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In watching my father’s reaction, my instinct screamed that he’d already put the pieces together long before they’d begun to fall in place for me.

“They were paid very well and made several promises in doing the man’s dirty work. That lured me into complacency, which in turn became a weakness for a plan of torture.” I laughed and threw back half the glass. “For kicks and giggles, the man had Isabel record some pretty interesting shit, which was played for me when I was at my most vulnerable. What was the plan? Driving me fucking nuts? Well, it didn’t work as Isabel, being the superhero that she is, escaped with my child. She carried Mina to safety. Against the odds and at a significant risk to her life.”

I had no idea if I was even getting anywhere with him. The blank look was what I’d come to expect.

However, the photograph was still in his hand.

There always been some level of awkward silence between us when times were difficult, but at the end of the day, his word was gospel. Period. I don’t know why I felt it necessary to laugh, maybe simply to express my discord, but I was at the point of crossing every line with him.

“I have them as prisoners in my house, Pops. My child’s teacher was murdered because she warned me. Although I’ve begun to think she was duped and the plan was for my life to be spared in some way as to create a higher level of guilt. Well, the fucker succeeded. Isabel is pregnant with my child.”

For whatever reason, after the intense soliloquy I’d just spewed, it was hearing that I was going to be a father for a second time that caused any reaction. A heavy sigh while he placed the photograph on the table almost as if by offering a gentle caress to a memory that he both abhorred and craved.

“I’ll ask you one more time, Father. Who was Bedford Dayne to you?”

“You don’t remember him?”

“You seem to forget that both Roman and I were kept away from your business for the first several years. You wanted to give us a normal life in America. Remember?”

“That was your mother’s doing.”

“Ah, yes. Blame her for wanting her children to grow up with a different skill set than simply how to gut people.”

He finally snarled. “Don’t you dare disrespect me!”

“Then don’t you dare try and push aside the importance of this. Is this man still alive? Or did your buddy the police detective lie about that? Maybe in an act of deception? Do you even know?”

“The man is dead.”

“How do you know that for certain?”

He powered down his drink. “Because you killed him. You put a bullet in his head.”

As stunning as the news might be, I sensed there was much more to the story. “Go on.”

“When we arrived in the United States, I was required to forge several new partnerships for our clients. One of them involved Bedford. He had the pulse on the East Coast, able to obtain whatever product I needed. Instead of being merely a business acquaintance, he became a friend. Until he betrayed me, his greed and desire for power the reason. When I found out, a war began, but as is typical with brokers, he went underground. It took me years of hunting him down to find him. By that point, you were my main enforcer.”

“I don’t remember you telling me about him or his betrayal.”

“That’s because at that point my inability to find him had become a sore point with the captains, a weakness.” He laughed bitterly. “Do you honestly think I wanted to admit to my own son that I wasn’t the powerful man I portrayed myself to be?”

“So I put a bullet in his head. If that’s the case and confirmed, then why is someone hellbent on revenge?”

“I don’t know.” He finally found the courage to look me in the eyes. “Don’t you think I’ve been attempting to find out?”

Now I was the one to laugh, the very same bitterness leaving a bad taste in my mouth. “Maybe you don’t know the person behind the mask, but I’m guessing you have an accurate reason as to why they targeted my wife, my child, and my fiancée.”

He took his time pulling the drink to his lips, once again his gaze dropping. “Because at the same time you killed someone very important to him.”

“Who?”

“A woman. Who she is doesn’t matter. It’s how special she was to Bedford.”

“How?” Why couldn’t I remember? I turned my head and relived my time spent as the enforcer within my father’s organization. I followed orders given I was attempting to prove myself as a future leader. “The house fire.” As before, he remained quiet. It was the only thing that made any sense. “The soldiers in my command burned a house outside of Atlanta on your orders.”

“On your orders, son. Your decision and at the time, one I applauded. What I hadn’t told you when we located a warehouse where it was believed millions of dollars of product were being held that I’d already suspected the Butcher hadn’t died in the fire.”

“The deadliest battle I’d been involved in.”