Chapter 128: Secrets Die
- DEX -
"You want me to do what?" Luciano chuckles, flicking his cigarette on the ground outside the company building.
I just got done walking Raya in and telling Laurel about the reason for my impending absence. Luciano was already waiting for me outside.
"I want you to keep an eye on Raya for me," I sigh.
"I’m not sure what you think cuzzo, but this isn’t a babysitting service. What we’ve been doing with Lawson may have given you the wrong impression," he laughs, "especially since I’ve wanted to cut his tongue out from the moment he arrived and Pa won’t let me."
I nod, immediately understanding. If I were him, I can definitely see wanting to cut Lawson’s tongue out, too. Who knows what whining he’s been doing about how important he is and how much he will be missed.
"It’s not something I would typically ask, but Raya has a stalker," I tell him.
It’s true and it’s not. She obviously did have a stalker, but he has already been apprehended. Luciano doesn’t need to know that, of course. And who’s to say that Kenneth Rider won’t find a way to break out of jail or something in the two days I’ll be gone? I sincerely doubt it—hopefully our luck isn’t that bad—but there’s no being too cautious at this point.
"She has a what?"
"A stalker. You heard me."
"And you haven’t taken care of it yourself yet?" He arches a brow. Clearly I am not living up to the mafia family standards.
"The bastard got away from me," I say, pulling up my sleeve and showing him the stitches.
My cousin’s face changes, and the mask that immediately takes over is something that would scare the shit out of me if I didn’t know him better. Luciano is a killer. There’s no mistaking it. I don’t want to know the details of what he’s done, but I’m not an idiot. My cousin’s blood can run ice cold in an instant.
"That’s how Nonna Etna died, you know that?" He asks, a muscle working furiously in his jaw.
"What?"
"She was killed by a fucking stalker." Luciano’s eyes flash. "No one knew about him until it was too late."
"No," I frown. "Nonna had a heart attack."
"Of course your parents told you that." His lip curls. "They always protected you. That’s why you’re soft. What’s it like growing up with a different version of reality than the rest of us?"
I stand there shaking my head, thoughts cast into the past and the events surrounding Nonna’s death. My mother was devastated of course. Her and my father went to the funeral in Sicily, but I wasn’t allowed to go. I remembered begging them, but they wouldn’t give in.
"Did they catch him?" I can’t imagine what my Uncle Saul would have done to his mother’s murderer if he was caught.
"What do you think?" Luciano smirks, that evil in his eyes glinting dangerously. He was young, but who knows... maybe he was even in on it.
"Fine, I will keep an eye on your girl for a few days. That’s it," Luciano says. "So are we done with Lawson now for good? Or are we tying him up again when you get back?" He snickers.
"I guess we’ll see. I haven’t gotten a chance to punish him yet."
"It doesn’t take much with him. He’s already shit his pants and we’ve barely laid a finger on him. He’s a pussy."
A deep dread starts to fill me, and I can’t quite pinpoint what’s causing it—whether it’s my father’s surgery tomorrow, the news about Nonna’s real cause of death that was kept from me, or the mention of my brother and the fact that I’m going to have to play nice with him for a few days. All of it is awful.
"He won’t give you shit, Dex," Luciano says, slapping me on the shoulder. "Lawson’s the kind that will come back willingly and hold his neck out to be cut even if he’s bawling his fucking head off while he’s doing it. That’s one thing I can say about your brother. He knows we’re for real and that fighting it will only make it worse for him. I’m surprised he gave you any problems at all. Guess he thought you didn’t have it in ya to ask the family for help."
Luciano drives me to where Lawson is being held so that I can leave the truck for Raya to take after work. It’s the basement of a rundown building that has probably had its share of shady dealings. Lawson being held here is tame compared to the history these walls could relay.
My brother is naked and tied up in a chair in the middle of the room. No one is around to even watch him. He is so low on the priority of whatever else they are dealing with.
Lawson’s head slowly comes up after we walk in the room—delayed in reaction to the sound of our feet and the door slamming shut. But when he sees me, his eyes fly open so wide I think the eyeballs might just fall out.
A muffled cry of my name is decipherable around the dirty strip of cloth tied around his mouth, and I’m already regretting that I can’t punish him yet—that I can’t make him bleed. All the guys have done is scare him up to this point. He’s probably dehydrated and suffering poor circulation, but that’s the worst of it.
Lawson continues to desperately repeat my name despite the fact that I can clearly see him. My hands ball into fists and I roll my shoulders, talking myself down. I could hurt him in ways that my father wouldn’t notice when we show up, but it might make Lawson appear more unhinged and less likely to cooperate. I need to convince him this was it—as long as he doesn’t say anything to anyone about what he’s endured, this is the extent of his punishment.
Luciano curses under his breath and starts untying him, starting with the gag over his mouth. As soon as his mouth is free, Lawson coughs and then begins begging.
"Please, Dex. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I swear. Just get me out of here."
I have to clench my teeth at the presumption that there is anything he could possibly do to make it up or that it’s ME he needs to make it up to. Did it ever occur to him that this is about what he did to Raya?
I can handle all the underhanded bullshit revolving around the company. I don’t care that he was trying so desperately to undermine me in order to get the CEO position. I mean, I do care—but it pales so much in comparison to the shit he pulled with Raya. I would never call on my uncle to help with Lawson otherwise.
Once Luciano finishes untying him and I’ve come to fully resent the look of unrestrained hope blooming in Lawson’s eyes, I throw a change of clothes at his feet.
"Get dressed. Father is having surgery and we need to be there," I growl.
"What?" His face drops.
"Tumor removal. Tomorrow." It’s all I can say. I’m too disgusted with him to attempt a full conversation that enlightens him with all the details.
When Lawson groans and gets up with difficulty, his body remaining bent and contorted in the position it was in on the chair as he tries to get his joints and muscles working again, I notice that the seat of the chair has a gaping hole carved out of it. It looks like my brother was sitting on a makeshift toilet, and I guess he was. There is a bucket underneath that I’m grateful isn’t closer. This room smells like death as it is.
"I need a shower," Lawson says as he reaches for the clothes.
"You need to beg some more," Luciano hisses, grabbing my brother’s hair and yanking his head back before throwing him down with a rough hand.
Despite my cousin’s input, Lawson doesn’t say anything else. He stays curled on his side with his hands poised over his head like he is waiting to see if Luciano is going to kick him.
"Make him clean up his shit before you leave, Dex," Luciano growls as he walks past me toward the door.
"Hey," I grab his arm, and he glares at it. "What if I need updates about what I asked you to do? Do I just call?"
His glare shifts to my brother who is gradually starting to pick himself up off the ground, and Luciano jerks his head upstairs for me to follow him.
"Do you have Ma’s number?" He asks once we’re out of Lawson’s range of hearing.
"Is it the same?"
"Give me your phone," he says, holding his hand out impatiently. Then he proceeds to put several numbers in from memory. "Ma has never had a phone tapped."
"Really?"
"The feds underestimate women in these families. Always have. Just tell her you need to contact me." He turns to leave and then stops at the doorway. "You can tell Ma anything. She’s the matriarch of this family, Dex. Secrets die with her just like do the rest of us."
