“I already have a few names being sent over for me to look at later this week, Mama,” Vinny replies.
“Really?” Bobby is as surprised as the rest of us.
“I do.” He takes a sip of his drink to finalize any doubts about what he might or might not fear. “Now tell me, dear brother, what scares you?” The glint in his eyes lets us all know that there will be repercussions. Nothing extreme, more in the vein of juvenile tricks when Mama isn’t present.
“Spiders,” Mama speaks up, pulling everyone’s attention. “Nasty things with too many legs for their own good.” She shudders to emphasize her point.
“Calling in sick,” Danny says next, and everyone pauses, waiting with bated breath for him to finish, but he doesn’t.
“Clingy women are it for me,” Dante says with a wink sent Mama’s way and thankfully not to Payton.
I think on it for a second. My first thought is losing Payton from my life, but I know not to say that out loud. Not to this group and not to her. Not yet. It’s too soon.
“Guns,” Payton whispers, staring down at her food. Her fork is on her plate, and her hands are in her lap. From this angle, I see them twisting about. Instinct has me moving my hand over both of hers to give her a sense of comfort.
“My parents were killed by them,” she continues. “Shot in the back of the head in our kitchen. I was upstairs in my bedroom when I heard the shots.”
I knew her parents died. I should have looked into it. Never knew the details. Something I now regret. I should have known before everyone in my family found out about it. Not because they don’t need to know, but because I wish I could offer her more comfort than just a hand under the table. If I had known, I might have spoken to her about it before this, easing the burden of holding it in and not talking about it. I doubt she’s told many people. How can she? Everyone she knew before abandoned her when she struggled, to the point that she turned to the Kings for help. If she had anyone left, she and the Kings would never have been in the same room.
“And you were spared,” Mama says matter-of-factly.
“Yes,” Payton answers, looking up and sharing a look with her.
Spared? Or was she left? Forgotten? Whatever you want to call it, she’s been alone till now.
“Did they ever catch who did it?” Danny asks with narrowed eyes, forming a hundred different ideas at once, if I know him.
She shakes her head. “No. I saw him. I mean, I think it was a man. I heard the shots, and then the back door slammed shut. I looked out the window and saw a man in a long, dark trench coat, dark gloves, and a black fedora run away. When I went to the kitchen, I… I didn’t know what to do other than call for help. I tried, but there was nothing for it. Cops said it was a robbery gone wrong. That I must have made a noise and scared the guy off or something.”
Or something. Nothing about what she said sounds like a robbery. A guy in nice clothes, a freaking fedora of all things, running off after killing someone. And the noise from another person in the house scared him off?
Danny’s eyes cut to mine, and I look at him, then Vinny. I’ll be pulling resources to look into this. But if I know Danny, he’ll already be ten steps ahead by the time Vinny gives me permission.
And yeah, I need permission. Because the amount of resources I’m about to pull into finding her parents’ murderer won’t besmall.
Chapter 28—Payton
Ishouldn’t have said anything. Not there. Not like that.
I don’t even know why I spoke. I could have just said the first word and nothing else, like Danny did when he mentioned what scared him. But the details spilled out anyway. Was it Tommy? His family? Or was it my undying need to tell someone? To scream about how things were stolen from me. How I can never have what they have. Family lunches aren’t something I get anymore.
Everything was stolen by someone I’ll never know. Because the cops knew nothing. No one bothered to search it out. They deemed it just a random person seeing the need to kill and rob, so they did so and left. Didn’t check if I was there or not. Didn’t take anything of value because theymighthave heard me. Just came in, shot them both, and then left as if it was a normal Tuesday morning.
But there was nothing normal about it.
“You okay?” Tommy asks as he comes up behind me and rubs my arms.
After my little speech, eating was difficult. Conversation seemed to be even harder for everyone involved. I saw several glances between the men around the table, a few of them catching my eye for a moment before looking down at their food.
Cynthia—Mama—gave me encouraging smiles but didn’t offer any words of condolences. None of them did. ButI guess they would understand more than others. Being in the Mafia probably means murder is just part of life.
The Mafia.Seriously?I mean, I’ve heard whispers of things, but I really didn’t think that still existed in this day. It seems far-fetched. But with the time I had to think on it while sitting through lunch and then the ride back to Tommy’s place, things started falling into place.
Suits, always suits. Sure, anyone can wear them, but Mafia movies always have them in suits. And the bodyguards I noticed? The guns they have? The ease of access to money and high-dollar items? That the Kings were so quick to give over my loan to Tommy? They certainly have the means to do anything and everything.
Including owning me.
“Do you own me?”
