Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
It was dark by the time I arrived back at the house.
I carried my garment bag up the front steps, waving off Maia as she tried to help.
She’d accompanied me on my outing today but flatly refused to come inside stating that it was too intimate of an event for her to be there.
It was easy to forget that her and Natalie didn’t really know each other.
I’d hugged an ecstatic Natalie goodbye before leaving her at the train station. Her cheeks were flushed and she hadn’t been able to stop smiling. Neither could I.
Today had been the palate cleanser I needed after the Carolyn/John/Julia drama of the last few weeks.
My sister was happy but more than that, I had hopes that Alfie might finally get to have a healthy relationship with a family member.
Grace was none of what I’d expected and I couldn’t understand how such a grounded person had come out of such an unhinged environment.
My bridesmaid dress was a soft blue. Alfie was going to love it but I decided to save it for the big day so I could surprise him. I trotted upstairs to put my bags away but stopped off at his office first. I found him in there with Elliot.
“Look! I went shopping! Or rather, your sister gave me free stuff.” Grace had tried to ply me with shoes and jewellery too but I knew that I already had more than enough in the closet Alfie had provided.
“Can we eat soon?” I asked. “I'm starving.” I was met with silence. My good mood started to evaporate as the two men shared a look, the brows knitted, mouths set in grim lines.
“I’ll step out.” Elliot stood to leave.
“No. Stay,” Alfie said and Elliot returned to his seat as commanded.
“What’s going on?” I asked with a sinking feeling.
“I’ve done as you asked, Miss. I’ve looked into your fathers background more extensively.” He glanced at Alfie. It scared the shit out of me that badass Elliot looked nervous.
“Come,” Alfie said and as always, I obeyed. I left my bags and my good mood behind and sank into the chair next to him.
Alfie’s hand never left mine as Elliot showed me all the evidence he’d gathered.
My father had been involved in gang activity since he was a teenager.
It started with illegal gambling, bare knuckle boxing, upgrading to drug trafficking when he hit his twenties.
This wasn’t a matter of public record, he’d never done time for it.
I didn’t want to know how Elliot had found all this out.
“He was doing all this when he had Natalie?” I asked Elliot.
“Yes. It seems that he was trying to break away from that life and that coincides with him leaving Ireland and coming here.”
Where he met my mum who, as far as I knew, had no idea what kind of man John O’Connell really was. He’d gotten in too deep and abandoned Natalie and her mother to run away from it.
Alfie and Elliot were silent, seemingly waiting for me to ask questions. I didn’t. I felt too defeated to question what the abandoned four year old inside me already knew. My father was a liar. I knew there was more to the story, I just didn’t know that my father was a criminal.
“There seems to be a few years where he was out of that life,” Elliot continued.
“During the time he was living with you and your mother he worked in construction and didn’t seem to get into any trouble.
According to my guy, your father reconnected with old friends at some point and decided to return to that life. ”
“He left me and my mum to go back to this.” I felt sick.
“Or they found him and he left you to keep you safe from it.” I didn’t reply to Elliot. I knew he was trying to soften the blow. Alfie didn’t say a word.
“Is he still working for them now?”
“That’s more complicated.” Of course it was. “After he left, he worked with them for a number of years—”
“Who? Who is ‘them’?”
“The Berne family. They’re low-level gangsters, nothing too impressive but nasty enough if you get on the wrong side of them.
I think your father got mixed up with the family in childhood and has spent the rest of his life trying to stay on the right side of them.
” He paused, letting me absorb that. I didn’t want to absorb any of this.
“For the last twenty or so years, they’ve been building their trafficking operation and your father got his hands more than dirty after he left you.
” He started to elaborate, telling me all of the things my father had been involved in. I held up a hand.
“I don’t need details.” It made my stomach turn. How had my mother fallen in love with a man like that? Then I remembered the man I loved, the things he was capable of.
“Alright. About a decade after he left you, he got into some sort of dispute with the family. I believe he was supposed to help pick up a shipment but instead he got into a fight and was arrested. Because he wasn’t there, the drop didn’t go according to plan and the family took a big hit financially. ”
“Financially,” I repeated. I knew what Elliot was getting at. My father owed them money.
“He was sent to prison for eight years. The fight that he got into was pretty brutal. Grievous bodily harm. GBH. Almost beat a man to death. We know he left the organisation on bad terms. He was attacked multiple times in prison; they had to put him in isolation. He got out when you were about twenty years old. The homelessness since was probably his way of disappearing. He’s existing now on a small stipend of benefits from the government which won't last forever.”
“What about the drinking?”
“I couldn’t find any evidence that he's ever been in a facility for alcohol abuse though his medical records do note him down as an alcoholic. The years since he got out of prison have been a mix of drinking with periods of sobriety and homelessness. He’s worked here and there though I don’t think he’s currently employed.
He may be telling the truth about being sober now but unless you want me to put eyes on him 24/7, I won’t know for sure. ”
I shook my head. “I don’t want that.”
“I didn’t think you would. As for where he stands with the Berne family, I think he’s mainly been hiding from them. They haven’t exactly been hunting him down over the last few years, I doubt he’s worth anything to them.”
“Until now,” I said. “Now that his daughter is marrying a billionaire and he can pay back the money they lost because of him.”
“This doesn’t mean he doesn’t care,” Elliot said gently.
“But it does mean he’s telling lies.” I rubbed my face. “So he really is here for money. To bail himself out.”
Neither of them answered, I didn’t need them to.
“How much does he owe?”
“I don’t know. A drop like that? A few million easy.”
I closed my eyes, trying to breathe in a chest that felt too tight.
“What do you want me to do?” Alfie asked. It was the first time he’d spoken.
“Pay him.” I snorted. A sick laugh that held no humour. “Wait until Natalie’s wedding is over, then pay him off. If you don’t care about spending the cash.”
“I don’t care.”
I nodded. Of course he didn’t, the money wasn’t what mattered to him. “Thank you, Elliot. I appreciate your hard work.”
“I’ll keep digging, Miss.” He left then before I could tell him not to bother. I didn’t know what else could be left to dig up.
I stood and crossed the room to the bay window.
I looked out over the garden to the river beyond.
It was so beautiful here. I didn’t know what made me realise in that moment that this house would never feel like my home.
Maybe it was that the garden had never been mine, or maybe I just didn’t want to live in the city. I missed Harrington.
“I was having such a good day, you know,” I said quietly. “My dress is blue, I thought you’d like it. You’ve always liked me in blue. Your pocket square is supposed to match, Grace said she’d speak with your tailor to coordinate. She’s really nice. I like her.”
Alfie came to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me back against him. I kept my gaze fixed out of the window, I couldn’t bear to look at him. Humiliation burned my skin.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m glad I know.” I attempted a brave smile but my lip quivered. “We can’t tell Natalie, it’ll ruin the wedding. She deserves a nice wedding.”
“Lo—”
“Please don’t be nice to me.” I bit my lip. “I guess I really am a golddigger. Didn’t take me long to ask you to reach in your pocket for me.”
He didn’t argue, he knew I didn’t mean it. He just held me until eventually the tears came.