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"Your brow furrows when you have conversations with yourself, or you have to pick something that feels too hard to choose between." Costas had phone calls to make during our flight home, so he left me to rest alone. Unlike Tony and Draven, he didn't have the easy nature when it came to cuddling.
Letting my head fall against his arm, I threaded my left one through his as he drove. Locking up, he let his skittish eyes make sure I didn't do it on accident. Shifting a little, I yawned. "Is this okay?"
"Of course." Swallowing hard, I could see how nervous affection made him. Not moving, I wanted him to get used to being doted on. He deserved every ounce of love I could give him, and he didn't have phone calls as an excuse to hide behind.
Kasey kept her stare out the window, recalling everything here she once loved too. Now that we were entering my home area again, it felt different than when I popped in for dinner. So much had changed, and it made me different too. I knew if I ran on the river to my spot, I'd only miss the one Tony painted for me more. Nothing felt real, but I did hope to see Astrid while we were here. I hadn't really reached out to the book group since I'd been away because my father was right about surrounding myself with people who understood me. I did let them know I'd be out of town for the unforeseeable future.
Being back made me see my old life in a new way. I hadn't been happy, and I hadn't been living. At least not to my full potential. Not like loving three incredible men allowed me to embrace. Part of that did come from the easier circumstances with them already having money, but deep in my heart, I knew they would've struggled right beside me, picking up the extra hours more than me to give me a night's rest. Even if we lived in the poverty that I did, they would've fought tooth and nail to lighten my suffering, unlike Tim.
My eyes were heavy because I spent the plane ride letting my overthinking mind run rampant. Now that we landed and I had Costas allowing me access to him, it brought me comfort enough to grow drowsy. My head had been pounding thanks to the mild concussion Giorgia gave me. Tony didn't deserve to find out both his parents were involved, but I couldn't risk my life to spare his feelings when the examiner asked what happened.
"We're here." Costas rolled to a stop in front of my father's three-bedroom abode. The two-story home had never been eye-catching with the curb appeal of a rich doctor because he didn't get paid like one. Choosing to work through a prison and run nonprofit programs didn't stack the money in his favor, but he didn't go into his profession to make millions. He wanted to help people who were never given the chance to become more than their circumstances.
Letting go of Costas, I let him help his mother out of the backseat. She'd been stored in small spaces since we left her at the cafe, so her body had stiffened. Her age didn't help her tight joints and travel only added to it. After spending a good chunk of time on the phone with her other son, she made him promise to stay in the dorms of his boarding school until this war concluded. Costas planted someone there to watch over his younger brother to give him updates, and I let them connect over the lost time, holding Kasey for my own search of comfort.
I didn't need to support Kasey physically, but we leaned on each other emotionally with the box of cats in her grasp. Heading toward my childhood home in a yellow shade with a white trim, we walked this path thousands of times together, but this felt different. It felt like an end I didn't want.
Opening the door for us, my dad had been on the lookout since I shot him a quick message when we landed. I could smell he'd been cooking up a storm. After giving him a brief overview of where I'd truly been, he didn't look too taken back by the condition of my face. Though, his eyes drooped in sorrow for my state of wellbeing.
"Oh, sweetie." He reached for me and pulled me into his loving arms. His gray hair had been styled back because he'd been at work for most of the day.
My dam broke, feeling his love exude into me. His smell hadn't changed, and his love endured the worst sides of me. "I've missed you so much."
"Then good thing you're back," he murmured into my hairline. "Why don't you go put your things away and show our guests to their arrangements, and I'll check on dinner. It's almost ready."
He stepped back to allow me through, but he did stop Costas to eye him. I'd told him that I officially had been dating three men, so he felt weirded out by the notion during our phone call almost two days ago. "Which one are you?"
"Costas Malone, sir. It's a pleasure and an honor to meet Millie's father." Moving over, he revealed his mother. "This is my mother, Lucia Malone."
My father's eyes widened, taking in the lovely creature who'd be several years younger than him. I knew attraction when I saw it, and I definitely witnessed my father not being completely closed off to love after my mother. He didn't say much after that, showing Costas his place on the couch because we didn't have spare rooms, and Kasey wanted to spend tonight with me. She said she'd share a bed with Costas's mom tomorrow night, but we needed our own bonding time. Costas respected her request and willingly went to the couch to give us one night together.
As we entered my old room, we stopped in the entry to take in how my father hadn't changed a thing. Soft pink colors highlighted the white furnishings. My eyes moved around the room that symbolized much of our youth and us coming in here together most nights. "It feels like nothing's changed."
Kasey listlessly went around me and tossed her bag on the floor on the window side of the bed, sitting the sleeping cats down to have the sunlight in the morning. Turning around, she let me see how much she needed me to snuggle her tonight as silent tears brimmed her eyes. "Yet everything has."
seventy-eight
Tony
Acertain dread came from knowing I had to be the one to end my father's insufferable reign. On a speedboat off the coast of the private island Draven's father hid away on, we learned the two had been in cahoots here the whole time. My father had been hanging around our homes in our absence to collect data. We'd been being played so flagrantly because we'd trusted our own family. Oh, the crimes of our own deception, believing blood ran thick enough to save us. Draven's mind had been focused on his father because he spared the bastard only to be backstabbed by him now.
With the early morning glow of the sun, we saw how it danced along the waves that guided us into the harbor. Allowing the engine to quiet down, we let the current drift us to the dock, keeping watch for the guards in this area. Draven noticed the same thing I did when the lack of men lining certain entry points came into view. Where were the guards?
In the silence of the area, we listened to the waves, hiding our secrets in their chaos. Early mornings were the best for turbulent waters for those who enjoyed the thrill of riding a wave. We knew it would be the least expected time for a water attack, dealing with the nasty waves hitting our boat. Once we got in front of the thrashing waters, we were able to coast without too much steering.
"I'm not seeing the normal crew here," he whispered to me before pulling out the binoculars. Scoping out the area, he shook his head. "Why is there no one here?"
"Maybe they expected us to come?" I questioned. Though, we thought the idea had been risky with how our numbers were lowered drastically yesterday by Mario's destruction. Finding out my mother helped only added to the tension thickening within my chest. A pain of betrayal hit harder when it came from one's own parents, and both of mine targeted me for their own gain.
"Come on. Let's get closer and find out if anyone is home." Draven tied us up and helped me out of the rocking boat first before following. Once we were on the damp, wooden planks, we sauntered to the small hill that housed the private quarters on the other side. The two of us grew up coming here too when our dastardly fathers wanted to meet in secret. Now it all made sense that they had been on their own team for a lot longer than the table knew. When Draven took the seat away in challenge, it just changed their approach to extreme supremacy.
Keeping our guard up, we moved with our firearms taking point. My eye stayed in the scope to make sure I didn't miss someone hiding in the more distant areas. Draven kept his body slightly turned to make him less of a target for the people who might be inside the home. With nothing within the foliage around us, we felt a surge of dread as we found ourselves right outside the vacation home. Large windows made it easier for us to see within the walls, but the crew in the kitchen didn't track. With only few bodies inside that we could see, we knew our fathers had moved locations to operate away from our eye.
Heading inside, we made sure to shoot anyone in our way, leaving one alive to speak on behalf of them all. We knew how to pinpoint the one in charge by the stripe on his uniform over his left bicep, so we kept the one with the plan to learn it for ourselves. They'd been dining at the table, so our surprise caught them off guard. We shot and fired when we were too close for the others to draw their weapons. Draven was quick in grabbing the head of the man in charge, shoving his face against the table with the demands to see his hands.
I finished off any tails who lingered or twitched before moving to bind the wrists of the man we sought. Tying him to the chair, we cleaned his pockets and hems of any weapons he might have on him. His penetrating gaze swept over the fallen crew we obliterated, but it had only been five men.
"They did not need to die," he spat.
