Chapter 33
Fallon
“I want nothing to do with my grandfather,” I said, hating the quavering in my voice.
“Trust me. You won’t need to deal with him,” Vissarian stated.
His voice was gruff and full of anger. He’d been entirely different since returning from the meeting. I’d barely gotten the cliff notes, but they were enough to know his world had been rocked as much as mine.
“Then why do I need to go to Chicago to see him?”
He closed his eyes briefly. “Because he won’t listen to anyone else but you. You are all the family he has left.”
“You want me to do this?”
The way he fisted his hand told me he wanted nothing of the sort, but he was being pressured. While still processing, I understood there was a great deal at stake. Not just money. Not just connections or clout.
But also, the desire to live life the way all people should be allowed. With freedom from fear and constant anxiety.
It wasn’t every day that you found out almost everything you believed in was a fabrication. Now he had another family out there that wanted him and his brother, his cousins and everyone he loved destroyed. I couldn’t imagine.
“I want you to live your life the way you want, Fallon. You deserve nothing less.”
The larger-than-life man was so troubled. Watching him sit on the couch with a drink in one hand, stroking Bella with the other, I realized all over again why I cared so much about him.
And why I’d found it easy to fall in love with him.
“That’s what I want for you as well. I’m sorry to hear about your uncle.”
He took a swig of his drink. “Yuri isn’t my uncle.
From everything I learned, the man is a true monster.
I always knew there was another reason my father and Uncle Boris had left Moscow.
Now I know. They say knowledge is freedom.
” He lifted his gaze and for those few seconds of connection, I could tell he was feeling the same thing I was.
Fear of letting go. Fear of forging a new future. But I refused to allow fear to trap me into a prison. “I don’t know my grandfather, but if he’s anything like you say he is, he’ll need proof of Antonio’s treachery. We don’t have any.”
“Yeah, I know.” A sudden spark in his eyes was easy to see. “But I have an idea.” He placed his drink on the coffee table, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Who are you calling?”
“My good buddy Carlos. Let’s see if he’s true to his old self.”
A slow smile popped across my face. Being with the man was so natural.
Maybe I’d need a little more convincing to stand in front of my grandfather, the man who’d caused so much harm.
Yet the fact he had cared about his son, even trying to protect the new family he’d fought to keep should mean something. Right?
“Carlos,” Vissarian said into the phone, his eyes never leaving me. “Yeah, we’re back safe and sound. I have a question for you. Do you still keep trophies?”
Trophies. Ugh. If anything I’d seen in The Sopranos was accurate, I didn’t want to know.
“Good. Go ahead and send those to me. Will you? They will come in handy.”
I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off him, especially since he’d taken off his jacket and tie, rolling up his sleeves and allowing me to enjoy studying his tattoos. That I still wanted to trace with my tongue. I bit back a moan from the thought.
“I will let her know. Make plans to come see us in the near future.” Vissarian was finally smiling. “Thank you for everything. Now, I owe you.”
As soon as he ended the call, he tossed his phone on the table beside his weapon and his drink.
“Dare I ask?”
He chuckled. “Pictures. Carlos always took pictures of his conquests. And no, do not ask what they entail.”
“Oh, I won’t.” I thought about everything that had occurred and made a decision.
While the world around me was still spinning, I knew one thing for certain. I refused to live my life in fear. My sister had risked everything to make a life that she’d obviously loved with a man she’d adored.
I planned on doing the same. “I’ll do it.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re sure?”
“I’m certain. When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
Moving closer, I placed my wine on the table and all I had to do was to give Bella a look and she scrambled off his lap, allowing me to take her place.
“That means we have tonight all to ourselves.”
“Yes, we do. What do you have in mind?”
Easing back onto his knees, I unfastened his belt and trousers, taking my time to unzip his fly while I gazed into his soulful eyes. “Having my way with you.” When his cock was free, I shifted my thong aside, pressing the tip of his cockhead against my wetness.
“Oh, you are such a bad girl.”
“Something for you to keep in mind.” As I sat down on his stiff shaft, I threw my head back.
Love was a powerful emotion, much more so than fear or violence.
Especially when being able to share that love with someone special.
I stood in the living room of what had been my mother and stepfather’s house, staring at the pictures that I’d found of my father in a box.
She had hidden them in her closet, keeping them easy to see when she was feeling melancholy.
Whether or not Luis had forbidden her from indulging in her memories no longer mattered.
I’d found them before I’d left after their funeral, refusing to ignore her love for my father.
Now they were an anchor, allowing me to enjoy the memories, tethering me without being a chain.
I had a future forged from two people who’d defied the odds. The house was the only location I’d agreed to for the meeting with Giovanni Bruni, a man I’d never met and after today never wanted to see again.
Just being able to look down at Bella was a good reminder of all the things I had to live for. And no man, certainly not my own flesh and blood was going to take that away from me as he’d done with Megan.
While on the plane, which I hadn’t been allowed to fly, I’d talked with the attorney in charge of my mother’s estate. My biological father had left a trust fund for both Megan and me. With her death, the money had been transferred into one account.
I was wealthy beyond my means, but money meant nothing to me at this point. Not a damn thing.
The moment I felt Vissarian’s hand on my shoulder, I released a single sob, but that was all I’d allowed.
“You don’t need to go through with this if you don’t want to.”
I shifted and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m fine. This is the right thing to do. My mother would want this for our memory and to honor the love she shared with my father.”
“I understand. Don’t worry about your safety. The entire block is surrounded. If he tries anything, he dies by my hands.”
After pressing my hand on his chest, I gave him a look. “No murder inside this house. Not again. Plus, you made me a promise.”
A quick glance at the walls in the room reminded me of the horror that had occurred inside the house. While forensics had removed the extra blood, there’d been no repainting, the carpets still stained. Something my… grandfather needed to see.
“Then I’ll take him outside.” He was only half joking. He flicked his eyes toward the front window just as we both heard a blip on his phone. After glancing at it, he nodded. “He’s here.”
I took a deep breath. “I’ll handle this.”
“I’m sure you will. You have the pictures.”
With a quick nod toward the table, I shored my shoulders. “Yes, I have everything I need since you’re here.” While it would appear Vissarian would keep his promise to me about Antonio, that didn’t mean the bastard didn’t deserve punishment for what he’d done.
“Weren’t you the one who said flattery will get you nowhere?”
“I know exactly how to get to you.” All the teasing in the world wasn’t going to make this any easier.
It seemed time ticked away slowly. When there was a knock on the door, I smoothed my hands down the front of the power suit I’d insisted on purchasing.
I needed to look the part of a badass who refused to take shit from anyone.
Including from a man I considered a monster.
Even before I walked to the door, Bella growled. I’d been right about her keen senses. She could tell a bad person from a mile away.
I opened the door, uncertain what to expect. I’d refused to look at the internet, not wanting to learn anything about Giovanni prior to the meeting.
He seemed as surprised as I was, taking a deep breath as I glared at him.
The monstrous man looked like the pictures of my father I’d found, only older. The same jawline. The same hair only silver instead. He even had the same eyes.
The realization was unnerving.
“Fallon,” he said. The same voice.
“Mr. Bruni.” I refused to call him a Don. I couldn’t care less about some bullshit respect owed to the man. He would never get that from me. “You’re allowed in. What I have to say won’t take very long.”
“Understood.”
I threw a look at the men he’d brought with him. “They aren’t welcome.”
A smile curled on his upper lip. He nodded to the assholes who took a step back.
“You remind me of your father,” he said as I closed the door behind him.
“Yes, well, I also have part of my mother in me, a beautiful woman you had killed.” I knew what the supposed story was, but this was my way of attempting of getting to the truth.
He said nothing as I walked him into the living room, but when I turned around, I could tell he was genuinely shocked at what I’d said.
“I did not kill your mother.”
“Of course. An aversion to getting your hands dirty. You ordered your thugs to do so.” I’d heard the story told to Vissarian. But it didn’t matter right now. I needed to lash out, to let him know nothing he could say or do would change anything.
He flitted his eyes to Vissarian. “No, Fallon. I did not. Whoever did will be found. Vissarian Dmitriyev. I’m not surprised you are here.”
“Why is that?” Vissarian asked.
Giovanni laughed. “I do try and keep track of my family. I am well aware of who you are and what you are capable of. You blamed me for Megan’s death. All those years ago.”