The Life - Rebirth (The Life 4)

“Now, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen while you rot in your grave. Sal’s set to pass everything to me. You see, he knows about all the disgusting things Alonzo has done. He’s afraid it would tarnish his father’s image, you know his father, the man he idolizes, the man I look like more than your son. How does it feel to have Sofia Antonelli’s son taking the place of your precious offspring? Huh?”

“Oh, did I forget to mention? Jr. is an addict and a drunk; Sal’s washed his hands of him. As for your daughter, I’m not sure she’d be able to handle the stress of all this. She seems a bit fragile to me. And since her mother’s proven to be stark raving nuts, it’s only a matter of time before she ends up here, or someplace like it. As for me, I’m going to let the whole world know what you and your husband did. I’m going to destroy him bit by bit.”

By the time I was through talking, she’d flung herself halfway off the bed with her thrashing, only saved from falling by the restraints around her wrists. The machines started going off just as I reached the back entrance and slipped out. I didn’t expect to feel anything, and I didn’t. None of this was going to undo what was already done, but they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.

I wasn’t in the mood to go back to Sal’s, so I went to the hotel to calm down and think about my next move. No sooner had I entered the room and walked in than there was a knock on the door, but since I didn’t order room service, I chose not to answer, hoping whoever it was would go away. That is until the door opened. I was up drawing my piece from my back before I realized who it was. “Pop?” What’re you doing here?”

GABRIEL

I had the insane urge to hug my dad. Like I didn’t know I wanted him here until he was standing there in front of me. He’d found me, outplayed me. I was almost too proud of him not to smile. “What do you mean what I’m doing here? You’re here.”

“I know, but how?” He walked over and hugged me, and I almost cried like an infant.

Something about that touch, the fact that he’d gotten on a plane to come after me and most inspiringly, the fact that he’d been ten steps ahead of me this whole time, made me feel things I’d long given up on feeling.

For the longest while, I’d battled my feelings about myself and what my father really felt about me. I know he said and showed he loved me in many ways over my lifetime, but that could’ve been out of a sense of duty. Until this very moment, I didn’t realize that that was in me. Have I been testing him all this time? If I had, he’d just passed with flying colors.

DRACO

What a rush! I’d spent the last eighteen hours or so catching my ass. It started with the passport. He’d given it up way too easy, so that got me to thinking. You see, all along, even with knowing his level of intelligence, I’d been treating my son like just that, my son. Even though I kept telling myself that he was a man now, I really haven’t been seeing him or even thinking of him as such.

Once I got it through my head that my little boy was no more, it was easy to start seeing things in a new light. And since Mancini claimed to have resources, I didn’t; I had him look into whether or not Gabe had procured a new passport, just hours after we’d met at Andros’ place. If he found the request odd, he hadn’t let on. Even more impressive with the speed with which he got back to me.

After having that information, it was easy to get the ball rolling. The first thing I did was tackle Ma. I hit her with some home truths that rocked her on her axis and played on her love for my kid to get her to tell me what the hell was going on. I’ve been uneasy, damn near scared, about the decision I’d come to, but it was for the best. Now that I wasn’t trying to rein him in on my own, I felt more confident in my ability to save him and to put an end to this thing once and for all. It may not have been the ideal solution Mancini was asking for, but I was sure I could still buy us some time even though Gabe was already here.

“So, I’ve given it some thought. I understand why you have to do this, to some extent. I’m not going to try to stop you, but you must promise me to be careful. I gathered from our last conversation that you’re not planning to off Ricci in the next twenty-four hours, but instead, you plan to go after the others first, so that means you plan on taking your time.”