Wounded Redemption by Brook Wilder
Chapter 7
Nico
I slammed my hand on the desk before I threw the earpiece across the office, not caring where it landed. Preston was a dead man. He hadn’t brought anything to this investigation against my father other than my rage at making a pass at my wife.
It was good to know that I could kill him now with a clean conscience. Honestly, I was surprised that Rory hadn’t stabbed him. I had laughed out loud when she had all but threatened his life, but my humor had quickly turned sour as I listened to the conversation.
The DA was another dead end, but what he had done was far worse than I could have anticipated. I was dragging Rory down with me the further we got in this trap my father had set. Everything I did had an impact on her as well, and for a man who had done everything he wanted to without worry, it was a hard pill to swallow. She didn’t deserve to be in this life, to be threatening assholes like Preston on my behalf. I couldn’t change who I was, but before now, I didn’t have anyone else to worry about.
Well, it didn’t matter. I was going to do all that I could to keep Rory clean, and if the time came that the feds came after me, then I would ask for her clemency before I told them about my violent past. If the time came that they locked me up in prison, then I would be forcing her to go on with her life without me. It would fucking hurt to rip out my heart like that, but Rory didn’t deserve to see me behind a glass-plated window every week. I didn’t want her to bring our son so that he could visit his father in prison.
Hell, that is if I made it through the first month myself. I thought losing one’s freedom would be like a death sentence.
Sighing, I thought about what I was doing before my wife had her meeting with the DA. I had been calling in favors all morning, trying to garner support in case my father decided to strike faster than anticipated. I had some sympathizers within the family, some that were tired of my father’s reign and wanted something different for the Mafia. His return to power had been ill-timed, and the support I had garnered from the others was quickly waning.
Hell, I couldn’t blame them. No one wanted to go up against Carmine D’Agostino, especially not after what they had seen he could do. I had some men still on my side, but not nearly enough.
“Fuck,” I breathed, rubbing a hand over my face. I could feel the noose get tighter around my neck with each passing day, constantly sitting on go in case my father decided to strike. Vincent and I had a pact that he would get my family, including my sister, out at the first threat from my father, and while I knew Rory would fight me on this, I had no choice. I would go after him, I and I alone.
A little while later, Vincent walked in. “I’m going to fucking kill him myself,” he growled as he fell into the chair in front of my desk.
“Get in line,” I grumbled. “Where is she?”
“Back at the penthouse,” he replied with a heavy sigh. “She’s safe. I think Emilia is coming over again.”
“Good.” I wanted her to have time with her friend, to feel like her life was normal when it was anything but. “Was she followed?”
“Not that I can tell,” Vincent said. “I’m surprised. I thought he would have a tail on both of you.”
Yeah, I did, too, but I wasn’t about to let up for any reason.
“Any luck?” my second-in-command asked after a moment.
“Little,” I admitted, crumpling the paper before me and throwing it in the trash can beside the desk. “They are all fucking scared of my father, no matter what I promise them.”
“If he comes after us like this, we are sitting ducks.”
“I know,” I said evenly. “And there’s nothing I can do about it other than you getting my family out alive.”
Vincent’s expression darkened, and I knew he hated the thought of leaving me to face my father virtually alone. Vincent had been there for a number of years, and he could anticipate my moves better than I could. If I were going to go into an unfair fight, I would want him at my side.
But he had a far more important role now, and that was protecting the future D’Agostino and my fucking heart.
“Boss,” he started, clearing his throat. “I can’t let you do this.”
“You don’t have a choice,” I fired back. “My family is everything, Vincent, and they will be protected at all costs.”
He hung his head, and I blew out a breath. “I can handle myself against my father.”
“But he’s not going to fight fair!” Vincent exploded. “You know that! He will not run the risk of losing to you.”
“I know that!” I yelled, pushing out of my chair. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I must get Rory and Anthony out of danger. Lorenzo and Angelica too. I can’t—I won’t let them fall victim to him.”
Some of the fight left Vincent, and he slumped in the chair. “I apologize, don.”
“Save it,” I sighed, coming to stand before the windows that overlooked the city. I didn’t want to fight with him. I didn’t want to fight with anyone save my father. I wanted this shit to be over with so that we all could move on, however that needed to look like.
We left shortly after, as my sister wanted to have dinner with me, and I met her at our favorite restaurant, virtually empty given the ongoing pandemic. “Nico,” she stated as I joined her in the booth. “Thank you for coming. I know you have a lot on you.”
I picked up the wineglass that was already full to the brim. “I’m never too busy for my little sister.”
She rolled her eyes. “How is the family?”
“They are fine.”
She fiddled with the stem of her wineglass. “I hear you visited Father.”
I settled back in the booth, my glass in my hand. “He demanded it, I’m afraid. He said he wanted to meet his new grandson.”
Leda’s mouth twisted, and I wondered when the last time was that she had crossed our father. “What did he really want?”
That I couldn’t tell her. I didn’t want to drag my sister into the mess that had become my life. “I need something from you,” I told her instead. “Something important.”
She arched a brow. “What can I do for you, brother?”
“If shit goes south,” I started, finding the words difficult to admit. “Make sure that Vincent gets Rory and Anthony out. You too. I want all of you far away from this place.”
Her expression softened. “Oh, Nico,” she said. “What are you about to do?”
“It’s not what I am about to do,” I stated. “It’s what Father is going to force me to do.” I had to kill him. I had to end his life because if I didn’t, he would continue to come after me until he was dead.
Leda sighed. “You have so much now, Nico. You have a wonderful wife and the cutest little boy on the planet. Why not walk away?”
I clenched the wineglass in my hand. “He won’t let me.” I remembered my father’s threats. He wanted me to suffer, and in order for that to happen, he was going to take what was important to me. There was no way in hell I was going to turn my back and watch him destroy my family. “He’s going to kill them.”
Leda sucked in a breath. “All right, brother. I promise.”
That was all I could promise my family, that they would be taken care of in case this shit got ugly.
Leda looked at me over the rim of her glass, her lips pursed. “Who will look after you though? I doubt your wife is going to leave willingly.”
I grinned at the thought. Rory would likely put up a good fuss. “She won’t have a choice.”
Leda shook her head. “God, you both make me sick the way that you carry on about each other. You really love her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do,” I answered, figuring there was no reason to hide it. Leda’s smile faded, and I remembered what life she had ahead of her. Yet another reason to kill our father so that she could be free of the prison he was going to put her in with the arranged marriage. “I’m sorry, Leda.”
“It’s fine, really,” she sniffed, gazing into her glass. “If I have to go, I have to go, just like you have had to do a lot of things for him. I just wish we had killed him a long time ago.”
I couldn’t disagree with that sentiment, but on the other side, my father’s meddling had somehow brought Rory into my life, and that was one thing I wasn’t willing to just give back. “I’m going to take care of this,” I said to my sister, making a vow to help her in her life as well. “I’m not going to let you down.”
She gave me a sad smile, holding out her glass. “Well, I can’t say no to that. I love you, Nico. I don’t think I tell you often enough.”
I grinned as our glasses clinked together. “And I love you, Leda.”
Her eyes widened. “Rory is good for you. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you admit it aloud.”
“Did I really just say it aloud then?” I asked in mock horror.
Leda rolled her eyes, hiding her smile behind her glass. “You can’t take it back now, Nico. It’s out in the open.”
I didn’t want to take it back. If my life were to end in a few months, I wanted to make sure I had no regrets.
**
After a long dinner with my sister, reminiscing about some of our earlier days and not mentioning our father, I headed home. I had checked in on Rory more than once during dinner until she had finally told me to leave her alone and to enjoy my time with my sister.
Now, as I stepped into the penthouse, I listened for the sound of her. The living room was dark, and I started toward our bedroom, stripping off my coat as I did so. Now that I had promises from both Vincent and Leda, I was starting to feel better about my ability to protect my family. At the first sign, they would be gone, and I would join them, but only after I had ended things with Carmine.
Not before. We couldn’t run far enough to keep him from touching my family, and the only way was death. As long as the Mafia was in play and under his thumb, there were numerous threats I had to contend with. It had been one of the reasons I had wanted to destroy him in the beginning.
I found Rory and our son in the bathroom, taking a bath in the bathtub with Anthony in a bathing seat. “Nico,” she breathed as I crouched down next to her. “How was your dinner?”
“It was fine,” I stated, gazing at our son. “I thought he would already be in bed.”
She laughed. “Well, that was before he decided to throw up his milk all over his pajamas. This is his second bath of the night.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked Anthony, taking my hand and spreading it across his small belly. He cooed as I did so, and I smiled, enjoying the sound. He was nothing more than an innocent babe, one that had no idea about the family name that he carried.
“He’s fine,” Rory said as she finished washing the bubbles from his little body. “Greedy thing.”
I removed my hand, and Rory lifted him out of the tub, wrapping him in a hooded towel. “I’ll take him,” I said, needing to remind myself what I was fighting for.
She looked surprised but handed him over. “What’s wrong, Nico?”
I shook my head. “Just want to spend some time with my son, that’s all. Go on, take your bath. Relax.”
A stunned Rory accepted my kiss on her temple, and I walked out with my son in my arms, taking him to the nursery. There I laid him down on the table and methodically wiped him off, earning a few more coos and gurgles as I fought to put his little sleeper on. Fuck, he looked like me, with his wide eyes following my every movement until I picked him up once more. “Time to go to sleep, little man,” I said softly as I settled into the rocking chair near his crib with Anthony cradled in my arms. How could my own father look at me and not remember these times?
Likely because he hadn’t rocked us. He probably hadn’t even cuddled with either of his children like this. I wasn’t going to be him. My son was going to know that he was loved by his papa, that I would always have his corner, and no matter what he did, he was my flesh and blood. I would fight for him, give my life up for him.
I didn’t want him to grow up in the Mafia family, however. My father would have a heart attack if he knew that I was thinking of disbanding the family the moment that he was dead or locked away. Anthony should grow up how he wanted to, not how his family had decided for him to do so, and I didn’t give a shit about how many generations of D’Agostinos there had been.
I was going to be the last. “You have nothing to worry about, son,” I whispered as he yawned. “If I don’t make it through this, know that I fought to my very last breath for you and your mama. Know that I loved her far too much and that she saved me by having you. Know that I am not without my faults, but there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could be a bigger man for you both.”
“Oh, Nico.”
My head shot up, and I saw Rory standing in the doorway, tears streaming down both her cheeks. “You’re supposed to be in the bathtub.”
“And you are supposed to not talk like that,” she chided softly, walking over to us. “And I love you so much it hurts sometimes.”
I knew the feeling. She reached out and took the sleeping baby from my arms, pressing her lips to his forehead before she laid him down carefully in his crib. I pushed out of the chair and stood next to her, my arm going around her waist. “He’s so fucking perfect, Rory,” I said, a lump in my throat. “How the hell did I make something like that?”
She turned to me, placing her arms around my waist and hugging me close. “Let’s see. Maybe it was the pool water.”
I chuckled as I hugged her close, pressing my lips into her hair. “Then we should spend more time in the pool. I’ll install one by the end of the week.”
Rory pulled away to look me in the eye. “You want more children, Nico?”
With her? Hell, yeah. I wanted a little girl who would break her papa’s heart by just gazing up at me like her mama was at this moment. I wanted to see Rory pregnant again, to watch her stomach swell with our child and know that she was about to give me the best blessing of all. “Yeah,” I croaked. “Do you?”
Rory gave me the sweetest smile before pressing her lips to my jaw. “I guess we can continue to practice then.”
“Is that what we are doing?” I asked, reaching around to pinch her ass.
She just continued to smile as she grabbed my hand and led me out of the nursery. Fuck, yeah, we could continue to practice for as long as she wanted to.
