“I vote for bars on the windows and thirty locks on the front door,” I teased.
“Are you trying to keep me barricaded so you can have your way with me?” Lacey asked playfully.
“Okay, you two. I know you both have sex on the brain, but don’t forget how cold it probably is inside. Kade would have shrinkage going on,” Kross said in a light tone.
Lacey burst out laughing. Kross slapped me on the back. He wasn’t kidding. The house was freezing. I was glad he’d made her laugh though.
Lacey disappeared down the hall.
Kross looked around the place and said, “What the fuck.”
Officer Wayland had said the house was trashed. Lacey’s expression when she’d returned earlier had given me the impression the damage had shocked her too. But I hadn’t asked. I was enjoying the feel of her soft body against my hard chest. I was also enjoying a cathartic moment I thought we both could use. Even so, seeing the hurricane that had whipped through the house rendered me speechless.
“Should we start cleaning up?” Kross asked as he wandered into the family room.
“We should wait for Mr. Robinson.” If my calculations were correct, he should arrive anytime.
Lacey came back. “Heat should kick on. So you can both stop worrying about shrinkage.” She rolled her eyes.
A car door slammed shut. Showtime. My nerves perked up, my hands became clammy, and my mind was still flipping through how this conversation was going to go, if I could get a minute alone with him. Although in light of Lacey having a picture of Lorenzino on her phone, I knew she was dying to ask her father who the man was. Maybe starting with Lorenzino would spark a domino effect that would lead Mr. Robinson to share what he knew about Lorenzino and, hopefully, his adoptive family.
The door from the garage creaked open and was followed by Mr. Robinson’s voice, pitched as though he were speaking on the phone. “I got to run. I’ll call you later. Yes, son. I’m home.” He pocketed his phone as he entered the room. He barely had time to throw his keys on the counter next to the fridge before Lacey hurtled into his arms. “God, I’ve been so worried about you,” he said. They hugged each other for a moment. He regarded Kross and me. Dark circles fanned out beneath his eyes, and a heavy growth of facial hair covered his jaw. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
Kross and I ponied up to the kitchen island. I nodded.
“You kids should get to school. I’ll take things from here,” he said.
“We thought we could help clean up,” I said. “I brought muscle with me.” I flipped my thumb at my brother.
Lacey’s phone rang. “Hi, Detective Fisher,” she said excitedly, bouncing down the hall out of sight.
The blood drained from me. Mr. Robinson grimaced.
Kross whispered. “What’s going on?”
I hadn’t had a chance to tell him about Lacey’s detective work. I shrugged as I widened my eyes at Mr. Robinson. I probably didn’t have enough time to say what I had to say before she finished her call. Mr. Robinson was rooted to a spot in front of the kitchen sink, listening intently to Lacey. I was curious too.
“Do you know who that guy is?” she asked. “Hmm. He just walked in. Yes, the house was broken into last night. I will. Talk to you soon.”
Her boots scuffed along the floor as she made her way back into the kitchen with a picture in her hand. She blew air out through her nose, seemingly annoyed. “Detective Fisher told me to talk to you. If you don’t tell me who this man is, then he will.” She skirted the island to stand near her father, holding up the picture in front of him. “The only thing he told me was that he was connected to the mob in LA. Fisher said you and he talked last night. Does the man in the picture have anything to do with the murders and the break-in?”
Straight and to the point. That’s my girl. I gripped the icy cold granite of the island counter.
“His name is Harrison Lorenzino, head of a mob family in LA,” Mr. Robinson said. “I don’t know if he has anything to do with what happened to Julie and your mom. I do know he thinks I have something of value of his.” His shoulders slumped, no doubt the weight of that one piece of information peeling a layer of stress away from him.
Lacey glowered.
“And what is that?” I asked. Pitt was right again.
“A red ledger book,” Mr. Robinson replied. He pivoted, finding a glass and filling it with water.
“And why would you have a red ledger book that belongs to a mob guy?” Lacey mashed her glossy lips together.
“Because I suspect he’s my father, and he thinks my mother gave me the book.”
I was in the middle of a soap opera. I needed a storyboard to map all this shit out. The man was connected to two mob families. No wonder he looked like shit.
Chapter 16
Lacey
“I don’t understand,” I said, staring at my dad like I didn’t even know him all of a sudden. My eyebrows had to be deep into my hairline or maybe on the back of my head. “You always said your mom and dad were dead.” He never liked to talk about his parents, and if someone asked him, he’d change the subject.
I recalled when Julie had pressured Dad on the subject about two years ago. We had been riding to church one day when it was unusually rainy for southern California, and Julie asked him how his parents had died. It was an innocent question, but to Dad the question was like the Bubonic Plague—to be avoided at all costs. I’d been sitting behind Mom, so I had a clear view of Dad while he drove. His knuckles grew white on the steering wheel.
He’d taken a breath then speaking. “You will never ask me about my parents again. They’re dead.” The word dead was spoken with hurt and disgust, and I couldn’t tell why he felt such a mix of emotions over his parents. Later on, when Mom and I were alone, I asked her why Dad had gotten so angry. She told me Dad had a rough childhood and when he was ready he’d talk. He never did. I wasn’t surprised either. Dad clammed up tight when something bothered him.
Several things in our lives were hard to deal with. I knew that better than anyone, especially when we were talking about two precious lives. I stared at my dad as the picture in my hand floated to the floor. “Are you going to answer me?” My voice trembled. The buzzing in my head began. I inched toward the island just as Kade came around with a barstool and helped me onto it.
Kross carried another barstool over to Dad. “Sit, Mr. Robinson.”
Dad straddled the seat and scrubbed his hands over his face, drawing them down slowly. “Two months before your mom and sister were killed, I got a package in the mail from my adoptive sister, Gloria. In it was a letter and a book of nursery rhymes.”
Oh, my God. “Sister? When were you adopted?”
Dad scratched his head. “The short story for now. I was adopted when I was a baby. I never knew my biological parents. My adoptive mom had only known my birth mother briefly from church, but they became fast friends. My birth mother vanished soon after I was born. They searched for her but never found her.”
“Are your adoptive parents alive?” I pressed my hands into my legs.
“According to Gloria’s letter to me, no. And she also mentioned that my birth mother isn’t either. She’d tracked down Gloria just before she died of cancer and asked that she give me the letter and the book of nursery rhymes.” He snatched his wallet from his jeans pocket, removed a folded-up piece of paper, opened it, and read.
Dear James, I struggled with my decision to give you up for adoption. In my mind, I had no choice. I had to make sure no one would ever find out that you came into this world and that I was your mother. I wasn’t a good person. I had a hard life. I wasn’t proud of some of the things I’d done or the choices I’d made. I prayed every day that the decision I made was the right one. I wanted you to have a good life, one where children thrived on good and not evil. I didn�
�t write this letter to ask for your forgiveness. I wrote it to say that I love you. The book of nursery rhymes is something I cherished as a child. I loved reading “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” at night while I was pregnant with you. Maybe one day you can read them to your children. You’ll always be in my heart. With all my love.
Dad sighed, and water pooled in his eyes.
A pain clamped down on my heart at the thought that he never knew his biological mom, and now she was dead. I placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Dad. I would’ve loved to have met your mom, and your adoptive parents.”
“I wished I would’ve known my mom.” He folded the letter. “You wouldn’t have wanted to know my adoptive parents. They’ve been dead to me for a long time.” He pinched his lips with his fingers.
Kade gently laid his strong hands on my shoulders and began tracing circles. I reveled in his strength, something I needed at the moment. Kross relaxed casually against the counter, his face blank.
The soft buzzing in my head began to drone. “So your mom gave you a letter and a book. I’m still confused,” I said. “Is the nursery rhyme book the ledger?”
“The book is all nursery rhymes, and it’s not red,” Dad said. “Now, your mom encouraged me to find out more about my parents. She kept telling me that I had to come to terms with my past. Since my adoptive parents didn’t have much to go on regarding my mother, I hired a detective. He uncovered that my mother had been a mistress to a man who was head of a mob family. A month after we learned of it, your mom and sister were dead.”
I sucked in a sharp breath as acid swished around in my stomach.
“Afterwards, I canceled the search on my biological family. I focused on moving here and getting our lives back to normal. I didn’t think to connect my search for my mom with what happened to our family. If you recall, we thought it was a random break-in.”
“And the mob boss your mom slept with was Lorenzino?” Kade asked.
Dad gave Kade a nod.
“Did he kill Mom and Julie?” I tucked my trembling hands between my thighs as I pictured Mom’s and Julie’s dead bodies. I wanted to bury myself in a dirt hole like a gopher and not come out until all this was over with.
Kade bent down, his lips at my ear. “Breathe, baby. I’m here.”
I kept inhaling and exhaling softly, helping the buzzing in my head to quiet down.
“Possibly.” Dad unfolded his bulk to get himself another glass of water.
“So you’ve talked to this man?” Kross slid down away from Dad. “Did he give you any clues as to where he thinks this ledger might be? Granted, if he knew, I’m sure you wouldn’t be in this predicament, but if he’s your father, maybe you can appeal to him. Get him to tell you more about your mom.”
The Maxwells were all about family. Their bond was based on love, protection, and having each other’s back. My dad didn’t have any of that with Lorenzino. If Lorenzino was the killer, the man didn’t have a heart.
Dad downed the clear liquid. “I’ve talked to him, only because he called me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I’d found the book. It was the first time I’d ever spoken to him. He told me he’d mistakenly left the ledger at my mom’s apartment. Then she disappeared off the face of the earth. I told him that it’s hard to produce something you don’t have. His response was that the woman was cunning.” Deep lines creased his forehead, and sadness swam in his green eyes.
“Is Rob in danger?” Everyone kept thinking about me, but my brother was the one in LA, where that man lived. “Does he know all of this, too?”
“Rob can handle himself,” Dad said with surety. “And he knows as much as I do. I had to keep him in the loop.”
Thank God. I wished Dad had told me when he’d found out all this information. I knew he walked on eggshells around me with my PTSD, school, and baseball, and while I appreciated his protective nature, to learn all the information at once was a little daunting.
“So, that’s it?” Kade asked. “The man can’t be okay with I don’t have it, especially if it’s something he’s still searching for? No offense, Mr. Robinson. In my opinion, the man isn’t going to stop until he gets the ledger. And why now?”
“Before we ended the call, he said, ‘I’ve given you enough time to mourn. Find that book. We’ll be in touch.’ Then he hung up.”
I hopped off the stool, picked up the picture, and placed it on the counter. “When I saw this picture, my first thought was that he looks familiar. Now that I’m looking at him again, I see the resemblance. It’s the nose. He has the same nose as you.”
“It doesn’t matter if he’s my father or not. I don’t want anything to do with him. I don’t even want to know if he is my biological father.” Dad set his glass on the granite surface.
I didn’t want anything to do with Lorenzino either.
“So you shared all this with Detective Fisher?” Kade sat down on my barstool then drew me to him to stand between his legs at angle where he could still see Dad.
“When Lacey, Rob, and I were at the LAPD, I didn’t want to say anything for fear of Lacey’s safety. However, after you called,” Dad said to Kade, “I called the detective before I got on the plane and explained everything. We need all the help we can get. He’s still working on the lead regarding Dennis Weeks. He knows Lorenzino won’t talk. Despite that, he’ll follow through. As far as the break-in, the detective speculates Lorenzino probably knew we were in LA, so he had one of his men check out the house. He’ll keep us up-to-date. We need to be alert.”
“Is Mary coming back?” I asked. I was worried she’d be in danger, too. She’d been on a mini vacation with her new boyfriend, Mr. Wiley.
“Mary will be staying in LA. Her mom had to have emergency hip replacement surgery,” Dad said.
“I asked my father this morning, and Lacey can stay with us,” Kade said. “Since you work at the club at night.” Kade hooked a finger around one of mine.
It wasn’t a bad idea. The notion of staying alone in my house after the break-in wasn’t high on my list right now. Granted, I had to get over my fears, especially my fear of darkness, but taking the plunge and sleeping in the house alone—I wasn’t prepared to do that.
Dad narrowed his tired, red eyes.
“Mr. Robinson, we’re adults. But I get it. Separate beds is not an issue. I slept on the couch last night,” Kade said. “And my best friend’s brother, Wes, manages the Guardian. I’ve asked him if he could have a couple of men shadow Lacey.”
“You asked Pitt for help?” I asked. Kade didn’t like the man.
“His men are trained to protect,” Kade said.
“I know how to use a gun. And I have you guys.” I stuck out my chin. If the rumors that Pitt was the mob were true, then I didn’t want Kade to get caught up with him.
“Kade’s right. Let the men who are trained in this do their job. We have our own jobs and lives. I’d like to get some rest, clean up this mess, and talk to the local police to make them aware. And you kids have school.”
“The school day’s half over. Why don’t we help clean up?” Kade suggested. “Kross, can you run and get us lunch? Baby, can you go with Kross? I’d like a few minutes alone with your dad.”
I swung my gaze between them, not certain what Kade could want to talk to Dad about, unless it was the sleeping arrangements. “Are you going to ask him for my hand in marriage?” I asked in a somewhat playful tone, trying to lighten the mood and hoping to think of something other than the mess we were in.
“Say what?” Dad’s face reddened.
Kross chuckled.
“Maybe.” Kade slid on one of his famous sexy grins.
“Go easy on him, Dad.” I hugged him. “I love you. We’ll get through this.” We had to. I didn’t want to live not knowing who the killer was or that he’d never p
ay for what he’d done. Somehow, I had to dig deep for strength to keep my PTSD at bay. More importantly, I had to do everything I could to help. Right now, fresh air sounded good. “Come on, Kross.”
Kross slapped Kade on the shoulder. “Good luck, bro. I’ll be sure to place lots of flowers on your grave.”
“Oh, Dad.” I said. “Where’s that nursery rhyme book? I’d love to see it.” Dad had always read nursery rhymes to me when I was a little girl.
Kade lifted his eyebrows.
I rolled my eyes. The guy had loved Humpty Dumpty when I recited it to him in the airport. I was beginning to think I’d opened up a can of worms.
Chapter 17
Kade
When Lacey and Kross left to get lunch, Mr. Robinson and I shared a very long quiet moment with the hum of the fridge compressor. He had one arm crossed over his chest and the other resting on top of it while he stroked his unshaven jaw. It would be funny if he were thinking about his answer to my marriage proposal.
I strolled into the breakfast nook, pulled out a chair, and straddled the back of it. I stretched out my arms over the back and picked at a fingernail. I was the one who wanted to talk, but I just didn’t know where to begin. It would be easier to ask for her hand in marriage.
“Have you thought about seeing Lacey walk down the aisle?” I briefly closed my eyes. I could picture how beautiful she’d be in a snug-fitting dress with a slit up one side.
He cleared his throat as he joined me. “That’s what you wanted to talk to me about? And here I thought you two were kidding.”
I had to break the ice somehow.
“You love her that much?” he asked.
I met his green gaze. “Yeah. But we’re not ready for that step just yet.” Lacey and I hadn’t even talked about the future. It unnerved me a little. The thought of being apart from her was unsettling. I wasn’t planning on college. I was hoping to stick around my house and spend more time visiting my mom and giving my father a hand with taking care of the house and our property.
The Maxwell Series Boxed Set: Books 1-3 Page 47