32. Rocco

32

ROCCO

" A re you keeping the mansion?" My grandfather, Vito, asked between audible puffs of his cigar. His voice drifted from the speaker on my phone as it sat on my desk, just a foot away from where I was standing.

"I haven't decided," I replied, staring out the window at the vast gardens surrounding the manor. "This was Dad's home more than it was mine. If Mom wants to keep it, then I will. Other than that…" I sighed in return, trying not to let my mind run away with me.

Keeping the mansion would be ideal if I knew we were staying here. Mae hadn't given me much time to respond to my declaration of love as her mom had arrived home from the bingo and I'd been forced to leave Dino and a few guards with them.

But she hadn't seemed put off by my slip-up, and it wasn't really a slip-up when I considered just how truthful it was. I had just always planned on telling her in a much more romantic way. In the heat of an argument, it kind of fit for us, though, in a way.

But if she felt the same? If she stayed here for me? I'd keep this place in a heartbeat, move her in here with our son. Her mother too. It would be the best way to keep her safe.

Until that was decided, nothing else was concrete for me. If she went back to the city, well, I would follow.

"You have to decide these things," Vito said after a long pause. "You need to think about the logistics of these things."

"Why, is this place sucking up too much money?"

"Don't be stupid," Vito snapped. "Having a presence here kept this town safe and firmly in our territory. Moving back to the city and selling this place would remove the seal of protection your father gave to this town. While we'd save money, sure, we'd also risk losing this territory because this is not the kind of place we can do business in."

I snorted. "You're telling me we can't start a drug boom here?"

"In a town full of the elderly and children too young for teeth? No. Not with your conscience, at least."

He was right. Too many times in the past, my conscience got the better of me and I had accidentally fucked up a few deals for my father. Now that I was in charge, those decisions and consequences rested solely on my shoulders.

"Right now, my priority is Mae and my son. Nothing else matters to me, do you understand?" I turned my back on the garden. "They're the only thing I care about right now. In fact, they're the only thing I have cared about since I met Mae again. I'm just not hiding it this time."

"You're just like your father," Vito grumbled, "choosing a woman over responsibility."

"How does that make me like him?" I snapped lightly. "He took me away from here, forced me to stay away from here."

"Because he knew from experience that it would make things harder for you. You should ask your mother about it one day, but when he was younger, he was just as reckless, chasing after her. People died. Good people. As he got older, he wanted to stop you from making the same mistake."

I frowned deeply and picked up the phone, taking the call off speaker. "But he loved her. How can he regret that?"

"He didn't regret your mother, merely the guilt he had to live with after chasing after what he wanted. That was partly why maintaining peace was so important to him."

"You tell me this now? Do you really think a little family history will stop me from trying to fix my family, from protecting my son?"

"Rocco… I am not the bad guy here. I am not trying to be. I merely need you to fully understand your choice here. Focusing on one thing takes your eyes off the rest of the Family, off the business and our enemies."

"Vito, I am perfectly capable of doing both. Mae and Zack are my family as much as you and Mom are. I'm not taking my eye off the ball, but for fuck's sake, you have to understand that I'm not changing my mind. I am not leaving the people I care about unprotected."

"If you say so." Vito abruptly hung up, and I tightened my grip on my phone with a grumble. I knew what he wanted. He wanted me back in the city with an envoy of guards here to protect Mae. That was all he cared about. The Family. Not my family.

"Boss?" Jian knocked quickly on the door and stuck his head through the gap. I waved him in with one hand and dropped into the thick leather chair behind the desk.

"Everything okay?"

"We completed the sweep of the town. If there are other Russians here, they're doing a damn good job of avoiding us. I haven't seen anyone, and no one has checked into any of the local motels. Unless they're camping out in the damn forest. "

"Can you call the ranger? Ask him if he's had to sign any hooking permits later."

"You think Russians would care about paperwork?" Jian snorted dryly.

"Fuck knows. What about the asshole at the park?" As I spoke, I spotted a few dots of blood on the lapel of Jian's shirt.

"He's not talking," Jian replied stiffly. "But I'm working on it."

"Thanks. Keep me updated."

"Will do." Jian bowed his head slightly and stepped out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts.

Was that asshole just a stray man acting on old orders? Or had my carefully navigated peace and ceasefire agreement with the Russians all been some kind of ruse to let my guard down?

The more I mulled it over, the more I knew I needed to keep Mae safe. With Dino watching her, she was protected, but something in the back of my mind told me it wasn't enough.

I spent the next half hour organizing a handful of extra security to come down from the city and increase her protection. She was likely going to be pissed that she would be followed directly, but as far as I was concerned, all discreteness was out the window. At least until I found out what the hell was going on.

The clock struck ten when my phone rang next.

"Hello?" I answered, stifling a yawn.

"Rocco." It was my grandfather, and the sharp tone in his voice had me sitting up straight immediately.

"What is it? What's happened?" I pulled the phone away from my ear to glimpse the screen and make sure I hadn't missed any texts, then listened in .

"I owe you an apology."

"What?" I don't think I had ever heard my grandfather say sorry.

"You are right. Family is important, so I did a little digging and reached out to some old contacts for anything we missed, anything that would explain Russians in the town or the attack on Mary."

I didn't like where this was going.

"The man you killed? The one who murdered your father?" Vito sucked in a deep breath. "He is the brother of the woman the Pakhan's son is in love with. He's hunting you, Rocco, and I would suspect after seeing you with Mae and Zack, he knows exactly how to hurt you."

"Fuck." I stood abruptly, sending the chair rolling back against the window. "Have you confirmed this?"

The last thing I needed was to act on a rumor and start another war.

"Yes. I reached out to the Pakhan for confirmation and he offered his deepest apologies. It seems that when he noticed his son was missing, he discovered the same details I had just found, and he has been trying to regain a leash on the boy. He's a loose cannon, a liability to all the Russians are working toward."

"That motherfucker." I snatched up my keys and stormed out of the room, calling for Jian at the top of my lungs. "Do they know where he's staying?"

"They have an idea and gave me an address."

"I'm going to fucking kill him."

"I thought as much," Vito replied. "I expressed such intent to the Pakhan , and he did not seem surprised. If I had to guess, his son has been an unruly thorn for longer than anyone would be willing to deal with. I would advise you to tread carefully?—"

"Bullshit. "

"But I know you won't. Be careful, Rocco. We don't need another war."

"They should have thought of that before losing control of their fucking dog." I ended the call and yelled for Jian again as I hurriedly dialed Dino's number.

"Boss?" Jian came sprinting down the stairs, his shirt half open and his hair damp.

"The Russians who are here? It's the Pakhan's fucking son. The rat I killed? His girlfriend's brother."

"Holy shit," Jian breathed out. "And they just forget to tell us?"

"Some secret so that there'd be no accusations of special treatment, I guess," I remarked, then I stopped suddenly in the hall.

The call to Dino was ringing out.

There was no answer.