Chapter 44
Dean
Lily held the slice of Hawaiian pizza up in front of my mouth, smiling sweetly. “One bite?”
I curled my lip slightly at the sight of the pineapple resting amongst the sauce and cheese, but reminded myself that Lily had stepped out of her comfort zone today. I could do the same with pineapple on pizza.
Reluctantly, I took a bite and tried not to cringe too hard when the flavors burst across my tongue.
The face I pulled made Lily laugh. “I’m not changing your mind anytime soon, am I?”
I shook my head, swallowing hard. “Probably not.”
“Try the chicken instead,” Kira said, gesturing to the box on the table as she handed a Switch remote to Lily.
We were getting ready to play Super Mario Kart when my phone buzzed in my back pocket.
I fished it out and instantly regretted even checking it.
A text from Mark sat on my lock screen like a blaring amber alert.
Mark: Meet me at my office ASAP.
“Everything okay?” I heard.
I pulled my eyes from the screen to Lily.
She was smiling at first until she got a glimpse of the name on my screen. “What does he want?”
I inhaled and pocketed my phone. “It’s probably for more information or somethin’.”
I stood and kissed her on the forehead, lingering for a second.
“What about the game?” Seb asked, gesturing to the spare controller that was meant to be mine.
“Start without me.”
He gasped, feigning shock. “Blasphemy! You’re the Luigi to my Mario.”
“Yeah, well, this Luigi has a detective to talk to.”
Seb clicked his tongue in disappointment and looked at Lily. “Your dad is a killjoy. No offense.”
“None taken.” Lily masked her concern with a small smile at me. “Come back, okay?”
“Of course. I’ve gotta maintain my winnin’ streak,” I winked, gesturing to the game.
“We’re reaching the end of our investigations.” Mark hit me with the words the second we sat down in his office. He looked as reluctant to say them as I was to accept them. “I thought I’d let you know in advance.”
“Right…” I swallowed the information like it was a bitter pill. “When do you plan to start makin’ arrests?”
“A little over a week from now.”
That was the second blow. It hollowed out my stomach with a sharp slice of reality. Everything was happening so fast.
I looked down, nodding. “Can I let Lily know?”
“Something tells me you will, regardless of what I say.” Mark cleared his throat. “Don’t forget, your cooperation with the investigation won’t go unnoticed. It’ll reduce the sentence you get.”
“Yeah, but my criminal record won’t do me any favors.” I huffed a dry laugh. “I probably shoulda thought of that back when I was stealin’ cars—”
A knock on the door cut me off, and Mark sat back in his seat, exhaling. “Come in.”
It was a young delivery guy with poxy skin and a nervous twitch.
I lowered my head, mostly to mind my own business, as he carried a small box to Mark’s desk. But I couldn’t help but notice he seemed to watch me more than necessary.
“Little late to be doing delivery runs, isn’t it?” Mark asked, taking a box cutter from his desk drawer and sliding the box closer to himself.
The guy shrugged. “Fell beside my seat.”
Usually, a normal person would take the end of that sentence as their cue to leave, but this driver hesitated. Which put me on guard.
My attention went back to the box. “Maybe open that tomorrow. Outside.”
Mark half smiled, cutting the tape. “It’s stationary.”
The driver left right before Mark flipped the box open.
I tensed, half expecting fire or shrapnel to fly out of the box like Roxy’s car had done. Instead, nothing happened, and I sank back in my seat. “Fuck’s sake.”
“We have metal detectors at all entrances to the building for that kind of thing,” Mark explained, smiling knowingly.
“All this shit is makin’ me paranoid,” I huffed, combing my fingers through my hair.
Mark hummed, setting aside the box while he brought our conversation back into focus.
“So my advice to you from here on out is to lay low. This next week is most likely going to get quite messy, and I don’t need you or Lily getting caught in the crossfire…
The Gimello siblings don’t know about your mother, right? ”
“No, I doubt they would. It’s Lily I’m worried about.”
Mark paused in thought, drumming a finger lightly on the desk. His face looked more drawn than usual. Or maybe I hadn’t noticed before how the stress of the situation was affecting him. Hell, we probably all looked like shit to anyone who didn’t know what we were dealing with.
“You still have that gun?” he asked.
“Yeah, but I’m keepin’ it in my car.”
“Not ideal, given you’d need quick access if—”
“She’s safe with me even if I don’t carry. If it came down to it, I would put myself between her and harm.”
“No, you won’t. As much as it comforts me that you have her back, I need you alive for her sake.” He smiled slightly. “If these were different circumstances—”
“You’d be happy I’m datin’ your daughter?” I raised a brow and folded my arms. “No offense, sarge, but if these were different circumstances — and I’m assuming you mean me not being involved with the mob — I’d still be someone you wouldn’t approve of.”
“Yet my daughter would love you anyway. She has a soft spot for the underdog, it seems.”
“Are you goin’ soft on me?”
Mark chuckled, but he didn’t deny it. He went about gathering the paperwork on his desk. “We’re done for the night, so I will see you when, well… I’ll see you when I see you.”
I slowly stood, absentmindedly tracing a finger along a groove in the desk surface. “Do I still have to worry about what’ll happen to my mom?”
Mark’s frown was subtle as he stood too. “I think we can figure out something for her so she doesn’t have to leave.” He approached his office door, rubbing at his chin in thought. The frown remained. “I am sorry about the way I handled that. It wasn’t my finest moment.”
“No shit.” I stopped beside him as he opened the door. “But, I’ve seen Antonio make worse ultimatums for people.”
“I bet those people never punched him in the face for it,” he mused.
My lips twitched, and I rubbed the back of my head. “Yeah, not my finest moment either.”
“You were protecting your mother. I respect that.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, and this time I didn’t feel the need to ask him to remove it. Maybe I was going soft too. “It was nice getting to know you, Dean.”
Sappy moments with a father figure were something I wasn’t used to.
Even without an immediate threat from Mark, the little voice in my head couldn’t help but ask why he was being genuine.
My real father created a mindset in me that most fathers were assholes so I kept my guard up, expecting and preparing for violent outcomes.
Because of that, I didn’t know how to respond.
I gave Mark a simple and subtle nod and then left.