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Not that it mattered to me other than I wanted the family to succeed. My family. I would remain wary of the alliance, but it was a good business decision.
“Thomas did what my father asked, trying to find out if the threats he’d received had any merit,” Arman told me.
“I’m not angry with Thomas. He was not only following orders but protecting a family much like you and I’ve done.”
“My father had his reasons.”
“I never really told you, but I always considered your father mine as well. After what Jack put me through, what he did to my mom, the only reason I survived without succumbing to drugs was because he picked me up. I’m ready to put the past behind me. I just want to know why Jean Baptiste never told me there was a connection to my birth father.”
“That’s something only Pops can answer. Just know that he does love you like a son.”
There was no animosity in Arman, Francois, or Louie for the way I’d been treated over the years, always welcome at family gatherings and holidays. For being a family of ruthless, savage men, they had big hearts. That was evident in the way they loved their women and children.
And each other.
I had them to thank for the man I’d become, for the love I was able to shower over Zoe. The future that I knew would entail a large family. I almost laughed thinking about it. Zoe had no idea how much I wanted children. God willing, we’d have several.
He clapped me on the back before heading to the door. “You’ve always been my brother. Now, you’ll be my son-in-law.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, you are older than me.”
“By six fucking months.”
“I’m never going to let you forget it.”
“I’m sure you won’t, you bastard.” His laughter boomed into the room, driving out the sounds of hard rain.
I was left alone for only a few minutes, the sound of the door opening once again forcing me to suck in my breath. I sensed Jean Baptiste had entered. He hadn’t shied away from wanting to talk with me in private the same as I did with him. It was time to clear the air about the past and to simply let it go.
When he said nothing for a full minute, I tried to relax, turning my head slightly so I could catch a glimpse of his face. Heseemed pensive, which was what the entire family had expressed since our return a few days before.
“Is it true that my birth father worked for you?” I finally asked.
“It’s true. In the early days, I considered him an important asset, someone I could trust.”
“What happened?”
“Your father was an angry man, violent. More so than even I was at the time. I’d believed he could be controlled, but when he started using drugs, his brutality became intolerable. I was forced to clean up after him several times at the risk of my family.” He walked closer. “I cared about Jack. I tried to get him help, including getting him into one of the best rehabs in the county, all expenses paid. After three months of extensive treatment, he returned a changed man. You were maybe eight or nine at the time.”
“I was eleven. It was the last time my mother was lucid most of the time. We also healed during his absence. We thought he was gone for good.”
Jean Baptiste exhaled, the haunted look in his eyes letting me know how much the situation troubled him. “I didn’t know much about you or your mother at the time. I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t give a shit. I had my own family to deal with, my business right on the edge all the time. I was a selfish prick back then and I hate myself for it. When Jack returned, he proved himself for months, a year or so maybe. He moved up in my organization, holding a place of trust.”
“So what happened?”
“He betrayed me, stealing four hundred thousand dollars that we never found. He would have gotten away with the treachery had he not made a single mistake. I wanted to kill him but was convinced to have him thrown in jail instead. The whole situation bothered me. I’d even believed that somehow, I’d failed Jack. I didn’t learn how dire the situation was with your mother or what he’d done to you. I did hear your mother died and the day I caught you in my restaurant, I knew I’d been given a second chance on saving a life. Your life.”
“Why didn’t you tell me what happened?”
“The truth was that you were so disturbed for the first couple of years that I knew it could destroy you or push you into becoming a carbon copy of your father. The day you saved my life, I committed to raising you as my own, determined to let the past stay in the ugliness of what it was. As the years passed, it became easier to do so.”
“He threatened you through the years?”
“Every once in a while, I heard he’d issued some threat, most of which I didn’t take seriously. But I learned a few months ago that he’d used that money he’d stolen that I’d never found to amass himself an army of supporters. I have enough enemies that it wasn’t hard for him to do. When I received a threat, I asked Thomas to look into his whereabouts. I found out he’d been released from prison, but he remained in New York.”
“Who was Lucas Marciano?”
“He was the illegitimate son of a man considered an enemy, someone I’d ousted from New Orleans. Had I known what happened to my granddaughter, I would have had Jack tracked and killed. Unfortunately, by the time I asked Thomas to trackhim, your father had disappeared. I admit it. I never anticipated the attack at Arman’s estate. I’ve no doubt the guilt in not confiding in you and the rest of my family will always be with me.”
