as I try to process. Mass knew this whole time. My grandfather’s been here, hidden away in the fortress, a victim of the ghost we’ve been fighting.
I’m the granddaughter of a Dragon. And that means Rosie is cursed with that same blood.
“I have to go.” I stand up abruptly, clinging to my daughter.
He doesn’t seem surprised or bothered. “Will you visit again?”
“Yes,” I say instantly, even though I’m not sure if Mass will let me. “I’ll bring Rosie too.”
“That would be very good.” He leans forward, tilting down his glasses. “Don’t blame Mass too much for what he did. I’m glad he married you. I couldn’t ask for a better grandson.”
I nod, biting my lip and unsure if I agree, before turning away. I hurry to the door and pause for only a moment before it opens on its own. I assume that’s Lady’s doing.
He’s waiting in the hall. Mass is leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, a stormy glare on his face. I step out toward him, shaking slightly. I wish I didn’t have Rosie right now.
The door closes behind me.
We stare at each other. There’s so much between us now. Too many secrets. None of them are good. I could scream from all the pressure I feel burning in my chest.
“Is that why you took me home that night? Don’t lie to me, Mass.”
He shakes his head slowly. “That was never part of the plan.”
“But you knew I was his granddaughter. You knew my grandfather was a Dragon.”
“Yes. I knew.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“How was I supposed to? Elias shouldn’t be here.”
“It’s possible to know who his family is without hiding him inside your freaking fortress.” I hug Rosie tighter but force myself to stay calm. “Is that why you did it? Because I have an important grandfather?”
“Did what?”
“Got me pregnant. Married me.”
His eyebrows raise. “You think I got you pregnant on purpose?”
“I don’t know!” Rosie pushes back against me, and I put her down. She teeters on the carpet, crawling a few feet away. I follow her a little but refuse to turn my back on Mass. “I feel like you’ve been keeping things from me this whole time.”
“I have,” he admits, which doesn’t help at all. “But only because they’re important secrets, and I didn’t know if I could trust you yet.”
“He’s my grandfather!”
“Yes, but he’s also a Dragon, and you barely know him. What if I was wrong about you? What if Medved had gotten to you first?”
“That’s insane!” I stare at him in outrage. “I didn’t even know Medved existed until recently.”
“But I had to be sure. Elias is important. If he dies, his position opens, and Medved or a man like him might take control of it. I can’t let that happen.”
“This is too much.” I back away from him, my head spinning. “I need time to process.”
“Your grandfather doesn’t change anything,” he says as I grab Rosie again and lift her up. My arms are tired from hefting her around. “You’re my wife. That’s my daughter. Nothing changes.”
“Everything does. You kept this from me, Mass. How do I know you didn’t marry me just so you could take over my grandfather’s empire?”
He flinches back like I slapped him in the face. But is the idea really so absurd? He saved Elias from Medved, but eventually my grandfather is going to die. When that happens, someone has to take over.
Why not Mass? Why not become the most powerful Dragon there ever was and control two of the five positions?
Maybe that’s been his plan from the start.
I turn and hurry off. I feel Mass staring after me, but he doesn’t call out. I feel sick and exhausted, and I’m not sure how much longer I can take this.
Too many surprises. Too many lies.
But I’m the granddaughter of a Dragon, and that means I have to be strong. At least for my own baby girl’s sake.