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“Willow saw us coming last time. She will see us coming this time too.”
“She did not. The Organization saw us coming. Willow was as caught off-guard as we were.”
“You think Willow didn’t know there were armed soldiers hiding in every part of her house?”
“I don’t know what she knew, boy. What I do know is that she cannot be allowed to stay loose. She’s a danger to us, to Mark, to Tilly, and the baby.”
“Even if we get rid of Willow, what about the Organization?”
“One thing at a time. It was Willow who began this, boy, and this will not end until she is taken care of.”
“Wait. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“What do you think I am saying?” Angelo cocked his head at Bobby and waited for him to come to the obvious conclusion.
“That if this goes right, and we get Willow, then Mark and Tilly can come back?”
“Exactly.” Angelo leaned forward. “I’m not going to say this is the safest plan. But it is a plan which will allow us to finally move forward.”
“Forward with what?”
Angelo reached into his desk and spread out rolls of plans, great sheets of paper which contained intense architectural drawings. “This is a stronghold I have been designing. A wing for Mark, Tilly, and the baby. A wing for you and Gemma. And a wing for me. This will be home. Not for a week or a month, but for the rest of our lives.”
“Assuming the FBI doesn’t decide to come after you, or someone else….”
“Boy, I have taken great pains over the last years to close those chapters. It has not been quick, and it has not been easy, but it is happening. Deals have been cut. Immunity agreements signed. We can live free on US soil.”
“What about Mark? He’s wanted.”
“He won’t be when this is over. I am working on securing an agreement for him, too. I am going to reunite this family, Bobby. And we’re all going to live under one roof.”
“With a baby,” Bobby said, skeptical.
“Why not with a baby?”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Angelo, but we’re psychopaths who engage in rampant and public displays of filthy humiliation. It’s not exactly a creche here. And we have ways of making new enemies as soon as the old ones are put to rest. This is a nice idea, but it won’t work.”
Angelo looked at him, his eyes cold with fury. “Well, boy, thank you for your feedback.”
“Shit, you really thought this was going to work?” Bobby laughed, surprised. “Have you ever been around a kid, Angelo?”
“I’m familiar with the concept.”
“Yeah. The concept. The reality is, we’re not fit to parent, and we never will be. Mark and Tilly are better off where they are, and the baby is too. That baby will only lead a happy, healthy life if it never knows who we are.”
Bobby really never thought he’d have to be the voice of reason. His world was changing so quickly, he barely recognized himself in it.
Angelo was silent for much longer than Bobby was truly comfortable with. He didn’t like it when Angelo was quiet. It usually meant he was about to get his ass absolutely handed to him.
He braced himself for a beating. It didn’t come.
“You might be right, boy. There might be no way to unite this family ever again.”
“Family,” Bobby repeated.
“That’s what we were, briefly. You. Me. Mark. Tilly. The baby inside her. There was a time we were all together, and I had you all under my protection.”
“Well, the baby was born, and of course, that ruined everything. That’s what they do. Babies ruin everything.”
“I think we ruined everything before he was ever born,” Angelo replied. “And I think, no matter how many buildings I build or how many battles I win, I will never be a father to him.”
Bobby frowned. He had never heard Angelo this honest or this vulnerable. He’d never been the one he confided in. Was this the sort of conversation Angelo and Mark used to have? Was this what he had been shielded from?
“I impregnated that girl, knowing what you have said and knowing it could never be as we wanted it to be. I did it anyway because I thought there might be some redemption in making a new life.”
“Let’s get rid of Willow,” Bobby said. “And then maybe you can get your baby back.”
“Not my baby. Ours.”
Angelo’s baby. Bobby’s baby. Mark’s baby. The infant had never been given a paternity test, as far as Bobby was aware, though he doubted Angelo did not know. There was very little Angelo did not know.
“Let’s be real. Everything is yours, Angelo.”
“Gemma!” Angelo raised his voice.
Gemma appeared within seconds, because she had not gone to her room, because she was a disobedient brat.
“Yes?”
“We’re going after Willow.”
Chapter 5
Gemma was excited. She was going to catch Willow, though, in her mind, she was secretly more looking forward to being reunited with Willow. She had missed her friend terribly, even if their entire friendship had been based on a lie within a lie.
