Page 133 of That Girl
“What other children?” She suddenly bursts out laughing, the sound of it maniacal. “Of course, there are more of Phillip’s little bastards running around.”
It’s Fallon’s turn to hold Sebastian back. “Watch it, lady. I’m one of those little bastards.”
“Mom,” I bark to get her attention, needing her to finish answering my questions so I can get the hell out of here and back to Aurora. “Why didn’t you just ask me for the money? I would have given it to you if it meant protecting Aurora.”
“You refused to take my calls, you little shit!” she screams, her face contorting before she’s able to reign herself in.
I leave the most important question for last.
“Did Dad have a contract out on Aurora’s life like he told me that night, or was it all bullshit to get me to do what he wanted?”
She slowly nods her head yes.
That’s the reason I left. It’s the reason I stayed away. That’s the reason I allowed my father to control me. He told me if I didn’t do what he said, he would greenlight the standing kill order he put on Aurora. If I warned her or went to Fallon, he would have her killed. If I didn’t get on the plane and leave for Ohio that very night, he would have her killed. If I tried to contact her or any of my friends, he would have her killed. I had no choice but to do what he said. I lived five fucking years under his thumb. I tried to protect Connor as much as I could by keeping him out of the public eye. My parents knew about him. My father gave me money so I could care for him. It wasn’t until my father was dead that I was truly free. Or so I thought. I look down at my mother.
“You went along with Dad putting a contract out on an innocent girl’s life because, why? I fell in love with her? I wouldn’t obey his rules anymore? Are you fucking crazy?”
How could she be so brainwashed to think that was okay? My father treated my mother like shit. She should have been outraged at what he did. To me, her own son. To Aurora, an innocent girl. How is this my life?
I grab the sides of my head and turn to Fallon who is popping a stick of gum in his mouth. “You promised that was taken care of. That Aurora was safe.”
Fallon cocks his head at me and spears me with a look.
Several months ago, Fallon called me up out of the blue asking a bunch of questions. At first, I didn’t understand why he was asking about my father. Fallon offered me the job at the youth center, said Aurora still loved me and needed me to come home, then told me to be prepared. Again, I didn’t have the foggiest of clues what he meant. It was once my father died and Fallon sent me the cryptic text messages that I started to figure things out. From our brief verbal exchanges, I have since learned that Fallon got wind of the open contract on Aurora. I have no idea how he found out. He later told me that he paid it off and had it amended so that it was my father whose name was listed as the hit. Then he activated it. Everyone thinks my father died in a car accident. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. I’ll never know what really happened and I don’t care to ever find out one way or the other. My father was an evil bastard. The world is better off without him living in it.
“What will whomever my father owed money to do to her if she doesn’t pay his debts?” I ask Fallon.
“More than likely, they’ll kill her to make an example. I’ve done my research. William owed a lot of bad people a lot of fucking money. And not just from gambling losses and skimming from client investments. He stole from the Juarez syndicate.”
That sounds like the name of a drug cartel. Whatever it is, it sounds bad.
I turn to Sebastian whose eyes are as pale blue as Aurora’s. “What would you do if you were me?”
“I’m not you.”
My mother starts begging. “JD, please. Let me go. I will do anything you say.”
I stare at the woman who repulses the hell out of me.
“If I or Fallon paid you the money, would you have let Aurora go?”
Mom stares straight ahead, but it’s the tick of her jaw that gives me the answer. Aurora would have never made it out of here alive.
“Make the call,” I tell Fallon.
I’m done. The loan sharks, the mob, drug dealers, or whoever the hell my dad owed money to—they can have her. The disease that is my family will no longer infect the lives of those I love. If this is the only way I can protect Aurora and my son, I will gladly sacrifice that part of my soul.
I turn my back on the woman I no longer consider to be my mother. I walk up the basement stairs and out of the house, needing to get back to Aurora. I need my sunshine to help take the darkness away.
Chapter 64
Itexted Prez and Dustin and asked them to meet me in the small garden adjacent to the main entrance of the hospital. I called Trevor first and asked him if Aurora had woken up. He said not yet, and the doctors didn’t expect her to come around for another couple of hours. I then called Renee to check on Connor. He and Lillie were taking a nap after playing all morning at the park. Renee said he was doing well and for me not to worry; she and Ben would watch Connor for as long as I needed them to. Shelby and Austin told her that they would drop by later and take the kids out on the boat.
I’m sitting on one of the benches next to some rose bushes when the guys approach. I’ve been staring at the roses thinking about the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Didn’t Princess Aurora prick her finger on a thorn of a rose that was cursed by an evil witch? Or was it a spindle?
“Hey, man,” Dustin says, taking a seat beside me. “She’s still asleep.”
“I know. I just spoke with Trevor.”
