Chapter 46.
Courtney POV.
After I had woken up, Kaden and I talked. We talked about our daughter, possible names and then the conversation turned to my dad. I know dad is hurting but that is no excuse to hurt me. Clearly he has never heard the phrase don’t shoot the messenger. He had to find out somehow and even though it hurts me, I’m glad he now knows the truth.
Kaden told me I needed to talk to my dad. That he is also as much, if not more of a victim in this plot than Kaden was. Kaden got me back, but dad he lost his wife, my momma and he lost me. All the while, he welcomed a damn cuckoo into his nest.
I know I can forgive him for what he did to me, but the question is, should I? Should I let him
fester in his own guilt for what he did? Anyone else probably would have, but me not so much.
Yes, he slapped me, but I have hurt him too. From the moment I met him, I hurt him. I was
mean and awful and that is not who my momma raised me to be. Momma would have
forgiven him. She was like that. Too forgiving for her own good. But she had a lot of
compassion for those she cared about.
I know it is the right thing to do. I could list all the bullshit excuses to justify why he slapped
me, but there is no valid excuse. People act on emotions and I am no different. I don’t like to
fight and arguing, all I ever wanted was to meet my dad and be a family. To know how it feels
like to have that paternal love.
I used to envy the other kids in school who had both their parents whether they were married,
divorced, they always had both in some capacity. Me, I only had momma. She did play both
roles, and she played them well. But I have one parent that is still breathing and yes, he made
a monumental mistake. He f****d up once whereas me I have f****d up loads of times. Each
time I was forgiven and I should do the same thing.
So that was why I decided to talk to him, let him tell me what he is feeling and in some ways I
understand. I felt the same way when momma was diagnosed with cancer. I wanted to lash
out to make it better. But violence and anger may make you feel better for a moment. It’s the
guilt afterwards that is your undoing.
So here I am, hugging it out with my dad. He, like me, has lost so much in such a short period of time. No, he lost us a very long time ago, so his feeling of guilt and betrayal goes far
deeper.
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Chapter 46.
“Dad, I do love you. I hope you know that. Also, I know momma loved you very much, if she
was still here. I know she would have forgiven you.” I say to him as he breaks apart and I look
at his wedding ring on his ring finger. I pull the chain from around my neck.
I put it back on before I came down here to talk to him. I place the ring with the chain in his
palm.
“She always wore this around her neck and would clutch it, so you were with her.” I tell him as
I close his fingers around it.
“Courtney, no, this is your piece of her. She would want you to have it, same as I want you to
have it. Put it back on. Then you know she is always with you.” He opens his palm again and
places the chain back over my head and takes the ring in his hand, brushing his thumb over it.
“Even when she was dying, she would hold it. She still took a lot of secrets with her. As long
as we have these rings, we have her. Even in this mansion. She is here. All you have to do is
look. I want to show you something.” I say to him and he nods his head, wiping his tears, and I
stand up with a slight struggle. Dad stands and I take his arm and lead him through the maze
of hallways and stop at a particular picture.
“That little girl with the blonde hair. Do you know who that is?” I ask him and he steps closer
and looks at it. I watch his reaction and his eyes widen as he turns his head to look at me.
“She looks like Chloe.” He says and I wait for the other shoe to drop and it does and he snarls.
“Why is Michelle in that picture?” He asks and I know he will now learn the truth of what happened. Grandpa kept this hidden from him and a few others for a reason.
“Michelle was my momma’s best friend when they were both little innocent girls. Michelle’s
family moved and unfortunately her family was killed. Grandpa thought like the rest of the
families that Michelle was killed, too. But she wasn’t. Michelle is mafia, just like momma was,
just like I am. Michelle has blamed my family for years for the death of hers. When it had
nothing to do with us. Grandpa found out that Michelle’s family had gotten into business with
another family and they killed them. But guess who the heir to that family is?” I say because I
pieced it all together. I should really be a Pl.
“Please don’t tell me who I think it is. Tell me it’s someone else.” I shake my head.
“It is Grim. Grim’s family is responsible for the death of Michelle’s. Yet Grim laid the blame at
my family’s feet. So with Michelle by his side, fuelled with rage and pain, they both acted. They
went after my grandparents, great–grandparents, and uncle. But momma escaped and ran
away. I don’t think she even knew if her grandfather was alive. Then she crossed your path and you know the rest. Michelle is a pawn and has been sleeping with the very man who killed her
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Chapter 46.
family.” I tell him and he sighs, shaking his head.
“What family did Grim belong to?” Dad asks and I frown, knowing he will lose his mind.
“Grim’s name is Patrick Dayton. Dayton was his mother’s maiden name. But his father, the
man he killed, was called Ricardo Conti. Grim destroyed the family and started his MC in its
place. His eye has always been on my family. The Cosa Nostra is the biggest family in the
mafia. We control everything, from the guns, product, you name it, we have it. Grim wants it all, and he doesn’t care how he will get it. Hell, he has already sacrificed his kids and wife. There
is no limit to what he will do for power. So there it is. The truth.” I tell him and he looks from the picture to me and nods his head as he gulps.
“How do you know all of this?” He asks and I smile at him before I chuckle.
“This mansion, sorry clubhouse. Holds a lot of information. Information that would be impossible to find on the internet. All you have to do is look around. The answers are on the walls. Besides, on the top floor there are pictures of every mafia family. Go and see for yourself. You will recognise Grim because Max looks just like him. Oh, did you know we have a library? There are ledgers with every family and their names, plus how they died. It’s like a catalogue. I would check that, too.” I tell him, and he smiles at me and chuckles.
“You are in the wrong profession, you know that, right?” Dad hugs me and kisses my head, and
I nod my head at his words.
“Yeah, I know. There is a reason I am telling you this, it is not to hurt you, dad, but if this information happens to land at the feet of a certain someone, we could grab the popcorn and watch the show. Michelle maybe manipulative but she is still human. What do you think she would do when she learns the truth herself? Hmm.” I say, pretending to think, and he laughs.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe we should find out.” He wiggles his perfect eyebrows with a mischievous glint in his green–gold eyes.
“Maybe we should. After all, information is a sort of power.” I say to him and we walk along the hall looking at pictures of my momma. I hope he can bury his demons and be true to his
word.
All I want is my family, that includes my dad. I look up at the ceiling, touching the wedding ring on the chain and smile. For momma, for our family. They will be at peace soon enough.
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