Defiance Falls Revolution: Defiance Falls Series Book 2

by Dean, Ali

  “But he wanted the guys to like him, see, and they were protective of you. I told him to take the risk. I knew it was just an excuse anyway. He was intimidated by you.”

  One of the guys snickered.

  “Now, Spike, don’t laugh. You’ll be twisted up about a girl one of these days and you’ll know.”

  “I don’t know, Jake, I’m not like Cruz or Hazel.”

  “You wait. I’d never been intimidated by anyone, man or woman, until I met Laura Braven my freshman year at Harvard. Most terrifying thing I ever did was ask her on a date.”

  Dad went on about his early years with my mom, and we listened. But he started to drift off to random topics. I knew I had to stop him because when this happened, he would get confused, and then frustrated. I wanted this little moment to be a good memory for him and all of us. Each time he was lucid for periods like this, I knew it could be our last good memory with him.

  While Dad was talking, Bodhi nudged me to show his phone. It was a text from Jeremy. He was at Pops and Mimi’s for dinner.

  It was a good excuse to interrupt Dad and have his caretaker redirect him. When we said our goodbyes and went outside, I felt relief. Not at leaving Dad, but that he had been with us, for the most part, that entire time.

  Hazel sat on the bike behind me. “He’s different. He’s so much calmer than I remember.”

  I shifted to face her and nodded to Spike as he pulled around us. “Yeah. That was the best day he’s had in a while,” I admitted.

  “You see him every day?” Hazel sounded surprised.

  I swallowed down the guilt. “No, not every day. I sometimes stay at the Spot or the Lake.”

  Hazel didn’t say anything. I looked up at the house and felt her eyes on me, searching. “I used to eat dinner here with him every night, spend as much time as I could with him. A year ago he stopped going into the office. He doesn’t meet with friends much either. He wanted to keep his diagnosis a secret. From the beginning, he didn’t want the Malones to know. Thought it would make Braven more vulnerable.”

  Hazel placed a hand on my arm and I looked at her. “There’s speculation about why he’s become reclusive, but he said he’s working more from a home office. Gramps picked up some of Dad’s duties with Braven.”

  Hazel doesn’t let me avoid where I was going with this. “Why did you stop coming home every night to be with him?”

  My chest tightened with the same stabbing pain I got every time I thought of it.

  “Six months ago, Dad didn’t know who I was,” I told her. “He asked his caretaker why a young man was in the kitchen. He thought I was a new caretaker.”

  It had come out of nowhere. For a minute, I’d thought he was messing with me. I was in denial. But there had been signs for months. Years, even. When he was first diagnosed, Gramps and Uncle Cliff had been the ones to notice what seemed to be more than usual forgetfulness. They’d thought it was purely emotional, a combination of Mom’s death, taking over the company and instituting this plan to get out from under the Malones’ thumb. He’d agreed to see a therapist. A few months later, at the therapist’s recommendation, he’d done testing.

  “But today,” Hazel said, her voice echoing some of that confusion I’d felt six months ago, “he was remembering all kinds of things. He knew who we all were.”

  “I know. Today was a good day,” I repeated. “But I never know what I will get. The first couple of years after the diagnosis he was himself. He was still working -- well, he was going to the office. Gramps would go too and help him organize his affairs. We didn’t know when he would have trouble doing it himself. Then a year ago he was forgetting names, or things that happened earlier that day, and he stopped going into the office. He never struggled to remember faces though. Just me, that night.”

  Hazel slid her arms around my waist.

  “I told him I was Cruz, his son.” My throat tightened and my voice was hoarse when I continued speaking. “He was so confused, Hazel. He kept looking at me, searching my face. Finally he mumbled something about how much older I looked.”

  Hazel rested her chin on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Cruz.” There was nothing else to say, not now. I was losing my dad, slowly. He gave me little glimpses of the dad I’d known, but he also gave me glimpses of a stranger. A stranger I didn’t think I wanted to get to know. I felt guilty about that. The man was still my dad, either way, wasn’t he?

  * * *

  Everyone was already at the house when we arrived. They were in the backyard, where Ian, the twins’ dad, was manning the grill.

  We knew we’d have to wait to get the low-down from Jeremy. No matter what was going on, this family made Sunday dinner a priority. I hadn’t joined in years. Neither had Spike or Moody. But I’d liked knowing the twins at least had this time with Hazel. It gave us a small connection to her.

  Anyway, I hadn’t gotten a chance to think about how my presence might be received. Vanessa, Jeremy’s older sister and the twins’ mom, was the first to ask, “So, now that you and Hazel are finally together, will we be seeing you at Sunday dinners, Cruz?”

  It was a rhetorical question, apparently, because Mimi said, “Oh, and the occasional breakfast. Did you know that Hazel’s going to relax her training a bit this season? I think it’s a great idea.”

  Ian closed the grill and looked over his shoulder. “Relax training? What, no five AM wake-up calls to hit the gym? Define ‘relaxing’ in Hazel Ross terms.”

  And just like that, my relationship status was accepted by the rest of Hazel’s family.

  It was odd, sitting beside Jeremy on the back deck and shooting the shit. He’d just come from a six-hour meeting with a mafia boss, and here we were chatting about the Red Sox. I wasn’t so impatient to find out the outcome of the meeting. I figured if he was here, we had at least this time before we had to make a move. I wanted to pause it, chill here for a little while longer. It was so damn nice to just be.

  Hazel was kicking around a ball with the guys, and I was attempting to keep my mind at PG level. It wasn’t working too great, even surrounded by all three men who’d raised her. She’d been sliding her phone out of her back pocket and giving it death stares for the past ten minutes. Finally, she took it out and headed inside. Of course, I followed her.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  She was walking toward the bathroom and handed me her phone before going inside.

  Three different numbers were on a group text with her; none of them were contacts from her address book.

  Unknown number 1: Did you make a decision? We saw what we saw, Hazel. Maybe it was a coincidence, but the police might not think so.

  Unknown number 2: We would have said something sooner but the guys are always with you. They’re dangerous.

  Number 1: Until Cruz got arrested, we’d convinced ourselves we shouldn’t tell anyone. Now, we think we should. But for you, we won’t. If you help us in exchange.

  The third number wasn’t chiming in. I figured that was Melissa. She seemed the least on board with this little scheme.

  When I heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on, I glanced back to see if anyone else was in the house and then opened the door and shut it behind me.

  “Ignore them.”

  Hazel dried her hands with a towel. “I’m trying.” I could hear the frustration in her voice. I didn’t want it there.

  I pulled her to me. “Hey. You know what?”

  “What?” She looked up at me and I could tell she was already a little calmer.

  “Today was one of the best days.” I meant it too. “For me, it might have been my favorite day.”

  Hazel looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “We spent most of the day waiting to find out if Seamus Malone had killed my dad or if they were going to come shooting at us or something.” She paused before adding, “And aren’t we still waiting to see if that might happen?”

  I shook my head. “No, you’re seeing it all wrong.” I kissed her forehead, then her nose. “This m
orning,” I said, keeping my voice low, “I had sex for the first time. With you. I’ll admit, the first time might not have been all that memorable for you,” I said with self-deprecation, “but I will never forget it.”

  She gave me a smile at that. “I won’t either.”

  “And then I got to hang out with my dad for longer than I have in months, and he got to see you and the guys and embarrass me with stories. And now, now we’re with your family and it’s all good. Ignore the texts.”

  “Okay,” she said, and I sensed she was a little choked up. From which part, I wasn’t sure.

  “In this life, Hazel, we have to soak up each good moment. Because you’re right, we don’t know what’s coming next. It could be taken from us.”

  She went up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine, pulling my head down at the same time. This was Hazel, doing exactly what I’d told her to do, in her way. She didn’t rationalize it, or bother to mope a second longer. Her frustration was gone, and now she was pressing her body into mine. Being in the moment, with me. I’d let her take this with me any time.

  My hands pressed into her lower back and I steadied myself on the counter as she moved her hips into mine. I groaned, wanting more. I nearly forgot we were dry humping in her grandparents’ bathroom while the rest of her family was just outside.

  But then there was a knock on the door. “Seriously, you guys?” It was Emmett.

  Hazel pulled her mouth from mine. Her eyes widened and I grinned. She’d forgotten where we were too.

  “Uncle Jeremy was about to come in to get the pasta salad from the fridge and I ran in ahead of him. You’re welcome.” I heard him walk away as my body instantly cooled with the thought of Hazel’s dad realizing what we were doing. What was I thinking? Sure, Jeremy knew what was up and Pops was the one who gave me the condoms, but I could show a little more respect.

  “You go first,” I told her.

  Hazel took a deep breath, winked at me, and opened the door. I loved hanging with Hazel and her family but if this was going to be a regular thing, I’d have to get a handle on myself. A little self-restraint wouldn’t ruin this day though. I didn’t know what was next, but I had enough good moments to get me through it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hazel

  We were back in the basement at Bruno’s.

  “I thought the house wasn’t bugged anymore?” I asked.

  “It’s not,” Dad said. “I took them all out the day after –” he hesitated a second “– on Friday morning. I took them out on Friday. But they might have eyes on the house. I know they know you’re all friends but I told Seamus today that none of you are involved. I want to keep you as far from it as possible for as long as possible.”

  “So, what happened?” I asked the question we were all here for.

  “He’s taking it back to his colleagues, he said, to decide how to handle it.”

  I stared at Dad. The guys were all here too, but they were letting me ask the questions, I guess. “That’s it? After six hours with him, that’s all you got?”

  “Well, at first he gave this elaborate apology for what happened to you. He didn’t admit to anyone in his family breaking into our house, bugging it, or shooting up the Moodys’. Then I told him I’ve got everything on his family to bring them down, I’ve identified his insiders and we have insiders of our own, and that if anything happens to me it’ll come out.”

  “What’d he do?”

  “He didn’t believe me at first, but I showed enough cards I think he’s convinced.”

  Bodhi said, “I would’ve loved to see the look on his face when it sunk in.”

  “He shit himself or what?” Spike asked.

  “He kept it all pretty stone cold. Couldn’t get a good read. He’s never shown much emotion. His sons and nephews didn’t get that. Maybe Neil did a little. Anyway, I laid out the terms. Told him that Braven would be my new employer and I didn’t want them involved in Malone biz anymore. He tried to push to find out how involved I was with the Donovans, asked a lot about your dad, Cruz, but I think I convinced him it’s purely business. Me wanting to get out of the illegal stuff. He doesn’t know I know about your mom and didn’t point-blank ask about Flynn, even when I said he had to drop charges against Cruz.”

  “Dad, you’ll need to make sure that goes for all of the guys,” I told him. “Some girls at school said they saw the guys leaving Flynn’s house that night, but we don’t know if they’re lying.”

  Dad rubbed his chin. “I’ll have to figure out how to do that without letting on we talk like this.”

  Cruz suggested, “Just tell them your daughter was upset because some girls at school are trying to blackmail her into letting them on the varsity team by saying they’ll report us for murder if she doesn’t.”

  Dad nodded, like this additional news was perfectly normal. I was still having a mild panic attack over the encounter last night and each text reminding me of it. I hated not doing anything, and didn’t want to be responsible for blowing this up. But Dad took it in stride, adding it as another item on his to-do list.

  “Another term was that I don’t want any of his boys coming near you, Hazel. He told me they’d been sent earlier that day to apologize to you. Did that happen?”

  I caught Cruz swinging his head my way just as I nodded. “Yeah, and we made the same thing clear to them directly.”

  Dad’s expression softened then. He looked like he wanted to hug me and I wanted that hug too. I’d wanted one since I’d seen him on the back porch at dinner. But I hadn’t wanted to alarm the rest of our family who had no clue what was going on. I didn’t reach for him though, because Cruz was pissed.

  “What? Why didn’t anyone tell me this? What the hell happened?”

  Emmett told him what went down at Shaw’s Shack. “We’re telling you now. It’s done.”

  Cruz looked at me. “Maybe not the best day for you then, huh?” he murmured.

  I pressed my lips together, my mind going straight to the kiss earlier, and our morning at the Spot. I shrugged. “No, it was still a great day.”

  Dad got us back on track. “I gave him a week to answer before the first leak goes out. He’s probably hiring another hacker right now to try to figure out what I did and how to undo it. They won’t be able to. This is why it took nearly five years. Even if he can find the best hackers out there, which won’t be easy to do, they won’t crack much.”

  I didn’t know how that was possible, but I trusted Dad. He wasn’t stating this with pride; no, he was stating it as fact. I glanced at Moody, the only one who might have more knowledge about the validity of this claim. He was gazing at my dad like he’d just cured cancer.

  “I think they’ll take the week to analyze what I’ve told them I’ve got on them, see if there’s a way around it. I don’t think they’ll make a move. But we need to be on guard. You all need to act like nothing in your life has changed – beside the blackmail thing with the soccer girls,” Dad added dismissively. I almost laughed. Right, “the blackmail thing” that could send all the guys to jail for murder. “Show up for school, practice, your usual hang-outs. And we wait.”

  Waiting. I could do that. It felt like I’d been doing it a lifetime.

  “Um, question,” I said, fighting the urge to raise my hand. “I know how to use a gun now. Should I carry one around with me?”

  Dad didn’t even think about it. “Yes.”

  “Next question,” I said, hoping that I’d set this up right. “Can Cruz sleep at our house? You know, for protection?” Dad let me sleep away from home plenty, but I didn’t want to do that every night. Besides, it wouldn’t be consistent with our “normal” schedule we were trying to keep up. Of all the questions I’d asked and difficult topics we’d addressed, this one was clearly the most difficult for Dad. I should’ve felt guilty for putting this on him on top of everything else, but the distressed look on his face over a boy sleeping in my room almost made me laugh. Blackmail, murder charges, me carr
ying a loaded weapon, none of that fazed him. But my boyfriend in my room, even if it was for additional protection, he was totally clueless on how to handle it.

  “If I say no you’re just going to stay at the Spot or the Lake, aren’t you?”

  “I mean, you could ground me if I did. But it seems like we have bigger problems.”

  I had him, and he knew it.

  “No, Cruz cannot sleep over at our house in your bedroom. And no, you can’t stay anywhere but our house on school nights. However, I stopped checking on you in the middle of the night about fifteen years ago and I don’t plan on starting now.”

  I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing, and when I glanced around, I noticed everyone else was fighting it too.

  A snort escaped from someone, Bodhi, I think, and then Emmett couldn’t hold it in. A second later we were all laughing, except for Dad, who was shaking his head. He looked overwhelmed. And finally, I got up and leaned over to give him that hug.

  “I love you, Dad. I’m so glad you’re safe.” I wanted to thank him for so many things. For working hard from the beginning to support us, to trying to get out when he figured out what was going on with the Malones. Mostly, I wanted him to know I thought he was doing the right thing now, even though it was a huge risk. He couldn’t live the rest of his life like this, working for a corrupt world because he didn’t have a choice.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cruz

  I waited until midnight to sneak into Hazel’s room that night, and left by five in the morning. She’d partly woken up when I climbed in and out of bed, but fell right back to sleep. It was a mild form of torture, lying beside her in bed with her dad down the hall. My girl needed her sleep and I wasn’t going to wake her, but knowing Jeremy could barge in at any moment kept me in check.

  I did what I always did each morning when I woke before the rest of the world -- worked for an hour at our security firm and spent another hour working out. I did this at the Spot, where I could let my guard down a notch.