24. Dino

24

DINO

Y ou could have heard a pin drop. Rocco was frozen in place while Mae continued to sob. She sagged backward, and Jian darted past me with a muted grunt of pain. He caught her before she could fall. Rocco still didn't move, and while I was concerned, Zack was the top priority.

I answered my phone the second it rang and quickly barked a few orders down the line while keeping one eye on Rocco. We would start a sweep of the town, get ahold of any and all security cameras, and make sure that all nearby houses were searched. This would remain a family matter as we could act faster and much better than the police.

With the search started, I hung up and approached Rocco who was oddly pale. His gaze was fixed on Mae as she sat next to Jian and sobbed. Her pain cut right through me like the slice of a hot razor. I needed to find Zack. I needed to do everything and anything I could to ease her pain.

"Rocco?"

"He's… he's my son ?" Rocco croaked .

Mae lifted her face from her tissue-filled hands. "Yes."

"But…" Rocco frowned, and I could tell the gears were having a hard time turning. "He's only six, and we were…"

"She was pregnant for nine months." Jian snorted softly. "Dumbass."

"Oh." The noise slipped from Rocco so softly that it was almost just a breath. I could have knocked him over with a feather if I had one on hand. Just as I reached for him, running over the next steps in our search plan, the front door clunked. My hand immediately diverted to my gun, and Jian leaped to his feet.

Someone else was here.

Just as I headed for the hall, the door to the lounge swung open and in walked Mae's mother. I immediately jerked my handgun behind my back so she didn't see it and flashed her a small smile when she noticed three large men in her lounge.

"Mae? What on earth is going on in here?" she asked, holding tissues in one hand that she sniffled into.

"Mom," Mae wailed, "Zack is?—"

"Mom?" Zack's large hazel eyes popped around her mom's leg, and all hell broke loose.

"Zack!" Mae surged upward and shoved past Jian to get to her son. I side-stepped and caught Jian who still wasn't a hundred percent with his balance, while the sudden yell of Zack's name finally unlocked Rocco from his stun and he slowly turned around.

Mae collided with Zack and gathered him into her arms, peppering kisses all over his very confused face.

"Oh, my God, Zack, you're okay! You're okay! Where were you? What happened?"

"What is going on?" her mom demanded again. "I just took Zack out for ice cream. "

"What?" Mae stood abruptly, keeping Zack pressed against her leg. "You took my son without telling me?"

"I–I… you were asleep," her mother replied sharply. "I don't see what all the fuss is about."

"You don't do that!" Mae yelled. "You don't ever fucking take my son without telling me!"

"Mae—"

"No! I woke up and he was gone! You didn't leave a note, no texts or calls or anything! He was just gone and I had no idea where he was! I thought he was—" Mae balked suddenly and her face paled. "I thought I had lost him."

"Don't be so ridiculous," her mother remarked, straightening her shoulders. Then she coughed sharply into her tissues. "Mae, why are you always so dramatic?"

"Don't you dare," Mae snapped, and even Rocco bristled at her mother's inability to see how awful her actions were. "You took him and you didn't tell me. What the hell else was I supposed to think, waking up to an empty house and my son gone !"

"He was obviously with me," her mother replied, bristling slightly. "Common sense, Mae."

"Common sense?" Crimson flooded Mae's face, washing away her paleness like a wave. "You weren't here when we went to sleep. You weren't supposed to be home until you called me and asked me to come and get you. How the fuck would I know you'd come home and taken him?"

"Watch your language," her mother snapped. "And I called a cab. I didn't want to be a bother."

"I think," Rocco interjected before Mae could explode, "you're missing the point here. You took Zack without telling anyone and gave Mae a terrifying few hours thinking her son…" He paused and glanced down at Zack, whose eyes were rapidly filling with tears. "She thought the worst."

"Because she's so dramatic," her mother snapped, then her eyes narrowed at Rocco. "Why are you even here? Why are you all here? If you were so concerned, why didn't you call the police?"

"Don't ever take him away without telling me, do you understand?" Mae yelled, dodging her question. "Not ever !"

"Mom…" Zack wailed, and his sudden crying immediately ended the argument. Zack sobbed, and Mae scooped him up into her arms, cradling him close to her chest. Then she turned and stormed out of the room. After an awkward few seconds, her mother followed, and the dull re-ignition of the argument could be heard upstairs.

"Poor Mae," Jian murmured. "Her mother is quite something."

"Narcissists," I muttered. "Blind to everything except themselves." We exchanged a glance, then looked to Rocco, who slowly sat down on the nearest couch and clasped his hands together between his parted knees.

"Rocco?" I moved closer to him, trying to get a read on the strange shadows dancing across his face. "Are you okay?"

"I… I have a son," Rocco murmured, gazing off into the distance. "That kid… that kid is mine."

"Ironic," Jian said with a soft snort. "You were so intent on hunting down the father to make sure he never came near Mae again, and it was you all along."

I shot him a warning look, and Jian merely narrowed his eyes, then we turned back to Rocco.

"I have a son," Rocco said, twisting his fingers together. "Me. I have a son. Do you know what this means?" Rocco lifted his eyes to mine, and the moment his gaze locked onto mine, I understood .

Zack wasn't just Rocco's son. He was the heir to the Adami Family Mafia. The heir to every business we owned and every project we took on board. He was set to be the next leader and live the very life that Rocco had just left. On top of that, Rocco had just gained the biggest weakness any man in the Mafia could gain. That child just became the biggest target in our war with the Russians.

No one could find out. Not now. Not ever.

"What do you want us to do?" I asked, perching on the edge of the coffee table.

"I don't know," Rocco said hoarsely. "But it doesn't leave this room, understand?"

"Of course." Jian nodded. "No one will ever know. No one needs to know."

"But…" I was wary to bring it up, but for me, it was a sudden glaring possibility. "If she is involved with us, with any of us, then he will be too. Even if no one knows, can you really overlook that if he ever found himself in harm's way?"

From the set of Rocco's jaw, I already knew the answer. He had always gone to insane lengths to protect me and Jian. He treated us like blood brothers, never wavering in his faith for us, and our loyalty to him, in turn, never faded. I could only imagine how deep that protective streak would run for Mae and Zack.

"We will deal with this," Jian said quietly. "Whatever you want us to do, we will do."

"It…" Rocco's head dipped and hung between his shoulders. "All this time, they were both right there, and I was too stupid—too blind to see anything." He sighed deeply, then raised his head. "Whatever she wants to do, we will honor."

"She?" Mae appeared in the doorway, one hand on the handle. She looked nervous and her eyes darted about between all of us. Rocco stood up the moment he saw her, and she flashed him a tight smile. Her eyes were red from crying, and there was an exhausted paleness to her skin.

No wonder. She'd revealed a secret and nearly lost her son all in the same night.

"Mae," Rocco said, hovering near my shoulder. "How… How is he?"

"Zack? He's fine." Mae waved one hand and stepped into the room. She sniffled and blinked slowly. "He was upset by the yelling… my yelling. He doesn't understand, really. I… I'm so sorry for dragging you all out here for this when he was fine."

It occurred to me that the search for Zack was still ongoing, so I turned my attention to my phone and quickly called off our men.

"You had no way of knowing," Rocco replied. "And I'm glad you called. We're here for you, whatever you need."

"I…" Mae stepped closer, then she perched herself on the edge of the couch and pressed her knees firmly together. "Pretty ironic that I told you all to stay away because I thought you were the most dangerous, and then I call you when I'm faced with another disaster that has nothing to do with either of you. Feels like the universe is really trying to tell me something."

She laughed nervously, a quavering sound that brought an affectionate warmth to my chest. Messages sent, I turned back to Mae and her attention was on Jian.

"It's good to see you," she murmured. "Up and around, I mean. I was worried."

"I'm okay," Jian replied softly. "And I'm glad you are too."

"Yes." Mae nodded, then slowly, her eyes tracked back to Rocco. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked cautiously.

"For not telling you the truth when we first met. "

"About Zack?"

"Yeah…" Mae rubbed her hands up and down her thighs. "I mean… I'm also not sorry because you vanished, y'know? You just abandoned me, and I thought I was just some one-night graduation fling. A quick fuck. Whatever. And then my job fell through in the city and suddenly, I was pregnant."

Rocco slowly moved to sit next to her while still keeping a seat-length of distance.

"I tried to find you, but I had no contact information. Anyone who knew you didn't seem to know where you'd gone. You just vanished completely, so I moved on. I raised Zack, and I told him his father was away and just kept putting that off to deal with later. And then I saw you and…" Her voice trembled, and she clasped her hands together.

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't need you in my life, only to vanish again. Zack doesn't deserve that. He's never met any man I've dated since, although I'd hardly call it dating. And then when I started to fall for you again, for all of you, I…" Her eyes traveled around all three of us. "Well, I still wasn't planning on telling anyone until I knew you were here for good."

There was a long moment of silence after Mae stopped talking. Then, Rocco reached across and laid one hand over her clenched fingers.

"I understand," Rocco said softly. "I think we all do. None of us have shied away from Zack, or you because of him, and I know we all will respect you and whatever choices you make because of him." Rocco's shoulders lifted and he wet his lips. "And I am so, so sorry that I wasn't there for you."

I glanced at Jian. He had the same soft look on his face that I felt in my heart. We'd all adored Zack, so he had never even been a slight issue when pursuing Mae. Knowing he was Rocco's son? It was only a bonus .

"Whatever you choose to do. Whatever you want to do, with us or without us, then we will understand. But I would very much like to be a part of his life if I can."

I expected him to tell her about what it now meant, how much of a target Zack would be to anyone in our world who craved power. He didn't. Perhaps he was waiting for a better time to bring up that horrifying nugget.

"I…" Mae shook her head. "It's been a long night. I'm sorry. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think…"

"Take your time," Jian said. "I know for a fact that we're not going anywhere."

"Can…" Mae lifted her head, and for the first time, I saw complete exhaustion in her eyes. She'd nearly lost her son, her mother was sick, she'd been in a car accident, and even with what happened in the graveyard? That was all a lot for someone not used to the smell of gunpowder at breakfast.

"Can you stay the night?" she asked, glancing between us. "I don't want to be alone."