The Mafia Contract Series

I use my time wisely. When Louisa heads off back to work, I put in another call to Malik who answers sounding weary.

“How’s it going in Seattle?”

“Surprising.”

“I don’t like surprises.”

“Then you’re going to hate this one.”

“Why?”

His voice shifts and the razors cutting through the phone tell me Malik is struggling like the rest of us. He is currently playing the good son to a father who enjoys torture as a hobby. He is the head of security to the ruler of Dubai and the sinister shit he deals with makes Massimo Delauren look like Santa Claus.

“We may have a problem regarding my marriage.”

“Don’t tell me. She hated you on sight.”

Malik’s low laughter makes me smile and I say cockily, “Dream on my friend, we all know I have the golden touch and she is no exception.”

“Her father then. He hated you on sight.”

“Again, you are wrong, which amuses me because of how much you hate being wrong.”

Malik growls with impatience. “Well, someone must have hated you on sight. Come on, make my day because this one is shaping up to be one from hell.”

“Nobody hates me, except you right now.”

My low laugh makes him groan, and he says wearily, “Then what’s the problem?”

“We could be related.”

“How?”

“It turns out my evil uncle told my amazing mother that Massimo Delauren is my father.”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

Even saying the words strangles my rational mind and Malik’s curse tells me he is as shocked as I am.

“And you believe him? I mean, your uncle is hardly the truth fairy.”

“My thoughts exactly, which is why Iris Young may have the answers.”

“About that.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and Malik says with a hint of urgency in his voice, “I pulled her medical records. She’s at early-stage dementia and her medication is strong. Y ou might not get much sense out of her, and it may not be the truth, anyway.”

“Fuck.”

I ball my fist and growl, “What else can you tell me?”

“She only has one visitor. Every Friday at two o’clock, Massimo Delauren visits for exactly one hour. He never changes his routine, and they take tea in her room.”

“How civilized. Anything else?”

“He donates several hundreds of thousands of dollars to the home every year and is their biggest contributor. The staff love him because he is very generous. Subsequently, Iris Y oung is treated like a queen because she is their proverbial golden goose and Massimo has requested that she receive no other visitors.”

“How do you discover this shit?”

I’m still amazed by that, and Malik’s smug laugh makes me smile.

“It’s called cybercrime, my friend, and once I hacked into their system, I found everything I needed. There is a list of demands against her file that is password protected and saved in a different folder to the normal residents. Mrs. Travers is the woman who runs it and after a little digging, I have located her Achilles heel.”

“And…” “She has an offshore account with a bottom line that tells me she is way above the pay grade of the usual care home manager. Transfers are made from various sources, and they match deceased residents accounts. It appears that she is being well paid, and the money shows up in the account the day before the residents pass.”

“Which means?”

“I’m taking an educated guess that she helps them on their way for a fee.”

“I see.”

I think hard and Malik says roughly, “What’s your plan?”

“To find out what Iris Young knows and run a DNA test on Wesley. If I can prove he is my father, as I suspect, then I can carry on with the original plan. If it turns out he was telling the truth for once, I’ll probably jump off a cliff rather than share blood with Massimo Delauren.”

“We are crafted from monsters and live in their shadow, my friend. It’s up to us to be the bigger monster and change the course of history. All that means is you have a more important job than most.”

I hate the sympathy in his voice and the reassurances he is trying to give me. If I believed for one moment, I shared a drop of blood with the most deranged man on the planet, I may as well be dead because who knows how that madness will manifest itself in me and I say as a distraction, “I need another favor.”

“Y ou always do.” Malik sounds weary, but he loves this shit.

“I need information on a guy named Brad Turner who worked at Technofad Washington and has relocated to Seattle.”

“What’s he to you?”

“Trouble.”

“Consider it done.”

As he cuts the call, I cast my mind to the care home and the woman who runs it. It appears I will have my work cut out getting past her system and the last thing I want is to alert Massimo to our visit.

I need to think this one through and as I order another coffee, I begin to formulate a plan in my mind.

I MANAGE to pick up a few personal items and then grab a cab back to the house to catch up with Vivian. We spend a pleasant afternoon in her kitchen chatting about shit. She tells me about her family, her life, and her marriage. Despite her beginnings, she is settled now which gives me hope for my own future. Dimitri sounds like a decent guy and I’m happy for her.

Part of me craves a life like this. No problems, just happiness. Maybe not on this scale, but a loving wife and a cozy home where I would feel safe. Then I am transported back to the world I live in and the only way I know how to exist. Even if I do achieve the impossible and set myself free, my job title remains. I am the heir to the V asquez crime family and am expected to step up as the man in charge when required. Sure, I could turn my back on it, but it’s all I know. Along with my brothers, we would enjoy a different kind of business. On our terms. Protecting one another’s backs and making sure nobody ever messed with us. World domination, at least that’s the plan and the only thing that would make that even more perfect, is if Louisa was by my side.

My thoughts turn to her regularly throughout the afternoon and I pay more attention whenever her name is mentioned. Vivian speaks of her with a smile, and I can tell she loves her like a daughter. I discover everything I can about both sisters and hate the picture that unfolds of one child living a charmed life and the other doing everything she can to avoid it. Like me, Louisa doesn’t fit in, and I hate knowing how much that must hurt her.

As the afternoon nears to its close, I say casually, “I have some things to pick up in town. Perhaps I should drop by the office and head back with Louisa.”

Vivian nods, seemingly not at all surprised by that.

“You should take my car. It’s insured for any driver and Dimitri won’t mind. Here.”

She tosses me the keys to her Porsche and as I catch them, I say thankfully, “Are you sure?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I? You need to be independent, Flynn, and I want you to feel at home here.”

Her words are accompanied by a warm smile, and it hits me hard in the heart. It’s her acceptance of me that means the most. The love in her eyes as she adopts her role as my mother and holds nothing back. I never thought it would be this way and for a man who has never experienced anything like this, it’s a powerful weapon. If nothing else good comes out of this, it doesn’t matter because I have found my mother and in my dreams she was a shadow of the reality because I couldn’t have wished for a better one.