The Life - Rebirth (The Life 4)

“I should be the one thanking you, no?” Pop seemed very relaxed with these guys for him to have only just met them. Either the go-between, this Andros guy, was someone he trusted, or he had felt them out, and they were on the level. Either way, I needed to make my own assessment since I had no idea what it was that they wanted.

“So, this is a bit unexpected. I expected it to take at least another couple of days to wear you down.”

“I’m just here to find out about your new technology, the one you used last night. Since I already know your skills as a hacker, I’m excited to see what else you can do. Plus, I need to thank you for finding my family.”

“So, Lyon, you don’t look much like a prince.” I’m sure he’s the one who came up with the fiancé idea. By process of elimination, it’s the only thing that makes sense.

“What?” Oh, did that offend the big bad biker?

“Gianna’s grandmother, she told us the story about your family; I’m guessing her cousin Elena is your mom because you look so much like my…. Like Gianna, and she said this, Elena did as well.”

“You figured out all of that from one meet?”

“You’d be surprised what a little bit of information can get you.”

“Another smartass. Look, I don’t know about this geek shit you freaks are into; I’m only here about the girl. Are you staying put, or you plan to hot ass it back to Sicily? My wife and kids are getting antsy with me gone this long, so what gives?”

“What girl?”

“My cousin and her kids, to be exact. I’m just here to find out if you deserve to have them.”

“Really? How do you plan to deduce that?”

“I have my ways.”

“Like the fake fiancé?”

“Well, now, it did work. While you were busy worrying about him, Ricci was taken out.”

“What did you say?”

“You heard me. I took your kill. Now what? Was it that important that you be the one to end him? If so, why?” I had to take a minute to assess myself. It was a good question, and for years I had the answers. It was mine to do because she’s my mother. It was mine to do because I was the product of her night in hell.

But that was before those three little faces so like mine existed. Before the mother who bore them came back to me. Could I let one of my babies live the way I have? Could I set one or more of them on a vengeful course to avenge some wrong done to me? Can I bear for them to live with the me that would emerge after I have his blood on my hands? With me being the way I am, believing the things I do, I know it would be hard for me to live as a whole person, knowing that I had my father’s blood on my hands.

His question so pointed, so direct. It cut to the chase, and I have nothing. I don’t feel what I’m supposed to feel. He stared into my eyes; I stared back into his. This man, he’s no biker. What are you? Back to his question, a world where someone else took out Ricci.

I refuse to accept the feeling of a weight being lifted off my shoulders. It shouldn’t be this easy, should it? I know that life can turn on a dime, but I never thought myself to be this fickle. I didn’t care; I had no feelings one way or the other; all that kept flowing through my brain was a sense of freedom. I wanted to be mad; I should be mad, right.

I’d worked so long and so hard to take him out, to avenge my mother, but all I saw was Gianna and my kids rolling around on the floor before we left and laughter. But…. Lyon, this guy is either very simple, or he’s a devious genius. “When did you take him out? Where and how?”

“Answer my question first; how do you feel now that you know he’s gone?”

“Nothing, I feel nothing.”

“Do you regret not being the one to do it?”

“No, not really.”

“Why?”

“Because I have something better to live for.”

“And you couldn’t have lived with yourself if you’d killed him, isn’t that so?”

“It’s against my core beliefs, yes.”

“So, what’s next?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, now that you don’t have this revenge thing driving you, what else is there for you to do? What’s your next move?”

Genius! I knew he was lying to me, leading me, but he wasn’t doing it out of malice. He was trying to get me to say it out loud so that I could hear myself. “Didn’t you go to Harvard?”

“Yeah, what’s your point?”

“It says you didn’t graduate.”