Jas.
To think, a year ago, I was planning my retirent and looking for things to do with my future outside of my business—now I was a father again. The argunt with Neal wasn’t one that I had wanted any ti of day, and the way he tried to dismiss my intentions irritated .
I was the child’s father. Dahlia... my sweet baby girl was without her father.
I didn’t like it. Not one f*cking bit.
“Les, my mother wanted to know if you wanted to co to dinner tonight.” Sue’s voice pulled from my irritation, and taking a deep breath, I turned to face her. I had been trying to work on the list of shit to do in this building when I spoke to Neal, and now the list seed to fade away.
“Thank you for the offer Sue, but I have a lot I need to take care of today. Perhaps over the weekend.”
I hated turning down the old woman. She had been nothing but kind to since I had been here, and by the look on Sue’s face, I could see that she was disappointed. Part of wondered if she had hoped for sothing more with , considering the way she always was around, and that was just sothing that would never happen.
“It’s okay. Mother will understand,” she replied softly. “I will tell her this weekend, then.”
Sue turned and quickly disappeared from sight, and as she did, I dropped the wrench in my hand into my tool bag and sighed. I had to figure my shit out, and I needed to do it quickly. I couldn’t continue to be here like I was.
Grabbing my tools, I made my way back to my small apartnt with the intention of a hot shower, and sothing to eat. Every day was the sa, and as they blended into each other I found the repetition to be a daunting task I didn’t want to fulfill.
That was until I approached my apartnt and noticed the door partially open.
“What the f*ck...” I know damn well I hadn’t left the door as it was, and slowly I approached it with caution.
There weren’t any people around that knew where I lived, and I didn’t have any friends. So for soone to be in my apartnt... it wasn’t good.
Setting down the tool bag, I grabbed my hamr and slowly pushed open my apartnt door. A tall figure dressed in a black suit stood in the center of my living room looking around, and with the small squeak of the door, the man quickly turned to face .
“Ronaldo?” I muttered under my breath with confusion. “What the f*ck are you doing here?”
I hadn’t expected to see my cousin before , and as his smile grew, I felt slightly relieved by his visit. “It’s nice to see you as well, cousin.”
Having grabbed my tool bag, I made my way into the apartnt and closed the door behind . I didn’t know what the hell he was doing here since he wasn’t supposed to know where I was, but honestly, I wasn’t surprised that he was here.
“How did you find ?”
Laughter escaped him at my question, and shrugging his shoulders, he took a seat on my small sofa. “It wasn’t honestly that hard to do. You know how our family is.”
“Yeah, I do, and if you could find , that ans that anyone can find .”
Nodding, he gave a pointed look that made my blood run cold. “Word has it, Sergie’s son already knows where you are. Which is why I ca to get you.”
“How is that possible? I’m in witness protection—”
“Jas, co on... the system is flawed, and everyone is always in soone’s pocket. Did you really think that they would keep you safe? I an, have they even been by to check on you lately?” His words did make stop in my tracks because if I thought about it they hadn’t.
The n had told when I got here that they would check in, and after that day they hadn’t. Initially, I was happy about it because I didn’t want them anywhere around after everything that had happened, but now... it felt off.
“By the look on your face, you know what I’m talking about.” Ronaldo’s words made frown, and as I straightened my shoulders, I tried not to let it show that it bothered .
“So what am I supposed to do? If I’m on my own, and Jas Valentino is dead, what is my next step?” I asked, trying to understand what it was he wanted to do.
“You tell ... there are two different ways this could go for you. One, you do nothing and stay here. Eventually, they will co to kill you, and in the end, you won’t have to live with how your life turned out....”
“...And the second thing?” I scoffed, irritated by his first suggestion when he knew full well that I wouldn’t be able to do that. Especially now that I had another child in this world. One that needed her father.
“You take back your life, Jas. Co back to Italy with , and move towards having the future you want. I have so work that I need done, and all of it you can help with behind closed doors. It would also allow you to try and get your family back.”
My family.... The thought of being back with Becca, my grandson, and my daughter was an enticing idea. However, there was no telling whether she would allow that to happen or not. Finding out that I have been alive all this ti would be a challenging idea to overco.
With a heavy sigh, I thought of my life in Japan and even Sue and her mother. They had been good to when no one else was, and leaving them would put them back into the situation they had been in before.
“I’ll go with you, but I need to take care of sothing first.”
A smile grew on Ronaldo’s face as he nodded his head. “The girl and her mother?”
Raising a brow, I stared at him, curious to know how he was aware of them, but quickly i shoved away the confusion, knowing that my cousin had his ways of getting information just like other people.
He had more than likely been watching for days or even weeks before he showed his face today, and doing so, learned everything I had done. “Yes, them.”
“You are fond of the girl and her mother... is she a new toy of yours? The girl is very beautiful.”
Rolling my eyes, I sneered at his comnt. “No, she isn’t. I see her more like a daughter than anything.”
“I see, well, I am sure that we can make sure the two won are taken care of.”
Standing, he pulled out his phone and quickly put it to his ear. “Bring up the bag, please.”
I wasn’t sure what he was doing or what bag was being brought up, but fifteen minutes later, one of Ronaldo’s n appeared at my door with a large duffle bag and a flat expression on his face. “Sir, the bag.”
“Thank you, Juan. We will be done in just a mont. Please make sure that they have the plane prepared for an early departure.”
“Of course, sir,” he nodded before turning and quickly leaving the open front door. The entire situation was perplexing, and as Ronaldo picked up the bag and set it on the counter, I stepped closer to get a look at what was inside.
“What’s that?”
He unzipped the bag, and I stared openly at the amount of money that was stored inside. “It’s Sue and her mother’s future. This will be enough money for the girl to go to school as she wants and for them to be set for a few years until Sue finishes school. A parting gift, if you will, considering you’re leaving them.”
Sue’s mother was a proud woman, and I wasn’t sure how she would handle being given such a gift, but hopefully, she would take it and see it as my way of taking care of them.
“You really want my help back ho, don’t you?” I asked, glancing up at Ronaldo from the bag.
He shrugged his shoulders with a smirk. “Yeah, you can say that. Not to ntion, my father is eager to see you after all the years you have been away. His younger brother, your father, left the family young. He likes to keep the family close.”
With a heavy sigh, I knew my options had been weighed, and not wasting any ti, I packed all of my belongings into the bags I had brought with and stood, taking in the last glimpse of the apartnt I was leaving.
I still had to stop by Sue’s place to give her the money, but overall, I was prepared to go.
Neal thought he could keep my family for himself, and by giving my life another chance, I was going to be able to fix that. No matter how powerful Sergie’s family was, they were nothing compared to my true family, and there Becca and the children would be safe.
“Ready?” Ronaldo asked as I stepped out of the front door.
“Yeah, let’s drop the bag off, and we can be on our way.”
Step by step, we made our way down to Sue’s apartnt that she shared with her mother. As soon as I approached the dark wooden door, I set the bag down and knocked. The sound of her mother calling to Sue to get the door while the aroma of her cooking wafted down the hallway was sothing I was going to miss.
As soon as the door opened, I was t by Sue’s dark eyes and bright smile. “Les, you changed your mind?”
“I’m afraid not, Sue. I actually ca to tell you that I was leaving. Sothing has called away, and I’m not sure when I will be back.”
She frowned at my proclamation, and as her eyes gazed toward Ronaldo I noticed her change in behavior. She wasn’t sure what to make of my cousin, and it was good that she was leery. The world wasn’t a safe place to live in, no matter where you were.
“You’re not coming back at all, are you?” she breathed as her eyes turned back to mine.
Shaking my head, I held out the black duffle bag Ronaldo had gotten together for her. “A parting gift for you and your mother. You have both been kind to , and I hope this can help you start a new life.”
As soon as she took the bag, I turned with Ronaldo and headed for the elevator. I didn’t do well with goodbyes, and while I hadn’t been super close to Sue and her mother, it was still hard.
I only hoped the money would be enough for them to get by.
Enough for Sue to have the life she deserved.
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