AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“In nome del Padre, I hope so,” I whisper, watching them go.
Salvatore
I push my hands in my pockets watching my son process what happened. Any twelve-year-old kid would be hysterical, but not him. He reminds me of myself at his age. The strong, set jaw, the way his blue eyes are both on fire and lifeless. He’s a natural born killer.
“You can shoot me later, but I think you want to ask me some questions first,” I grunt.
He stops and stares at me. “You’re my father, aren’t you?” he asks, a soft Southern twang shining through his young voice. He’s still a boy, but I can already see parts of the man he’s becoming taking form.
“Yes, I am. Does that scare you?”
He looks out over the water not saying anything for a while. “No, should it?” he bites out still clutching the gun, sounding so much like his mother.
When I think about what she told me when she thought I was dead, my chest flushes with warmth. I chuckle, at least Iggy put the safety back on—can’t have him shoot me like his mother threatened thirteen years ago. “Fuck,” I scrub a hand over my stubble, we’ve come full circle.
Iggy gives me curious eyes, and bites on his bottom lip.
“Ask me anything, kid.”
He doesn’t cringe from the nickname, instead he takes a deep shuddering breath trying to appear bigger than he is.
“Are you going to hurt Mom?” he asks, locking eyes with me, and it’s like a punch in the gut. I’m looking at myself. The better version of me, because he has her strength, her heart, the one I don’t possess. But when she told me she loved me something slashed through my chest letting the light through my father talked about.
“Only if she asks me to,” slips out, and I want to punch myself in the face. I have no idea how to talk to kids.
His eyes narrow and his nostrils flare. “She can fight you know, and shoot,” he adds.
I chuckle. “I know, she fought me once. Still got the scars to prove it.”
“Did she win?” he asks, pride shining through his voice. He loves his mother.
“Yes,” I tell him, meaning it. “She got me in the end.”
He nods, like he understands what I’m telling him while we look out over the water.
“Am I like you?” he asks, staring at the gun then at me.
“Yes, a part of you is mine, but the other is your mother’s. And she’s much stronger than I ever was.”
“I would never hurt people who didn’t deserve it,” he says after a while, his voice cracks a little.
“I know, kid,” I tell him, laying my hand on his shoulder.
“Are you an assassin like in the John Wick movies?”
I start to laugh. “I am, but I also work for one of the most secret organizations in the world.”
“The CIA,” he says, and I nod.
He bites on his trembling bottom lip and looks up at me. “Was it true what that guy said? Did you hurt Mom to get me?” I can barely hear the last couple of words.
“No, son,” I tell him, kneeling on my knees in front of him. A single tear escapes down his cheek, and I wipe it away with my thumb. “I…” my voice hitches in the back of my throat. “I love your mother. I have loved her since I laid eyes on her.” The moment the sentence leaves my mouth I know I’m telling the truth. The words don’t taste bitter like I thought they would. The edge I feared would leave my body when I let her in doesn’t fade but dulls slightly until I’m ready to let the darkness in again. I don’t know if I can ever let it, now I know what it means to be loved. “She is my heart,” I tell my son caressing his cheek. Our eyes lock and I add, “You are my life. I’m not letting you guys go again. You’re mine.”
He stares at the gun before handing it back to me. “I didn’t mean to kill him, but when he aimed the gun at Mom something took over,” he tells me, breathing hard through his nose he balls his small fists. I push the gun in the back of my slacks, and place my other hand on his tiny shoulder.
“I’m proud of you for protecting her now, and all those years when I wasn’t in your life.”
His blue eyes flash with pride and I smile. “So you’re a baseball player?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood. We still have many things to talk about, but for now this is enough.
