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“Lucky was about eight, I think, and Stella was three,” Anna explained. “Dad showed up at the house one day, which was strange, because you know he always thought our neighborhood was beneath him,” she said, rolling the glass between her hands.
“He had this folder,” she went on. “When he tossed it on the kitchen table, photos slid across, and they were all of you. Nobody else in the club but you.”
Here she paused, staring out into the deepening twilight of the backyard, and Gate watched the memories flicker across her expression. Anna had never been close to her father, and Gate had hated the bastard, but that’s just because of what a superior dick he was to his daughter.
“What else was in them?” Gate urged, although he figured he probably already knew.
“Drugs,” Anna answered. “In every one of the pictures, you were dealing.” She shook her head, “Or that’s what the pictures made it look like.”
Gate nodded, “Probably true. That time, we were into some bad shit.”
Anna shrugged, “I knew. I mean, I didn’tknow, but I thought. I just never asked. I guess I didn’t want to look too closely at it, you know?”
“I know,” Gate agreed. “Then what?”
Anna sighed and continued, “He told me that if I didn’t leave you, he’d make sure you spent the rest of your life in jail.” Anna’s laugh was a harsh sound, “He didn’t seem to care about the rest of the club, what they did. He just wanted me away from you.”
“He ever say why?” Gate asked. Again, he figured he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.
Anna’s eyes drifted, but she gave it to him. “There was a big shot in D.C. he had picked out for me.”
“How’d that go?” Gate hated asking, knew it shouldn’t matter, but he couldn’t stop himself.
Anna laughed, “It didn’t.”
Gate smirked, “Can’t say I’m mad about it.”
“Once Dad realized I wasn’t going to get involved with anyone else, he finally gave up. On that point at least.”
“But he held the file over your head,” Gate guessed.
“Pretty much.”
“And there were other points he wouldn’t give up?”
“Yep,” Anna answered, but she didn’t elaborate.
“Is that how you ended up contracting with the FBI?” Gate asked.
“No,” Anna answered. “I did that to piss him off.”
“Good for you,” Gate grinned. Then the smile faded. “He stole a lot. From both of us.”
“That he did,” Anna said, lifting her glass to take another sip.
“I’ve missed you,” Gate said. Then he opened his arms, “You ready to come here?”
Anna set her wine glass on the coffee table and rubbed her palms along her thighs, “I’ve got one more thing to tell you first.”
“Let’s hear it,” Gate nodded.
Anna blew out a breath, “We’re still married.”
Gate’s frown slid into a wicked grin, “Oh, I know that too.”
*************************
Anna
