AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As far as I could tell, Bonnie had her flaws, but she was a good woman who wanted to be a good mom and wife, something not all women aspire to.
Ava Rose and I stood just inside the living room watching Cal suck on his cigarette, the slight breeze on the balcony carrying his away his smoke.
“I know and that’s all true. But if I’d been paying closer attention, I would have been there for her. She wanted to be a good mother to Ava and a good wife to me, but she was tired of the gangster shit. She wanted it to stop. She did stupid things like not coming down to Sunday dinner. She couldn’t stand how ruthless Sadie and Jasper were, but worse than that, how much they enjoyed the ruthlessness.”
Well that seemed pretty fucking stupid. “Was she operating under some misunderstanding that you weren’t a gangster when she met you?” I asked him—yes—incredulously.
“Right?” Cal’s eyes went wide and a small smile formed on his lips. “I reminded her that she knew exactly who we are, and she married me anyway. But she made the same mistake plenty of women do, thinking she could change me. Thinking that the baby would change me.”
“Didn’t she?”
“Oh hell, yeah, Ava changed me. She renewed my dedication to my family and to the Organization. I need to be all in with my family if I’m going to keep my girls safe. Bonnie didn’t understand that. She still wanted shit to be like the little girl, princess fairytale she dreamed of back in the day.”
Classic mistake, thinking she could change a man who didn’t want to change. “So you think she went behind your back to end the gangster shit?”
Cal nodded and stamped out his cigarette and tossed it in the trash can. “I don’t want to think that, but it’s the only conclusion I’m left with, Maddie. And when I combine that information with the annoying thoughts that my family knows more about her murder than they’re saying, I’m sure of it.”
“Don’t they just dole out information when they think it needs to be known?”
He nodded absently; his gaze fixed on some point in the distance.
“Yes, but this is different, dammit. This is my wife. My dead fucking wife, and I deserve to know the truth.”
I didn’t bother to point out that maybe they were doing him a solid by keeping the truth from him because Calvin was in no position to hear it.
“Have you tried asking them?”
Cal barked out a laugh. “I did. But with the drinking and all the outbursts and the grief, they think I’m more unstable than I am, so they’re keeping me even more out of the loop than usual. I need answers, Maddie, and I’m going to get them. One way or another.”
“That sounds ominous as hell.”
“Good.”
“Dinner’s ready!” Maisie’s voice called up, and Calvin gave me a look that simply said I told ya so.
“See? Even Maisie is attending the pre-dinner meetings. She doesn’t deal with the underground business at all, but somehow she warrants a spot at the table but not me. And I’m fucking family with a capital F. It’s bullshit, Maddie. Pure fucking bullshit.”
I felt for the man, I really did. He was a friend, and he didn’t deserve this kind of inner turmoil, but I didn’t want him doing anything stupid, either.
“Okay, Cal, let’s just play this out. Say they’re keeping something from you. Do you think going in there half-drunk and emotional is going to get you the answers you need?”
“No,” he sighed, his shoulders dropped in resignation. “And you know what? I don’t give a fuck.”
“Well, give a little fuck. Show them the old Cal, the quiet guy who uses his special set of skills to help the family.”
“I’m not sure that Cal is ever coming back.”
“Fine, then show them the stoic, still-grieving, single father who uses his skills to help the family. Show them the worst of your grief is behind you. Show them you won’t do something rash and start–I don’t know–just showing up for those meetings again. Get the answers you need.”
He flashed an affectionate smile. “Thanks for listening, Maddie.”
“That’s what friends are for. Now let’s go, I’m starved.”
When we made it to the formal dining room, I realized that Calvin was right. Everyone was already gathered around the table, including Emmett and Nessa. Cal’s jaw clenched with anger, and I worried my little talk didn’t help things at all.
He seethed throughout the meal, and I guessed he felt like the odd man out in his own family, but at least he nursed the same glass of whiskey all through dinner and didn’t snap at anyone.
Not during dinner, anyway.
“Boys, Kat, ladies.” Sadie began with her most authoritative smile.
“I’ve been looking into what happened with Bonnie and have learned that she’d met up with Bishop Mueller on several separate occasions.”
