AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He was the scariest fucker I’ve ever seen in my life. I still can’t believe someone got a hit on him.”
“He was still a man. Still mortal.” I repeat the same words Bo spoke to me.
Grayson nods. “He was also the coolest.” The corner of his mouth tips up as if he’s reliving their time together. “He visited often, wasn’t afraid or ashamed I was his son. Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t flaunt me around, but I never felt neglected. I was too young to really know what was going on. I think mymom wanted to keep that stuff away from me. Peter was larger than life. He reserved his smiles for a few people.”
The feeling of longing grew. It had been there my whole life but just barely. The events in the last year only breathed air into that yearning. I ached for my parents. For their smiles and their guidance. Visiting Chicago and going through what was left of them in a storage closet unleashed that longing tenfold. Bo wanted to preserve their home, but Andrew wouldn’t have it. I was amazed that Bo was even able to empty the house. Shaking myself out of my pity party, I think about Grayson, too. All he’s lost in the name of greed and power.
“What happened to your mother?”
“I think your uncle had something to do with it.” My eyes wide in shock, not because I didn’t think Andrew was capable but because I just wasn’t expecting Grayson to outright say it. When I don’t respond, he takes a deep breath.
“It was a few years after we’d left. I remember hearing her on the phone talking about your accident. The one thatkilledyou. My mom came home the next day in a panic. She pulled out paperwork from the floorboard and started packing anything she could, and she told me no matter what, I had to keep running.”
A feeling of dread settles over me.
“As we were getting into her car, two men approached us, and she told me to run.” He stares off into nothing as if he’s reliving the moment. “She created a distraction so I could sneak out of the other side of the car and make a run for it. I heard the gunshot and knew she was gone. I kept running until my lungs were on fire. I finally stopped to look in the bag, and it had a passport and social security card with a new identity for me and four thousand dollars in cash. In hindsight, I think she knew she wasn’t going to make it. She packed only my stuff.”
“Grayson,” I whisper, thinking about what I want to say next.
“Anyway, I couldn’t risk going back home, so I wandered the streets, hoping maybe she survived, and I’d run into her at a shelter. I managed a few weeks on the streets on my own, but eventually, I ran out of cash, and CPS found me. The name on the papers was Grayson, so I stuck with it, not wanting to risk anyone finding me. Once I aged out, I enlisted in the Marine Corps, went to college, and moved to New York after I graduated.”
It made sense he needed to change only his first name. There were too many Chens to just assume anyone with that last name was him. My heart went out for him. I was so young at the time that I have no memories of my father and hardly any of my mother, but he was old enough to witness it all and remember.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” He finally looks at me. “You lost a lot, too. All because of greed.”
“But my life wasn’t exactly hard.”
“It’s okay. I wouldn’t want anything else for you. I thought you were dead, so to find out you weren’t, I was shocked. But to see you didn’t grow up the way I did, I was only relieved. I don’t remember much, but I remember Andrew being a real dick.”
“Well, he got what he deserved.” I snort.
“How did you end up”—he gestures around the room—“here? It was like, one day, you were dead, and the next, you weren’t.”
I laugh.
“Well, that is essentially what happened.” He takes a deep breath before diving in. “Much like you, my story starts off similarly. After my mother died, I had to change my name.”
I quickly sum up the last twenty years of my life.
How I believed my real name was Anya Cheng so I never knew I had any relations to the Lius. There wasn’t much information about them or the Triad on the internet either way. Cesare got wind that Andrew planned to take me out after mymother’s funeral, so he found a Chinese family who was in crippling student loan debt and more from medical bills due to their daughter’s cancer treatments. In exchange to pay off their debts, along with a hefty monthly payment, they agreed to take me and then I became Natalie Yang for the next twenty years and was only able to spend summers with my family.
Then Andrew tried to start a war between the Outfit and the Cosa Nostra so they’d do his dirty work for him and get rid of each other. But he’d, somehow, discovered I was alive meanwhile. I spared him the details on how Nico’s path crossed with mine and skipped to us getting married.
Grayson listens attentively. He doesn’t ask any questions but just takes everything in. By the time I finish, I’m out of breath and feel lightheaded.
“Damn.” He whistles, shaking his head, “Did you ever think about keeping that name? Natalie?”
“No.” I don’t waste a beat. “I was always supposed to be Anya. And Natalie deserves to rest,” I tell him with peace in my heart.
Before he can reply, I hear the ding of an elevator and Lili’s heels click as she descends the stairs.
She bows. “Ma’am, this came for you.” Lili hands me the card with a nervous smile before glancing over at Grayson.
His eyes are zoned in on Lili.
A cute blush creeps up her neck and cheeks against her fair skin. I smile, but I won’t comment on it... yet. Lili is gorgeous. She’s taller than my five feet—maybe five-four—long dark hair and curves in all the right places. I don’t blame my brother for not being able to look away.
