Vidal!: Snakes Henchmen MC

by Grayson, Alivia

  “They will be home with you soon, Marnie. I've been with this family a very long time, and I know that nothing is impossible when you believe in them. Do you believe in the man you are to marry?”

  “More than anything.”

  “Then keep the faith, Marnie.” Alessia sits back in her chair. “If only Allegra were here to see her brother marry the woman he loves.”

  Alessia eyes wonder to the framed photograph of her daughter that sits on the small table beside her. Marnie looks at me curiously, and I shake my head.

  “Keep your daughter's close.” She strokes the picture with her fingertip. “Make sure you tell them every day how much you love them, and never ever let a man hurt them.” She turns to look at us. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Marnie. You are going to be much loved within this family. I can see it now. Take care of her, Draven.”

  “I plan to.”

  “Such a good boy.” She mumbles and closes her eyes. I watch her for a moment as she falls to sleep.

  I get out of my seat and kiss her head. I take Marnie's hand and lead her out of the room. I need to find Tony. I know this is his day, and nothing should be more important than that, but something is not right with Alessia, and I need to know what. This cannot wait.

  “Draven, is everything okay?”

  I stop walking and turn to look at Marnie. “I don't know, Marnie. Something doesn't feel right with Alessia. I've never seen her like that before. I need to speak with Tony.” I cup Marnie's face, and she leans into my touch. “Will you be okay with Maria for a short while?”

  “Of course. You do what you need to do. I'll be here when you're done. Try not to worry too much. It could be that she's missing her daughter and what might have been. I'm guessing she never got to see Allegra get married?”

  If only that were true. “Alessia saw her daughter marry; she also buried her a week later.”

  “What happened to her?”

  I lean my forehead against Marnie's for a moment. Thinking about what happened to Allegra makes me think of what could have happened to Marnie if she'd stayed with Paul any longer. It honestly gives me nightmares sometimes.

  I take her face in my hands and kiss her lips softly. “Allegra was murdered by her husband three days after they got married.” Marnie sucks in a deep breath. “Allegra had kept from everyone the fact Christoph was violent towards her. She loved him and thought she could change him. No one knew anything was wrong because she was good at hiding the truth of their relationship.

  “The motherfucker thought marrying Allegra would put him in my good graces and I'd make him a wiseguy. There was never any chance of that because I couldn't stand him. Tony wanted the man dead long before Allegra married him, but she begged Tony not to take him from her.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “Six years ago. It almost destroyed Tony. He blamed himself because he could have stopped it.”

  I watch Marnie's throat move up and down as she swallows. “What did he do to her?”

  I take a deep breath and let out a sigh. “He battered her to death. If that wasn't enough, he set fire to her body to destroy the evidence.” Marnie let's go of a sob. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you.”

  “Why would somebody do such a thing to the person they're supposed to love the most?” I shake my head because I don't know the answer. “I hope Alessia is okay.”

  “Tony and I will speak with her.” I just hope she opens up and tells us the truth.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Tony

  Do you think we'll always be this happy?”

  I wrap my arms tighter around Amy's waist as she leans back against me. We're sitting under the oak tree next to the lake beside my mother’s house. The party is in full swing, and no one has noticed that Amy and I have slipped away.

  Seeing Amy walking down the aisle today took my breath away. She was a vision from a dream I once had, and I'm man enough to admit that I cried when I saw her. I won't lie, I never thought we'd be here, I honestly thought the Boss would put an end to us before we began.

  I fought what I felt for this woman because I'm loyal to Draven. His rule is not something I take lightly, but luckily for me, he saw things my way and allowed Amy and me to be together.

  This woman in my arms is the strongest, mentally and physically, I have ever known. Amy is afraid of nothing, and she's fiercely loyal, and I fell in love with her so quickly. Put my little infatuation with Maria to shame.

  “I know we will.” I rest my hands on the bump in her belly. My son is in there. I'm overwhelmed with love for the two of them. I kiss Amy's head. “You've completed me, Amy.”

  “Ditto, handsome. All of this made your stalking of me worth it.”

  I laugh loudly. I did not stalk her, well, not in a bad way. I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. Amy could always handle herself against any foe, but I felt this strong urge to protect her. It pissed her off if I tried to save her life, and she'd yell at me that she didn't need my help. I knew she was capable of taking on a man twice her size and coming out on top, but it didn't stop me wanting to protect her.

  When I first asked her out, Amy told me she would never date me unless I learned to back off and stop treating her like a weak woman. She called me a sexist pig and told me that just because she was a woman it didn't mean she needed a knight in shining armor.

  I did back off, and I don't interfere in Amy's work, but deep down, I don't think I'll ever back off completely. I will always be there to back her up if she needs me, just as I know she will for me. We're one in everything, a team, and we always will be.

  I kiss Amy's head. “I love you, beautiful.”

  “I love you, too. It looks like our quiet time is over.”

  What the fuck does Lorenzo want?

  “Boss wants to see you. Now.” With that, he walks away. Lorenzo is not a man of many words.

  I help my pregnant wife to her feet and kiss her softly. “I'm sorry about this. I'll try to be quick.”

  She chuckles. “Baby, whatever the boss wants you for must be important. You know he promised no business today unless he had no choice. Just make sure you come back to me before people think you ran out on me.” She laughs and kisses me.

  I find Draven outside my mother’s study. I'm curious to know what's going on. “Everything okay, Boss?”

  “I'm not your boss right now, Tony, I'm your friend. Is everything okay with your mother? She doesn't seem herself.”

  I rub the back of my neck and take a deep breath. This is neither the time nor the place to talk about this. I probably should have spoken to Draven before now, but my mother didn't want anyone to know anything just yet.

  “Something is wrong, isn't it?”

  I lean back against the wall and tip my head back. “Yes, something is wrong.” I stand straight and look at him.

  “What's going on, Tony?”

  “Mom has the onset of Alzheimer’s.”

  “Oh, Tony,” I shake my head as he clutches my shoulder in sympathy. “I'm so sorry. Jesus, she's too young! Is there anything I can do?”

  I shake my head again. There's nothing anyone can do. “It's not too bad yet. She's a little forgetful, and it's starting to frighten her. It's why she doesn't leave the house so much these days. You know, she asked me not to let things get too bad.”

  “I don't think you have much choice in the matter, Tony. This illness is very progressive.”

  “She wants me to help her die, Draven.” He grabs my arm and drags me into the room opposite, slamming the door behind him. I'm not sure two big fuckers like us being locked in a closet together will look good if anyone finds us here.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Mom asked me last week not to let things get so bad that she didn't recognize me. She said that once things got to that point, she won't know what's going on from one minute to the next, and she may as well be dead.” I rub my hands over my wea
ry face. I've kept this to myself since the moment my mother asked it of me. I've done nothing but think about it, but I can't bring myself to say that I'll help her.

  How am I supposed to kill my own mother? Even if it is to help her. What kind of son would that make me?

  “She doesn't want to die like that, Draven.”

  “Are you going to do it?”

  “No,” I lean back against the boxes of Christmas ornaments. “There's no way I could kill my own mother. How would I live with myself afterward?”

  “But if it's what she wants...”

  “What about what I want?!” I can feel the tears in my eyes. My mother is all I have left! I already lost my father and my sister, and I don't want to lose my mother as well. “I don't want to lose my mother, Draven.”

  “Nobody does, Tony, but put yourself in her position. Would you want to die not remembering anything about your life, your children, even your own name?”

  I roll my neck and crack away the tension. Draven isn't saying anything that I haven't already thought about. If anyone else in the world had asked me to help them die, I wouldn't even hesitate to do it. However, this is my mother we're talking about, the woman who gave me life. My heart is breaking knowing that I'm going to lose her, let alone the fact she wants me to do this.

  “I don't want her to suffer, Draven, that's the last thing I want.”

  “But you can feel your heart breaking knowing this is happening to her?” I nod my head. “I understand how hard this is for you, Tony. I also know it won't be easy to watch your mother deteriorating the way she will over the next few months. When my grandmother was alive, she had Alzheimer’s, and she once told me how it was like a fog in her brain. She told me that she couldn't recall what she'd done in the last hour, and how some days, it was like everyone was a stranger. I couldn't imagine being so frightened all the time, especially when the people you're afraid of are the people you love the most.

  “No one will ever think less of you for helping your mother, Tony. Alessia deserves the best of everything, and to spend what time she has left being happy. Don't let her waste her life locked in this house alone. No one deserves that.

  “Whatever she needs, she will have. We'll make sure somebody is with her at all times. Well, within reason, or until she can no longer manage alone. When the time comes that she no longer wants to be here, and if you can't bring yourself to do what she wants, then I will.”

  I knew he'd say that. Not because he's being a jerk, or that he wants to make me feel like a failure, but because he wants to help my mother.

  “How will I know when she wants to die, Draven? How will I know when she won't even know what day it is?”

  “You will just know, Tony. The look in her eye will tell you.” I close my eyes for a moment and breathe deeply. This is eating me up inside, and I don't know what to do. Not yet at least, and to be frank, I don't want to know. “Why don't you take some time off?”

  I shake my head, that's the last thing I want. “I'm already taking this weekend off with Amy.”

  “You need some real time off, Tony. This whole thing won't be easy.”

  “I know. I'll take some time once Simpson is out of the way.”

  Draven clasps my shoulder. He knows I'm a man of my word, and I gave my word to help get Paul Simpson out of the way so Marnie could find peace. Once the job is done, I'll take my family on vacation somewhere my mother will love. Paris, maybe. She's always wanted to go there, and I want to give her everything I possibly can before it's no longer possible. “Why don't we go see Alessia? It's time she rejoined the party.”

  I nod my head at him. He's right; my mother shouldn't be locking herself away when there's a party going on right down the hall.

  “Mom?” She's already in the hallway when I leave the closet. She's standing still and staring into space. “You okay?”

  “Huh?” I take her hand in mine as she looks at me in confusion.

  My mother has tried so hard to hide her illness from everyone, but it's now getting to the point there is no way she can hide it any longer. I don't want to take over her life, but I can't leave her alone in this house any longer. I'm scared she'll forget to blow out the candle she leaves burning for my dad and sister before she goes to bed, or that she'll leave the cooker on. I'm scared she'll end up dead because no one was around to make sure she's safe.

  Alessia De Luca spent her life taking care of others. She gave me a lifetime of love, and I will not abandon her because of this. It would be easy to put her somewhere I wouldn't have to worry about taking care of her. So very easy. I'm not taking anything away from those who find it hard towards the end and go down that route, but I could never do that.

  I look at her and the way she's looking at me as though she's struggling to recall my name, and my heart shatters. I wasn't as honest with Draven as I should have been. My mom has been struggling for months, and she's only getting worse. I buried my head in the sand because I didn't want to admit the truth to myself.

  “Mama?”

  She smiles brightly and cups my cheek. “Tony.” She blinks as though blinking away the fog in her mind, and it's all coming back to her once again. “What are you doing out here? Amy must be wondering where you are.”

  “I came to find you. We haven't had our mother-son dance yet.”

  “You look worried, Tony.” She has no idea how worried I truly am. “I'm sorry that I can't spare you from this. I can...”

  “No,” I cut her off because I know what she's going to say. I wrap my arms around my mother and hold her gently. “You aren't going anywhere. I'm going to take care of you, Mama. Right to the very end, I promise.”

  My mother sobs in my arms, she's so frightened, and I have no way of taking that fear from her. Draven tips his head to let me know he'll give me a moment alone with my mother. I nod my head, silently thanking him for being a true friend when I need one.

  My eyes find Amy's. I had no idea she was standing behind my mother, watching us with tears in her eyes. She's been my rock these past few months. I don't know what I'd do without her.

  I hold my hand out to Amy. She wipes the tears from her cheeks and comes to me. She wraps one arm around my mother, and the other around my waist, and I hold them both to me for a moment.

  Mom pulls away. “That's quite enough of that; we have guests. The hosts cannot be hiding in hallways. Besides, didn't you say something about a mother-son dance?” She smiles at me, and for now, she's my mom again.

  “Come on, baby, let's get back out there.”

  “I'll go anywhere with you, husband of mine.” She leans up and kisses me. “We'll get through this together, Tony. We're a family, and family sticks together.

  Always.

  Chapter Twenty

  Marnie

  Oh, Brooke, he's beautiful!”

  “Thank you,” My sister smiles sleepily, happily, contentedly.

  Brooke gave birth in the early hours to her second son, DJ, or Dante Junior as is his official name. Hawk called me the second the baby was born. Okay, not the second, but within the first ten minutes. Draven wouldn't allow me to come to the hospital when Hawk called at 3: AM, and I was not pleased, at all. Brooke was asking for me, Hawk told me so.

  I was so gutted that I couldn't be there with her that I cried. I wasn't trying to emotionally blackmail Draven into taking me, but I felt hurt that he flat out refused to let me go until 9: AM. He said that would be a reasonable time to go after I'd had a few hours sleep. I mean, six hours? How would I be able to rest that long?

  Even though I was hurt, even though I desperately wanted to leave then and there, I didn't cause an argument. The old me would have, the old me would have screamed that he couldn't tell me what to do. The new me is too pregnant to fight with him. Not that the hormones don't make me a snappy bitch on occasions, but I always tell myself that if it weren’t for Draven, I'd be in the gutter right now. That's why I just wiped my eyes, nodded and turned over in bed. I wouldn't be able to f
all asleep, but I could pretend.

  It took Draven fifteen minutes to throw back the sheets and tell me to get dressed, and he'd take me to his sister. I was so excited that I jumped all over him, kissing the big bad Don all over his face and telling him how much I loved him. He made it out like it was no big deal, trying to keep up the macho thing he does when around people. Not that he needs to do that with me, but I guess it's ingrained in him; however, I could see the smile he was trying to hide from me.

  Draven and I arrived at the hospital at 3.45: AM, and I've been cuddling my new nephew for half an hour now. He's adorable, and I can tell already he's going to look more like his father than Gabriel does. That little boy looks like his mamma, but DJ, I can tell, is going to have a shade darker skin than his brother, and he's going to be his father's mirror image.

  “I can't wait to see what your little one looks like.”

  “Nor can I.” I look at Draven and smile, and he winks at me from his seat beneath the window.

  Holding this baby boy brings back so many memories of my little girls when they were born, I got to spend so little time with them. I will never forget what it felt like to hold them, to breathe them in, to tell them how loved they were by me.

  There are no real words to describe how it feels to know your child is out there somewhere and you can't get to them. The only pain more significant would be the death of a child, and that's one thing I never want to experience.

  Will this feeling of failure ever leave me?

  I've been my brains in wondering what life would have been like if I'd only snuck away in the middle of the night with my girls the way Brooke did with Gabriel. I have no real excuse as to why I didn't, but Peter locking me in at night was a big factor. Then there was the fact I'd been hoping my father would allow me to take Amber to a doctor to get her checked out.