CHAPTER 48
Kaya
I stand up and the mafia Don meets my eyes. “You’re close with Sophia Sullivan, yeah?”
“Yes,” I answer simply.
“Stay here for now.”
I slowly sit back down. Maverick is standing behind my chair and doesn’t move.
“You can go.” Vincent says to him.
“If she stays, so do I.”
Vincent shrugs. “Only if Miss Sullivan agrees that you can, otherwise you’ll have to go.”
Two of Vincent’s men come back with Sophia, Riley, and Doug. Sophia sits down next to Grayson with Riley on her other side. Doug takes the seat next to me.
Everyone else leaves, except for Ace and Deuce.
“Is it ok if he stays?” Vincent points his chin at me.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Sophia clips. I know she isn’t a fan of him, but I’m not sure if cocking off to Vincent D’Amato is the wisest thing to do right now.
“The last time we spoke, I told you that your father killed Roger Landsdale and that he was on the run. Well, he contacted me about a week ago. He’s safe.”
“Where the hell is he?” Doug asks.
“And where is our mom?” Riley adds.
Vincent raises a hand at them, telling them to stop.
“I moved him to Chicago. I flew out there a few days ago and had a meeting with him. He’s in a bad way, filled with a lot of regret.
I’m here now as a favor to him. I’ve known your father for over twenty-five years and had always considered him a friend until he crossed me.
When that happened is when everything changed for you kids.
I have some guilt of my own from that situation. ”
Sophia scoffs. I narrow my eyes at her. She needs to shut her mouth if she hopes to get the answers she’s been waiting for. Grayson grabs her hand and pulls it into his lap.
“The situation that killed my sister?” Doug spits. I place my hand on his back and give his shoulder a squeeze.
Vincent nods as if he’s answering whether or not he wants carrots for dinner. “Your parents and I came to an agreement, of which the details will remain private, for now. However, Sophia, your father wants you to know that I was the reason your parents kicked you out.”
Sophia’s head jerks back in surprise. “What? Why?”
“Your father told me you were starting to remember more about the accident. I decided to put Marco in place to keep an eye on you. I needed assurance that you weren’t going to be able to place me at the scene. In order for that to work, I needed you away from your parents.”
Riley rolls her eyes. “And our parents just listened? Why would they do that?”
“They didn’t have a choice sweetheart. I can be very persuasive.”
“So, you threatened them?” Doug asks.
“He’s lucky I didn’t put a bullet in his head after he crossed me!” Vincent points at Doug.
Doug stands. “Yeah? Well, I wish you would have. If you would have just killed him, my sister would still be alive!” Vincent’s men move protectively with their hands in their jackets, likely on their guns.
Grayson stands and Ace does as well. “Son, if you can’t calm down, I’m going to have to make you leave.” Ace says to Doug.
After everyone takes a few breaths, exchanging looks, they all sit back down.
“I told your parents to shut you out for a while so I could send Marco in. After you and him were together, I told Max they could see you again. By then, things at home weren’t going well, so they made the decision to leave things the way they were.
” Vincent sighs and glances to Sophia and then each of her siblings.
“I’m real sorry to be the one to tell you this but your mother is gone. ”
Riley lets out a sob.
“Gone? As in dead? Did he kill her too?” Sophia asks through a cry.
Vincent shakes his head. “Roger did. That’s why your dad went to his place.
Your mother and Roger had started having an affair.
She wanted to end it and go back home to you kids and fix everything.
Max and her had been talking and decided they wanted to work everything out.
When she tried to leave Roger to go back home…
Let’s just say he wouldn’t let her. So, when your mom stopped answering your dad’s calls, he drove up to the Catskills to get her himself, only she wasn’t there.
After your dad questioned and held Roger at gunpoint for hours, he finally admitted that he accidentally killed her. ”
Sophia, Riley, and Doug look back and forth at each other, none of them knowing what to say.
“Where is she?” Riley whispers.
“In the Cannonsville Reservoir. According to your dad, that’s where Roger said he dumped the body.”
“Jesus Christ, man.” Grayson says, as he pulls a sobbing Sophia against him. “You’re talking about their mother, show some respect.”
My own tears are flowing at this point, because Claudia Sullivan did not deserve that.
She was such a great mom when we were younger, always baking and arranging sleepovers for us.
She loved having a ton of kids at the house hanging out and laughing.
Maverick’s hands come to my shoulders and he rubs them.
“Gray.” Ace chides. The authority in his voice clearly saying, back down.
Vincent shakes his head. “It’s ok Ace, your men clearly stand by their women. That kind of loyalty is to be respected.” He looks back to Sophia. “I know you felt the brunt of everything that happened and I do apologize for that. Hurting you kids was never my intention.”
“Why is our dad not telling us this? Shouldn’t we have heard that our mother is dead from him?” Doug asks. He’s the only one that seems more pissed off than upset.
“Max isn’t doing very well with the losses. I have him at a safe house, being carefully watched by members of my team to be sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. My plan is to bring him back here as soon as he’s ready to face the world again.”
Sophia jumps to her feet. “Well, you can tell my father to go fuck himself! I don’t want to see him or you, ever again.” She turns and runs from the room with Grayson and Riley following behind. Doug stays seated.
“My apologies, Ace. I knew this would be hard for them to hear.” He turns to Doug.
“And you’re right, if I would have taken out your father after the betrayal things would have gone differently, but you should know, we don’t normally tend to only take out the one who betrayed us.
We send messages to others who may think about doing the same.
So, to think your father would have been the only casualty is foolish. ”
Doug swallows hard, understanding what Vincent means.
He may have killed the whole family, half of them, or for all we know, left one alive amongst a pile of bodies.
I shudder at the thought. Losing Dani was hard enough, I can’t imagine all of them being gone.
How could Max have been so stupid to think he would have gotten away with crossing the mob?
Vincent rises to his feet, looking completely unbothered that he just delivered devastating news to an entire family. He flattens the front of his black suit jacket and puts his hand out to Ace, who stands. They shake hands. Deuce stands and does the same.
“I’ll be in touch regarding Bishop.” Vincent turns from us and walks out the door with his six men following dutifully behind.
“You ok?” I ask Doug as soon as the men disappear.
He shrugs, looking so much like the little boy I used to know. “We assumed mom was dead. I mean, nothing else made sense. None of us have heard from her in months. You knew her Kai, even if she was going through something she would have responded eventually.”
He’s right. Tears fill my eyes again. So much happened after Sophia left that none of us knew about.
Guilt pools in my gut that we weren’t there for Riley and Doug while everything fell apart.
They were always like my own little sister and brother and the fact that we lost so much time makes me want to punch Max in the face.
Doug gets up and I do the same. Before he has a chance to walk away, I throw my arms around him.
We share a long hug as Deuce and Ace quietly leave the room.
Doug breaks the embrace and quickly exits church, leaving Maverick and I alone.
I pout out my bottom lip and turn to him.
His hand comes to the back of my head and he pulls me forward into his chest.
“Sorry, baby,” he rumbles. I breathe him in, reveling in the fact that he stayed, even though the situation with Sophia’s family doesn’t affect him. He stayed for me.