“Hey.” I pushed my back against the wall behind me and stretched my legs on the empty seat beside me.
“I noticed you’re keeping your distance,” he said, “from Rocco.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak without the words sounding tortured.
“Are you. . .over?” He frowned.
“I don’t know.”
He stared at me. “It’s because of Dad.”
“How am I supposed to accept that he’s going to murder my father?” I whisper-shouted. “How can you be okay with this?”
“You don’t think I’m struggling?” He leaned forward, taking over the aisle as he rested his elbows on his knees. “It’s fucking tearing me apart, but it’s what has to be done.”
“Why?” I swallowed hard. “Why can’t he just go to jail? Why do all of you always have to take matters into your own hands and not abide by the same laws as everyone else?”
He looked away briefly. “It’s all we know.”
“He’s your father,” I said, then lowered my voice. “He’s our father. What will Gabriel say?”
“I think Gabe would agree with the plan.”
I crossed my arms and shook my head, turning my attention to the back of the seat in front of me. Gabe had grown close to Dad. There was no way he’d agree with the plan.
“He killed our mother, Nora,” Dom said. I looked at him again. “He killed three innocent women just because he fucking could. And then he hid it from us for almost fifteen years.”
“I know.” I bit the inside of my mouth. “I get it. He’s a monster. You deserve justice, I know. I’m just saying there are other ways.”
“Why did you take the USB drive?”
“You know why.”
“You wanted to blackmail him with it. What was your end game?”
“I was hoping he’d just call off the entire thing.”
“Lenora.” Dom shot me a look like I was naive. Maybe I was. “You can strip him of everything, and he’d still force you to walk down the aisle.”
“Not if I threaten to go to the cops.”
“Oh, Nora.” He laughed, shaking his head. “I have so many ideas of what Dad would do to you, but I’ll just stick to what I know for certain, which is that we own the fucking cops. We either have dirt on them or pay them. You think it’ll be different for Dad?”
“He’s not from here. He doesn’t know the cops in Providence or New York.”
“He doesn’t have to.” His words were louder now. “He can make anyone flip. Do you know why?”
“Why?” I whispered.
“Because he’s not above going after their families. He goes after whatever they love most, and that’s how he makes them bend to his will. That’s the kind of man he is.”
“He wouldn’t.” I looked at him with watery eyes.
“He killed my mother, Nora,” he said, his voice lower now, tired. “Without a second thought, he killed the woman he claimed was the love of his life. You don’t think he’d do the same to yours?”
His words sent a chill down my spine. I wanted to argue with him, to tell him he would never do that, but he was right.
33
