“That explains why he rarely answered my calls in those early days, and when I did get talking to him, he usually had little to say.” I press my palm to my brow, consumed with guilt. “I should have pushed him harder. Done more for him.” It was a shitty way to pay him back for everything he did for me.
“He knew you cared for him, Benny. He knew it was you who paid the mortgage on his house. Did you know he left it to you?”
I shake my head. I didn’t know that.
“Someone burned it to the ground a few days after his funeral.”
I didn’t know that either. I had only just discovered Rowan, so I was preoccupied.
“He told me he left a box for you. It might be stretching things, but I wondered if whoever torched his house did it to destroy that box.”
“In our world, things are rarely a stretch.” Damn it. I need to find out who handled his legal affairs and ask them why no one made contact with me. If it was important enough, maybe he left the box with his lawyer.
“I don’t have any proof,” Pillow says, entering the ramp that leads to the highway. “But word on the street is The Outfit took him out for something he had done years ago.”
“That makes no sense,” I say. “Unless they only became aware of his actions recently.”
“All I know is he lived every day in fear. I asked him about it once, a few years later. I asked him why he was living in fear instead of confronting it head-on because that was the kind of man he was. He told me it wasn’t just about him. That he needed to stay alive to ensure you never came back to Chicago.”
All the blood drains from my face, and I feel every pair of eyes on me. “This was about me?”
“Let’s just say I don’t think it’s a coincidence you returned to Chicago when you did.”
“You think someone killed him to lure me back?” I ask, continuing his train of thought.
He shrugs, peering at me through the mirror. “I could be wrong, and I have nothing to back it up, but I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“Neither do I.” I’ve known for some time that something is fishy. That things weren’t adding up. But I would never have put Terry in the middle of it. If he was killed because of something he did to protect me, then I owe it to him, as much as myself and my family, to get to the bottom of this.
I’m fucked if anyone else is going to die on my watch.
47
BEN
“Tell me this is some sick joke,” Sierra says. She is dressed in silk pajamas, wearing a line in the carpet as she paces back and forth in our bedroom.
“I wish I could.” I pull on sweatpants and a plain white T-shirt. We only got home a little over an hour ago, and Rowan was already asleep. After eating the pasta Natalia heated up for us, we grabbed a quick shower together. I thought Sierra would be too tired to talk or to fuck, but she pounced on me in the shower, and I screwed her against the wall, needing to feel our connection after the day from hell.
Then I sat her down and told her everything I know about her family and their connections to The Outfit.
She stops pacing, sinking to her knees on the floor. “I’m shocked, but there’s another part of me that isn’t,” she admits. “I’ve always known my father was an evil piece of shit, so finding out he’s laundering money for the mafia and that his hands are dirty, most likely bloody too, isn’t that big of a surprise.”
I sit cross-legged in front of her, taking her hands in mine. “Did you have any inkling?”
She shakes her head, sending waves of damp hair tumbling over her shoulders. “I grew up knowing my father was a very wealthy businessman. Bodyguards and drivers were the norm. I didn’t stop to question it even if I thought some of the men he introduced me to at parties and balls were shady motherfuckers. Father never discussed business in front of me, and neither of my sisters ever said anything.” Pain slashes across her face, and her eyes well up. “Why wouldn’t my mom or Serena tell me any of this? That’s the part that has shocked me the most.”
“I can only surmise your father dictated they keep it a secret.”
Tears roll down her face, and my heart hurts for her. I gather her onto my lap, snaking my arms around her. “Don’t cry, Firefly. They don’t deserve your tears.”
“It hurts, Ben,” she croaks, rubbing a hand across her chest. “Everything I thought I knew was a lie. I thought I could trust Mom and Serena, but they have lied to me for years. How could they do that to me?Whywould they do that? Is my value so little to my family that they would keep this from me?”
“I don’t know, baby.” I press a hard kiss to her temple. “I wanted to get to the full truth so I could explain it all to you, but I didn’t want to keep this a secret any longer. You deserve answers.”
“Thank you for telling me.” She swipes at her tears and stands. “And I do need answers. I feel like such a fool. Everyone in Glencoe must be laughing at me.”
I stand, reeling her into my arms. “It’s not common knowledge what your father does. To most, he is the legitimate businessman he appears to be.”
