The Mafia Contract Series

I’ve imagined having a mother so many times it’s become part of my daily routine. Now I have one, it’s a little surreal and as we take a walk around her beautiful home, she asks me many questions and appears to hate the answers. I can’t pretend I had an apple pie upbringing. Even though I tone it down out of respect for her sanity, it’s pretty obvious I had an abused childhood. The devastation in her eyes hurts me deeply and as we sit overlooking the waterway, I say sadly, “It was hard being alone. I never had anyone, only Wesley. I learned to accept my own company and only really understood the value of friendship when I was sent to college.”

Somehow, we are now holding hands and it’s kind of nice. Sitting on a grassy bank watching nature, beside the person I never believed existed. I must be in paradise. It certainly feels that way.

I can tell my past upsets her, so I turn the conversation to her. “Tell me about Iris Young. Dimitri told me she was his governess.”

“Apparently so.” Vivian looks confused. “I met her after I gave birth. She came to the hospital with flowers and told me she was sent by Massimo.”

She shivers with revulsion. “I told her to get out. I never wanted to even think of him again, but she ignored me and pulled the curtains before telling me she was going to give me a fresh start. I had nothing, Flynn. I couldn’t go back to work at the bar; that was never an option. She told me that now the baby had died, all the support from Wesley would stop. My family had disowned me, and I had no money and no place to live. Iris Young reached into her bag and handed me an envelope. She told me it contained a plane ticket to Seattle, enough to rent a small apartment for three months and a job offer from Technofad industries. I was being paid off, her words not mine, and she told me if I knew what was good for me, I would take this opportunity and never look back.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“You had no choice; I can see that.”

“So I thought, however…” She stares at me through troubled eyes and whispers, “I was a fool, Flynn. I believed everything I was told. I never even got to hold you in my arms. They told me you had died in my womb and had sent you to the mortuary. All I was required to do was sign my name on the death certificate and the discharge papers, and I was free to go. I was so naïve. I never questioned any of it and if I had asked more questions, perhaps things would have been so different.”

As she speaks, my mind starts working quickly and I squeeze her hand and say sadly, “You are not to blame. Neither of us are. We were the victims of a professional bully and never stood a chance.”

Turning to face her, I try to drag my mind back to the practicalities because I’m not sure how much more emotion I can take. “We should take a DNA test.”

Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “I don’t need a…” “Neither do I but Dimitri may prefer this done properly. We should arrange it and then I’ll return home and grab what I need to test Wesley.”

“You’re going back.”

She looks absolutely horrified about that, and I shrug. “I must. Now that I’ve found you, I want to make things right. It’s important to determine who my father is. Something is telling me it’s not the man you think it is.”

“Wesley?” She looks as if she’s going to hurl, and I sigh heavily. “It’s exactly what he would have done. Hell, he does it for fun most nights, anyway.”

“Rape!” Vivian is shocked and I nod, the bitterness apparent in my words as I snap, “He’s a bastard and has never changed. For whatever reason, he wanted you to believe Massimo was the rapist, and I was dead. He protects himself in every way. Always making out it’s someone else, so the blame can never be directed at him. Possibly he wanted a son to torment, to build in his image and I was the unlucky result of that.”

“Don’t!” Vivian sounds angry, and I stare at her in surprise.

“Don’t ever doubt that you are anything but amazing, Flynn. You have become a man who I’m proud to call my son under the harshest of circumstances. That’s not easy and you deserve credit for that. You do what you must. Set yourself free and then you come straight back to me because I don’t want to waste a minute more of my life without you in it and I will devote the rest of mine to being the mother I always should have been.”

The tears are running like rivers down her face, and she wipes them away with a fierceness that makes me smile. Impulsively, I pull her close and hold her in my arms and love how my heart fills with love for the first time in my life. I let her in, and she sets up residence because she’s right. Now we have found one another, I pity the poor bastard who tries to tear us apart.

WE MAKE a stop at the medical center and take our DNA tests. It’s purely to clarify something we both know already and as we leave with the results of that, it reaffirms that we were right.

We head toward Technofad, where Vivian is meeting Dimitri for lunch, and she has invited me to tag along. She texted Dimitri to ask Louisa to join us, which I am more than happy about. In fact, I am looking forward to it more than I expected, which makes the DNA test on Wesley even more urgent because if he is my father, I’m coming back for Louisa as well as Vivian.

While we wait in reception, I tap out a message to Malik. I should have done this earlier, but it was more important to talk with Vivian. However, now I need answers and so I ask him to find Iris Young, giving him everything I discovered about her. If anyone can find her, Malik can and I’m expecting the information by return. I don’t understand how he does it. He’s always been able to discover anything and who knows what surveillance he had set up around campus at Rockwell Academy. I suppose it’s his area of expertise. Most of us are experts in violence. Malik prefers carefully controlled torture and technology. He would fit in well at Technofad, I’m certain of that.

It’s not long before Dimitri shows up with a strangely subdued Louisa in tow, who looks so angry I wonder what happened this morning. Vivian must notice it too because she says with concern, “Are you ok, honey?”

Dimitri offers a slight shake of his head in a warning and Vivian looks worried when Louisa says with a hint of bitterness, “If you don’t mind, I’ll skip lunch today.”

Her parents share a look, and my anger rises at the idea anyone has upset my girl, because she is my girl and it’s only a matter of time before everyone else knows that.

My phone vibrates with a text, and I shake my head in disbelief. Fuck that man, he’s a legend and I say quickly, “I’m sorry, I’ll have to skip lunch too. Something came up.”

“Are you sure?” Vivian looks disappointed and I say softly, “I’ll meet you back here in an hour, or whenever you’re ready. I have a few calls to make.”

“But you should eat.” I smile because I’m loving experiencing the concern of a mother for her son.

Turning to Louisa, I say casually, “Perhaps you could direct me to the nearest coffee shop, and I’ll grab a sandwich. You can join me if you like.”

She looks up and I want to smash someone at the hurt in her eyes and she nods, “Of course.

There’s one across the street. I’ll show you.”

Dimitri nods and turns to his daughter and whispers something in her ear and she shrugs and turns away, leaving him looking a little lost and unsure what to do next. Fixing him with a nod, I assure him I’ll take care of her and the gratitude in his eyes makes me feel like a god. It’s unusual to be the good guy for once in my life and if anyone deserves to be the recipient of that, it’s this family.

As they turn and head off to lunch, I wrap my arm around Louisa and love how it makes me feel.

“Come on, baby, tell me all about it.”