Following the burial there was catering at the Evans’ household, where people offered their final prayers and words of comfort. His parent’s had covered all the mirrors in the house and stopped the clocks, superstitions she was surprised to find they believed in. Mike’s photo was on the wall, above the table filled with food, and some of his award winning artwork was on display, the warmth and beauty of his paintings juxtaposed with the sorrow within the room. She excused herself to go to the bathroom but as she was walking down the corridor, Austin pulled her aside. After the required condolences and offers of support, he took her hand.
‘Before Mike died, he told me to tell you that… he was sorry.’
She shook her head. What did Mike have to be sorry about?
‘Are you sure that’s what he said?’
Austin admitted that he thought it was strange and that even though he’d been throwing up at the time, those were Mike’s final words. With nothing left to say and no way to gain clarity over the situation, she thanked him and headed back towards the lounge room, her trip to the bathroom forgotten. After the last guest had left, her parents approached Mike’s family. Austin had let everyone know the message Mike’s killers had left, that his murder was ‘just the beginning.’ But unlike her family, his had no idea what it meant. They hugged and parted ways. Her brothers went next and then it was her turn to say goodbye.
‘We’re always going to love you Roar, don’t ever forget that.’
Mike’s mother hugged her. They were moving to Arizona the next day. They weren’t putting their house up for sale, but they weren’t planning on returning to L.A anytime soon. Aurora managed to whisper a soft response before turning to look at Eve. Mike’s sister took a deep breath before throwing her arms around Aurora. No words were exchanged when they pulled away and Aurora allowed Vince to take her hand and lead her to the car.
They drove back in silence but once they were inside the front door, she watched her father toss his keys on a side table and loosen his tie. He’d taken out his cell and was heading for his study when she felt something inside her shift.
‘This is your fault.’
The words were spoken with a vehemence that caused everyone to turn and stare. She began to walk towards him.
‘Aurora.’
Johnny’s firm voice tried to stop her, her name used as a simple warning to quit before she did any damage she couldn’t undo.
‘This is just the beginning? Do you expect me to believe that that warning wasn’t meant for you? Tell me dad, how does it feel knowing that an innocent man, a man who played no role in your world, was shot in the back of his fucking head because of you? That his brains were splattered all over the road, and that his brother tried to commit suicide because he blames himself? Well I’ll tell you how I feel. I feel sick. I feel disgusted knowing I have a lying, cold hearted bastard for a father. I don’t want to talk to you ever again. If you pass me in this house I will look the other way. If you walk into a room, I will walk out. I hate you. Do you understand that? I hate you!’
She was screaming by the end and Vince was holding her back. Her father said nothing, dropped his head and walked to his study. He paused, then entered and closed the door behind him. He didn’t look back.
Five
Hawk got home from the funeral, took off his blazer and threw it on his bed, then started unbuttoning his shirt. But when he reached the last button instead of taking it off he stood with his hands on his hips taking deep breaths. One… Two… Three… Nope.
He turned and punched the wall, letting out a wordless roar before resting his head against the cool brick and attempting to control himself. He’d let assassinations play out before without giving them a second thought, and he knew he shouldn’t care, but he did, and the reason he cared disgusted him. He groaned and just as he was about to head to the shower, he heard the click clack of stilettos marching up the marble steps and striding down the corridor. He knew it was Halo before her jeweled knuckles rapped on his door, the efficient, high pitched knocks slashing through his thoughts and demanding his attention. He considered not opening the doors as she called out his name. But he knew she wouldn’t go away and there was no point delaying the inevitable. He ran a hand through his hair and opened his door.
‘We didn’t know.’
She spoke the words in a matter-of-fact tone but he knew that the thought of him caring left her with a nasty aftertaste. He knew how he was expected to respond, but what he wanted to do was tell her to go to hell. His father wouldn’t have stopped the murder. He may have warned Tony, but he wouldn’t have used his own resources. But that wasn’t what pissed Hawk off. It was the fact that even though they didn’t know before the murder, they would have found out before the funeral, and letting him walk into a situation where he had to work overtime to control his emotions, was them playing with his head. It was his father reminding him who was boss. But instead of telling Halo exactly what she could do with her message, he responded how he was supposed to.
‘Ok. Anything else?’
She looked disappointed. It was obvious that she had been itching for a chance to patronize him, the condescending smile already playing at the edge of her lips. Instead, she looked him up and down and scoffed, turning on her heel and strutting back down the corridor, closing the doors to her room behind her when he had no doubt she wanted to slam them. He swung his door shut and stalked past his mirror, refusing to look at himself. Once inside his bathroom, he turned on the shower and stripped. He let the water get to scorching before stepping under the spray, hissing as it hit his body. He braced his hands on the wall and bowed his head, letting the water run down his back and feeling it warm his muscles. It dripped into his eyes but he kept them open, staring at the cream tiles, his mind a million miles away.
After receiving the funeral notice, Mario had called them into his office and said they’d be required to attend a funeral for an ‘acquaintance’. Hawk and Honor had been pissed off, they’d had things to do and their father knew that. They’d argued until the boss yelled that the topic was not up for discussion. After that they’d stalked out of the office and gone straight to training to take it out on their soldiers. They had missed the church service as a matter of principle, earning them warnings from Halo to tread lightly when they got to the cemetery. They arrived just after their father and took their places behind him, Hawk on the left and Honor on the right, while Halo stood beside him. Every other boss in attendance could be identified by the same constellation.
Hawk had expected to stand with his father and run through Family figures in his head while the priest talked. He’d expected to shake hands with the family of the deceased and offer his condolences. What he hadn’t expected was to find the only person he would ever love burying the only person she had ever loved. Just like every time he saw Aurora, his heart caught in his throat and he scowled, knowing he looked like a bastard but reassuring himself that it was better than the alternative. But Hawk felt like he was five again and she’d just been born, making her a promise he’d never forget.
She was as beautiful as ever, but it was her eyes that gripped him and left him speechless every time. They were a green like none he had ever come across, a color somewhere between an emerald and a yellow sapphire. He had been right, they hadn’t changed from the time she was born. As much as he tried, he could never forget how incredible they were. Then the priest stopped talking and the casket began its slow decent into the ground. Vince had handed her a rose and at the moment she threw it in Hawk could see that her heart hadn’t broken; it had turned black. He couldn’t let the darkness consume her. He wanted to live up to the promise he’d made her over two decades earlier. He would protect her, he would right all wrongs committed against her so she would never have to herself. But she was not his to protect and he only had himself to blame. There she was, a woman he had been adamant in keeping out of his life, burying her fiancé. She had given her heart to the man in the coffin and knowing that mad
e Hawk more jealous than he ever imagined he could be. He was disgusted with himself.
The water started to cool and he realized he had been standing there for half an hour. He washed himself and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his hips. The air was thick with steam and he wiped the mirror with his palm, bracing himself on the marble sink to look at his reflection. She would never be his; that was a decision he had made years earlier. He wasn’t the same person who had made that promise. He was a broken man whose actions would one day destroy him, and he vowed yet again that he would stay away from Aurora, even if it killed him.
Six
Aurora sat with her fist in her mouth, staring at her house from where she was parked in the motor court. Everything she’d said to her father after Mike’s funeral had been out of line. Mike wasn’t dead because of her family’s business, he was dead because he had been engaged to her. If she had rejected his marriage proposal and refused to use him, he would still be alive. His death was on her head.
She’d spent the last week trying to find the courage to apologize to her father. Every night, as she made her way up the staircase to her room, she’d see him in his office and will herself to wish him good night. Two nights earlier she’d found the courage to do it. Two words, called out to him from between floors, before she put her head down and hurried away. She’d heard him call back good night and she’d smiled, pausing for a moment on the second floor balcony before continuing to her room. The following day, she’d decided to walk into his office. She had planned to come straight out and admit that her behavior had been uncalled for, then ask for his forgiveness. After that, she was going to ask to join the Family.
Once she had accepted responsibility for Mike’s death, she’d realized that she had the power to do something about it. She was in a position to avenge his death, and she planned to do just that. But her father hadn’t been in his office. It was a break in routine, given that as far as she knew he wasn’t out of the country, and it had left her feeling unsettled. Still, she wasn’t about to ask her brothers where he was, so she’d gone to her room and waited for the next day.
As she sat in her car, she thought about her morning. She’d gone to visit Mike’s grave. She’d said sorry to the white wooden cross, then explained who her family was and what she planned on doing. She had no doubt that Mike would have argued with her. Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of her convertible, grabbing the package addressed to Johnny that the security guard had handed her, after giving it the all clear.
She set her keys on the table in the foyer and headed to her father’s office only to find it empty. She cursed out loud as her heart kept racing. Wasn’t it bad enough that she was terrified of the conversation without it being prolonged? Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she decided to head down to Johnny’s office and drop off his package. Leaving it in the hallway just didn’t seem like an option.
His office was on the lower ground floor, down a winding staircase. The pool and the grounds at the back of the house were on her left, but she turned to the right and opened the door after a short knock. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d set foot in the room; unlike her father, who’s door was always open, Johnny’s office was out of bounds. There were lacquered, wood-paneled walls, plush red carpet, and a big oak desk, which Vince was leaning on. Johnny was pacing between the two brown leather Chesterfields in front of the desk.
‘What’s going on?’
Vince looked to Johnny, who shook his head and asked her to leave. She narrowed her eyes, about to argue then realized she had a better idea. She shrugged and turned to leave but Vince stopped her, pointing to the package.
‘What’s that?’
‘It’s for Johnny, but first tell me what’s going on.’
She held the package out of reach as Johnny moved towards her and let out a low growl. She was testing his patience and she was all too aware. Vince tried to reason with Johnny, saying that they might as well tell her, she was going to realize soon enough and that maybe she could help. Finally, Johnny gave in.
‘Dad and Dante have gone off the grid.’
That wasn’t possible. Dante she could believe, he was probably drying up at some whore’s place, trying to remember the night before and build an alibi for whatever stupid shit he’d gotten himself in to. But her father? No way. To her surprise, Johnny continued.
‘Dante got himself kicked out of Hunter’s last night. One of the bouncers called me and on my way out the door I called Dad. He said he’d pick up Dante himself. When I tried to argue he hung up. We haven’t heard from either of them since. Their phones are off, the GPS trackers on their cars are dead and there’s been no activity on any of their cards.’
She wanted to suggest that maybe they were stressing for no reason, it hadn’t been twelve hours yet, but her mouth had gone dry and the package in her hands suddenly felt very heavy. She looked down at the brown wrapping and found her hands were shaking. She could feel Johnny and Vince’s eyes also on the package and she wanted to drop it. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She looked at Johnny and held out her hands.
He took the package. She thought he would ask her to leave again, but instead he asked if she was sure she wanted to stay. She nodded, words failing her. Johnny walked over to his desk and placed the package in the center as Vince turned and Aurora approached. He took a knife out of his back pocket, flicked the blade and sliced through the masking tape. Her brothers exchanged final glances before Johnny lifted the lid, letting out a rage filled roar and throwing it across the room, sending his chair flying after it. Vince swore and kicked over one of the side tables beside the couches, running his hands through his hair and dropping down onto a Chesterfield. She covered her mouth with both hands as tears sprung to her eyes. It was her father’s Tom Ford blazer wrapped around a large fish.
Johnny had his arm against the wall, head buried in the crook of his elbow, his shoulders heaving up and down. Vince was slumped against the armrest, his hand covering his eyes. Not knowing what to do, she took a seat on the other couch
‘Is there any chance it’s just a warning?’
Vince shook his head and moved his hand away from his face as she wiped at her tears.
‘It doesn’t work that way. This is a message. It’s been done.’
Feeling the pain in her chest sharpen, she asked her next question.
‘What about Dante?’
Vince avoided answering and she sniffed, unable to stop the tears and blocking her nose with the back of her hand.
‘We’re going to have to make funeral arrangements. We can’t let this get out so we need to have a closed casket, and the less people who know about this message the better. John, you’ve got to call Bo and Cross, let them know what’s happened. Leave mom to me. John, are you listening to me?’
Johnny still had his head turned away but his shoulders had stopped moving. She knew he was composing himself, the sudden need for him to step up overriding his desire to continue grieving. She felt bad. She was able to express her grief; her brothers had to attend to business first. When Vince asked him a second time if he was listening, Johnny took a deep breath and turned around. Vince stood up and walked over to him.
‘You’re it now John. As you know, you have the right to choose your top men and if you’ll still have me, I’d be happy to continue to serve as advisor…’
Johnny interrupted the formalities by hugging Vince and before she knew what was happening, Aurora found herself on her feet making an announcement.
‘I want to join the Family.’
Her brothers looked at her in silence. She hadn’t expected the words to come out of her mouth. When Johnny responded, he directed his words at Vince.
‘Well advisor, what do you think?’
‘She’s strong, smart and quick. She can see the overall picture but she still pays attention to detail, plus she’s done well managing the books so far. She’d make a good soldier, better than good, you and I have k
nown that for years, and right now… we’re in no position to turn away good soldiers. That’s my opinion, but the final decision is yours.’
Johnny locked eyes with her.
‘If you join this Family, that’s it, there’s no turning back. This is a lifetime commitment and the Family will always come first.’
‘I know John and I’ve thought about this for a long time. This is what I want and I know I can do this.’
She was prepared to argue her case, but she didn’t need to.
‘Well then, let’s do this the right way.’
Her brothers walked out of the room and she followed them to her father’s office. Johnny stood behind the desk and asked her to approach. He opened the top drawer, took out a Beretta and a knife with the family crest etched into the gold handle, then paused. The next objects he took out caused her to swallow a lump in her throat. He placed a photo of her at the shooting range beside the weapons, then a card depicting Saint Joan of Arc.
‘Looks like Vince isn’t the only one who has faith in you.’
She couldn’t believe it. Her father had planned for her request, had even accepted and approved of it. It meant more than she would ever be able to express. Johnny asked her to hold out her hand. He then sliced the tip of her right forefinger with the knife and dripped her blood onto the card of Saint Joan before placing it in her hand and lighting it with a match he pulled out from the drawer. While she held the burning card, Vince stood beside her and Johnny spoke.
‘Aurora, with this initiation you will become a soldier in our Family. From this moment on, the Family comes first, before your parents, your siblings, your future partner and children. You must at all times act with class, respect, and honor. Remember that your sponsor will also be held responsible for your actions and will be punished accordingly should you break any rules. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open, and never admit the existence of the Family or the world we live in to outsiders. Should you ever betray the Family, may your soul burn like that of the Saint in your hands.’
Poisoned Rose (Dark Roses #1) Page 3