Dangerous Conceit by Ali Lee
Chapter 41
Gloria must have been the witness. Why? She had already made Lexi's life a living nightmare. What was her motive now? Revenge? Money? Both? Angelo ordered Gloria never to come near his family again, but she ignored the risk. Rafa did not like this feeling of uncertainty. Being thrown into the middle of this ugly affair did not settle well with him.
He walked through the lobby on his way to meet Jim who waited for him at the front. With Lexi in jail for a matter completely out her hands, he needed proof that Gloria was behind the scheme. He needed to know her demands to make her retract the statement. He no longer needed Kenneth now that Gloria was in the picture.
“Rafael,” Antonio called after him. Rafa ignored him and kept walking to the front of the hotel. “Rafael!” Antonio demanded acknowledgement, causing Rafa to turn around with a glare as Antonio approached. “You can’t tell Angelo about this…not until I have proof that the girl is mine.”
“No,” Rafa said. “I can’t not tell Angelo. This affects everyone at every level.”
“Let me prove it first, at least. Give me that much before you go running your mouth to my son.”
“What?” Rafa said dryly. “This isn't some sort of gossip session. That woman you fucked had a kid, and Angelo is going to figure it out on his own very soon…if he hasn't already. You think proof is going to help? Gloria comes around after all this time. She would know better than to come here if she didn't have something to hold against us, and that girl is her leverage.”
Looking down at the floor, Antonio sighed, knowing what Rafa had said was true. Even Antonio could not argue with logic. “Rafa, even if that’s true, why are you acting like this? It’s personal—that's all, or do you think Angelo is going to take it out on you? Is that it?”
Rafa smiled, not a pleasant smile but one that would make a grown man's knees buckle. His patience was running low, making it difficult to keep his composure. “How does this affect me?” He never broke eye contact. “Because the poor excuse for a mother ruined the most important day of her daughter's life. And now, her daughter is stuck in jail on a matter that has absolutely nothing to do with her.”
“Lexi?” Antonio's face creased until he closed his eyes; the lines around his mouth deepened much more than before, making him look years older. “Lexi is my daughter then?” His shoulders drooped as he muttered to himself. It was suddenly becoming clear.
Before Antonio could open his eyes again, Rafa already had stepped inside the Escalade with Jim. There were no exchanges between either of them as they drove straight to the warehouse. When they arrived, Rafa barely waited to shift the vehicle in park before he jumped out and stormed inside.
Brett and Ian sat, discussing something between them. Ray stood against the wall, and Vin watched Rafa carefully, trying not to get in his way. Inside the office, Angelo cursed into his phone, furious at whoever was on the other end. Rafa entered in time to hear the tail end of the conversation. He waited with his hands across his chest, becoming angrier at every word that Angelo said.
“What do you mean she was never charged? They put the woman in cuffs…felt her up…in front of her screaming kid on her wedding night. They pulled out guns outside of my hotel and caused a huge fucking ruckus… No, I don't want to file a complaint. Who the hell do you think you're talking to?” Angelo closed his eyes, listening before he began again. “Her mother—you think her mother was the witness? What the hell does she benefit by pinning Kenneth on Lexi…” He shook his head in disgust. “Oh, we will do just that. When can we pick her up… In the morning? They’re making her wait until morning to question her… Oh, that fucking figures.” Angelo growled a large, throaty breath before clicking the side button, never saying goodbye to the other end and dropping it on a pile of paperwork.
“Why are they waiting until morning?” Rafa asked as soon as Angelo hung up.”
“Because they’re pricks,” he said. “I mean, who the hell does her mother think she is, trying to play us like that. It must be some sort of grab for money, making up lies against her daughter. We all know they sent Lexi away for money.”
Angelo snorted and leaned back in the office chair while flicking his fingers over his chin. “That stupid bitch has another thing coming if she thinks she will get a cent from us. There are other ways to make her statement disappear.” He looked up at Rafa. “Does Lexi have a picture of her? I need to see exactly who I’m dealing with here.”
“No,” Rafa inhaled at the question, already knowing exactly what the woman looked like.
“Then find me one.” Angelo stood, a gesture that indicated for Rafa to switch him places, one that Rafa could not refuse.
Rafa sighed; the events of the day finally started to wear him thin. “I can't.”
“Can't?” Angelo looked at Rafa who stood slightly taller than he did.
“I know who the woman is. I don't know where she is, but I know who she is.”
Angelo's eyes narrowed, wondering about the stressed look on Rafa’s face. Rafa reached for his back pocket and took out a phone—Lexi's phone. “I have a video to show you, a video that affects us both. You’re not going to like it, but you need to see it anyway,” he said and started sifting through its content to pull up the video. Before he brought up everything, the door to the warehouse slammed and footsteps came closer, until they reached the office door.
Antonio looked at Rafa, how his entire body looked tired. The hunch of his shoulders showed he was in pain, a pain that he mentioned to nobody around. “No, you sit.” Antonio pointed to Rafa. “I will tell him; this is my mess.” He looked at Angelo and shut the office door. “You need to sit down too.”
Angelo stared at Rafa as he took his seat, trying to decipher what his father wanted to disclose. Although Rafa gave nothing away, Angelo could tell the matter was serious and one that would not go away.
“Gloria Taylor. That's Lexi's mother's name.”
“Yes.” Angelo crossed his arms, his eyes in a steady frown.
“Give me the video, Rafa,” Antonio said. Rafa clicked the phone back on and handed it over, crossing his arms again as he faced Angelo's reaction head on. Antonio pressed play and scooted forward in the chair across from Angelo’s desk, holding it directly in front for Angelo to see.
Rafa braced himself as it started; at first, Angelo made no reaction, slowly taking in its significance until it dawned on him exactly what his father was trying to say. He played it a second time and then a third as his breaths became more ragged and the tightness of his jaw shown.
“Gloria? The same Gloria? Nina took in a kid that wasn’t hers and then you screwed around on her with the same slut who traded me for cash. And you knock her up again?”
“Son, I didn't mean for any of this to happen.”
“You left your own kid to rot.”
“It’s not like that. I never knew about her.”
“Get out.” Angelo waved his hand and looked the other way.
“Angelo, don’t turn your back on me. I’m still your father.”
“How could you not know you had a kid? You never thought to check into that sort of thing?” Angelo muttered and pointed to the door. “I said get out. I don't want you anywhere near me.” Angelo did something that Rafa never thought he would do. He pulled out his pistol and aimed at Antonio, the anger and hurt building inside finally came to a head. “If you don't get out, I will kill you for what you’ve done to this family.”
Neither Rafa nor Antonio could have predicted Angelo's reaction. Rafa gripped the arm of the chair and watched Antonio slowly stand, as if not wanting to provoke his son anymore. Then he walked out, leaving Rafa to deal with Angelo on his own.
Angelo put the gun back in his coat, relieving Rafa when he did. Even though none of it was Rafa's fault, he could never be sure of what Angelo would do when he was mad. All at once, Angelo forced everything on the desk to the floor, strewing papers in every direction and shattering the computer from within. Pens, staples and paperclips scattered with cords hanging everywhere. Then Angelo sat back on the chair, in obvious distress over the news.
“So,” he started. “Lexi’s my sister.” Angelo laid his head in his hand, coming to terms. “Are we the only ones who know?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let's keep it that way.”
Rafa threw his arms in the air, defeated by the silence. “You're kidding, right?”
“No, I'm not.”
“You think Lexi isn't going to figure it out?”
Angelo pointed at Rafa. “No, because you’re going to make sure that she doesn't.”
“How can you justify putting that shit on me? This isn't my mistake. And it doesn't only affect you.”
Angelo’s eyes narrowed, not wanting to have the argument. “Listen, for now we keep it quiet. You’re taking good care of Lexi. She’s no better off if she knows, but Nina will be heartbroken if she finds out like this. There’s no perfect answer twenty years after the fact. All I know to do is wait until my father tells Nina…and he will. Even after all this, he still cares about his family. It must be a huge blow to him. He had a daughter all this time, one that grew up with a more fucked up life than we did. You know how you felt when you found out about Maura. Imagine missing out on her entire life.”
Rafa leaned back and shut his eyes; neither said anything as they faced the facts and try to move on. Right now, Rafa still had a woman to marry who would be glad just to be with him. “Fine, I understand.” He started to think about Lexi, who was being questioned for no reason.
“Are you going to take care of Kenneth or am I?” Angelo looked out of the office, toward the locked door that held him. “We have no use for him anymore.”
“I'll do it.” Rafa stood and took out his gun, pointing it at the floor as he checked out the gun. “I can at least take one threat out of her life.” He ejected the clip and pushed back in; then he pulled back the barrel.
“Hey,” Angelo said before he walked out of the office. “If Lexi grew up under our rules, I would have wanted you to marry her…thought you should know.”
Rafa gave him an even stare before looking at the wall behind but returning to look at Angelo. Then he nodded once, before he focused on the meeting with Kenneth.
Inside the holding area, Rafa leaned against the door and looked at the man in chains who they bound by the hands to the ceiling. Instantly appalled by his sight, Rafa walked up to Kenneth and slammed his fist against his face, ignoring the pain in his own chest.
“I saw the bruises all over her arms and legs…way back. That was your doing, wasn’t it?” He punched him again. Kenneth gasped for air and looked at Rafa, guilt reflecting from his eyes. Rafa did not wait for him to recover.
“You took Gloria's affair out on Lexi all those years. She didn’t deserve any of this.” Rafa smashed his nose with his knuckles. Blood trickled down his chin.
“Fuck you,” Kenneth spit a mixture of blood and saliva on the floor. “You’re no better than me.”
“No?” Rafa's temper rose as he kneed him in the stomach. “I don’t go around hurting kids. Lexi will never have to worry about a son of a bitch like you again. No one will.”
Rafa backed away and clicked the hammer, firing until the clip ran out. “All of you will fucking die,” he said. Rafa would avenge Lexi from every asshole that had a part in her hell.