Page 46 of The Guardian

I looked over at her.

She gave me a bright smile. Like telling me she felt proud of me.

“I learned my lesson,” I added as I looked back at him. “I hire out only for the wealthy. I do not work for criminals.”

“I found out why you left,” Michael said. “And I can’t blame you. What a mess.”

Now Rain and Maya stared at me.

At the silence in the room, Michael sighed. “I am sorry brother. I should have thought before I spoke.” He glanced at Maya.

She patted my hand consolingly under the table and said, “We all have pasts. And men can have some very bad pasts.”

We three men looked at her and grinned.

“Hell yes, we do.” Michael chuckled.

I scoffed at this. “Come on Mikey, you were a freakin’ choir boy.”

He shook his head. “I’ve never sung one hymn, Sir.”

“Our father…” My voice faded away. Why in the bloody hell would I mention him? Maybe because he was constantly in church and forced us to do the same.

Michael stared at me. “The man was a damned hypocrite. Going to church, speaking religion and preaching the gospel to us. When all the while…” He cleared his throat and sat up straighter in his chair.

I released a long breath and replied, “See, this is why men like Alberto Mancini and even Carlos are the real deal. I have more respect for them. They will look you in the eye and admit what they are and what they did. They will not embellish it with why they did those things. Or pretend to be righteous like our father did. They also will not play any of it off as prestigious either.”

“Da, I see it that way as well,” Rain finally spoke. “I did things in Russia that had to be done. To survive mostly. I do not deny that nor do I ask anyone but God for any kind of forgiveness. “

Michael agreed, “Our father did not do that though.”

I glanced at Maya to see that her eyes were round.

Rain gave her a nod. “Their father led two lives.”

I whipped my gaze over to him. How did he know that?

He shrugged. “Privet …If I work beside someone, I do my research. Besides, you mentioned this subject one night over drinks when we spent that summer with Carlos. So I did not have to fill in too many blanks, if you will remember. After Carlos ranted about his father and how horrible he was. You told us a bit about yours.”

This was true as we already knew at that point that Santiago Castillo was one of the darkest souls to ever walk the earth. I slowly shook my head at him and then glanced at my brother.

He gave me a nod.

I took this as permission to tread this very sore subject of our father’s true sins. “He truly led a double life. One with my mother in England as he was British. Then one with Michael’s mother here in America. He traveled for his job and that allowed him to have cover for the cheating life he lived and the double marriages.”

“But that wasn’t all, was it Henry?” Michael asked as he stared at him.

I sighed and almost unwillingly, I added, “He was more than just a cheater and polygamist. He was a killer too.”

Maya sucked in a breath as she looked shocked.

I nodded at her and explained, “Of all the bloody things he could have been in secret. He was a contract hitter, not a fucking salesman. So he did travel for work and that may have been the only true thing about the man. Religious and seemingly pious while talking about sin when he was violating nearly all of the commandments himself. When he was finally caught, he said that appearing to be devout made for a good cover and he defended his employment by saying ‘did we think raising two sons was cheap?’ And I have to say that after our mothers found out, he was never sorry either. He actually seemed proud of it all.”

Maya squeezed my hand. “There was a good thing that came out of it though.” She smiled at me. “You got a brother.”

I stared at her.

“And what a brother I am!” Michael laughed. “We had a few good times when you lived here. Even if you cannot bowl worth a crap.”