by K. J. Dahlen
“That’s murder anyway you fucking slice it, Mr. Vincinti and you know it!” Jack shouted.
“Just like it was murder when my mother was being kicked to death!” Sawyer screamed. “Just like when Max gave the order to kill Jordan’s father? Or when Max beat my mother shortly after Calico left us. She almost died when she lost the baby she was carrying!”
“What the hell?” Calico turned to stare at his daughter. “What baby?”
“She was pregnant with your child when she sent you away,” Sawyer sobbed as she told him her mother’s secret. She turned to glare at Max. “When he found out, he beat the hell out of her and she almost bled to death because of it.”
Calico’s hands turned into fists and he advanced on the other man. “I’m going to enjoy beating the shit out of you, you bastard.”
“Come children, we don’t have to stay for this part,” Leon ushered Sawyer and Jordan to the door. Once they were outside, they could all hear the sounds of a rumble inside the building. Leon nodded to his men and walked to his limo. Getting the children inside, he gave a nod to his driver once he and Calderone were settled. As they drove away, they all heard gunshots echo in the stillness.
Sawyer’s tears spilled down her cheeks. She felt numb but there was something she had to know. “Did he tell you where my mother’s body ended up?”
“He had her cremated and her urn is at his house. I will get it back for you.” Leon nodded. “I have to go to Rochester in person to appoint a new person to Max’s position.”
“Thank you,” Sawyer whispered. “I hated having to leave her there alone but there was nothing I could do. Micah was coming after me. I didn’t want him to kill Jordan the next time he found us.” She turned to her brother. “I had to protect him, he was all I had left.”
“My dear…” Leon patted her hand. “You did what was necessary at the time. No one can fault you for that. I’ll bring your mother back to you.”
“But now, I’m not all you have left,” Jordan told her. “You have your father back.”
Sawyer shook her head. “But for how long?” she whispered. “He walked out of my life before, how can I expect him to stay now?”
Leon chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think he’s leaving anytime soon. Fathers can be a very stubborn lot, you know. That man loves you very much and he isn’t ever going to leave you again.”
“How do you know?” Sawyer whispered.
“Because I am a father as well. There is no way in hell I would ever leave my child. I am also a grandfather and a great grandfather and I would give my own life to protect those I love.”
Calderone smiled as he felt his phone ping with a text message. When he checked the text and his smile grew. He knocked on the window and told the driver a new destination. Turning to his own father, he said, “Peaches had the baby, another boy. Elliot James was born this morning.”
Leon grinned. “You see, there is so much in this world to be thankful for. I hope you see this as a new beginning. Get to know your father again. Maybe even find a man who loves you and deserves your love in return. There is too much violence in the world.”
“But don’t you live in the violence?” Jordan asked.
Leon shrugged. “Yes, our world has violence in it, but we are also businessmen. I prefer not to dwell in the violent part of it but rather in the business part of my life.”
“Can I tell you something?” Sawyer asked.
“Of course.” Leon nodded.
“Max had some pretty shitty stuff going on in Rochester. Stuff I don’t know if you even know about.”
“Such as?”
“Well, besides the drug racket and the gambling, he had a sideline of smuggling.”
“Smuggling?” Calderone frowned. “What was he smuggling?”
Sawyer shrugged. “Nobody knows for sure but he always used Bascomb’s Import/Export. He also ran an illegal poker game. He moved the place they played every week to avoid getting busted, but the cops were very interested in the money generated by the game.”
“Don’t forget the money laundering racket,” Jordan made mention.
“How pray tell do you know all this?” Leon asked.
Sawyer shrugged. “Max didn’t care who knew what he was into. That way, no one in his right mind would bother his places of business.”
“I see.” Leon glanced over at Calderone. It was beginning to sound as if just replacing Max wasn’t going to be an easy job. They would have to delve into what the man was doing all this time and how his business would affect the family.
“Now, may I ask you a question?” Leon wanted to know.
Sawyer nodded.
“Why are you telling us this?”
“Because I want Max to go to the next world with nothing to his name.” Her eyes were full of wrath. “Rochester used to be a decent town to live in but the last ten years or so, it’s become a dirty town. Crime rules the streets. Max cheated everyone there, so I wouldn’t doubt he cheated you as well. He showed my mother his safe once when he was trying to impress her. She told us it was the whole length of his basement and it was filled with money and jewelry. He told her it would all be hers if she would only accept him, instead of reject him.”
“What did your mother do then?” Calderone asked.
“She came home with a bruise on her face where he hit her, so I assume she rejected him again.”
They pulled up to the front door of the hospital.
Calderone and Leon ushered Sawyer and Jordan to the maternity floor and went in search of Peaches.
Sawyer and Jordan waited with Melora, Sam and the Morgan brothers.
~ ~
When the Vincinti men returned a couple of hours later, Calico and the others had come back as well.
Leon pulled Calico away from the crowd and Calico handed him some things. They spoke in low voices.
Then Calico turned and found his daughter. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close, “I love you girl,” he whispered in her ear.
Sawyer wrapped her arms around his waist. “I have missed you. When you left that day, you took a big chunk of me with you.”
“I will never leave you behind again,” he vowed.
“Can you accept Jordan as well? I won’t abandon my brother.”
“Of course, I can baby girl,” Calico assured her. “He’s part of Jolene and no matter what happened in the past, I did love her. I think I loved her all these years.”
Sawyer smiled. “I know she loved you. In the hospital, she was unconscious but she kept calling for you right up until she died.”
“That doesn’t help you know,” he whispered as he looked pained.
“I’m sorry,” Sawyer whispered back. “I just wanted you to know that my mother loved you very much. She didn’t forget you and she wouldn’t let me forget you either.”
Calico leaned back and frowned at her. “What does that mean?”
“When I was little, she used to tell me stories about you. We’d lay there in my bed and she would tell me how you met, some of the things you did together. She would have this special smile on her face when she spoke of you. Over time, she lost that smile but I still remember it. Just before she died, she had it on her face again and I was glad.”
Calico closed his eyes against the pain in his heart. He didn’t know what the future had in store for him but he did know Sawyer was going to be part of it. He wasn’t going to leave her behind again. He made a silent vow to Jolene. He would never leave Jolene’s behind again.
UP NEXT
STONE COLD
BOOK SIX
SIN’S BASTARDS MC
K.J. DAHLEN
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Bratva Blood Brothers Series
By
K.J. Dahlen
K.J. Dahlen
Author of the bestselling Bratva Brothers Series…
I live in a small town (population495) in Wisconsin. From my deck, I can see the Mississippi River on one side and the bluffs, where eagles l
ive and nest on the other side. I live with my husband Dave and dog Buddy. My two children are grown and I have two grandchildren. I love to watch people and that has helped me with my writing. I often use people I watch as characters in my books and I always try to give my characters some of my own values and habits.
I love to create characters and put them in a troubling situation then sit back and let them do all the work. My characters surprise even me at times. At some point in the book, they take on a life of their own and the twists and turns they create becomes the story. Of all the stories, I could write I found I like mystery/thrillers the best. I like to keep my readers guessing until the very end of the book.
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