Wounded Redemption by Brook Wilder
Chapter 9
Rory
The car pulled up to the curb and I drew in a breath, a nervous flutter inside my chest. It was the day of Harper’s funeral, and no matter how many times I tried to tell myself that he was gone, I couldn’t process it. I really didn’t know what would make this final for me. Maybe if I picked up where he left off with the paper or as time passed and there was no Harper, but the grief was real.
I felt like someone had taken me and turned me inside out, the rawness to my soul something I hadn’t expected when I woke up this morning. It hurt to know he was really gone, and today we would be putting him in the ground permanently.
“You okay?”
I looked over at Nico, who was watching me with wary eyes. “I really don’t know.”
He reached for my hand and I clasped his tightly. “I’m right here,” he said softly, rubbing his thumb over the top of it. “It’s not going to be an easy day, Rory. It’s hard to bury someone you cared for.”
I gave him a nod, feeling the swell of unshed tears prick my eyes. I wasn’t even sure how I could have any tears left, especially since I had been crying all morning, but they just didn’t seem to stop.
This was all so final. “I just—this sucks.”
“It does,” Nico said quietly, looking down at our joined hands. “And I wish I could take the pain away from you.”
I knew he would. Nico would shoulder it all if I let him. These last few days had put both of us in a turmoil of emotions, an anxiety that maybe we hadn’t felt before, and I was worried about our own mental health if we were able to get through this alive.
We had to get through this. Anthony depended on us both. Lorenzo and Angelica’s sole existence was dependent on the fact that Nico could keep them away from Carmine and Elias.
There was a lot riding on the next few weeks, even months. I knew that Nico wasn’t sleeping well, waiting for his father to strike, and honestly, I had started looking over my shoulder too. Right now, there was a truce, however temporary it was going to be, but the truce wouldn’t last for long.
“You ready?” Nico said, pulling me out of my tortured thoughts for now.
I nodded, and he released my hand to open the car door. The weather was stinking perfect today, the kind of weather that I was sure Harper would be itching to fish in. I wanted it to match my mood, like a downpour or gray, stormy skies that would weep for the loss of a great man.
I got neither.
Alice and I had discussed options for Harper’s funeral, and both of us finally decided that he would want something small, and the less fuss, the better. The Midtown Post had run a feature, written by me, on his life this morning, detailing how he had come to build a successful paper empire and noting some of his bigger front-page news over the years. I had let the staff that had worked on the Midtown Post write their own articles about our fearless leader to the point where all the publication was dedicated to Harper.
Finally, on the back page was his obituary, with help from Alice to fill in some of the blanks that I didn’t know about my former boss and mentor. All in all, he would have laughed at the enormous number of dedications to him, stating that he wasn’t worth the fuss, but to me, it was cathartic to give him the proper send-off.
Nico waited for me to join him by the car, taking my hand and clasping it in his before we walked to the gravesite. I saw Alice already seated before the closed coffin, tears in her eyes, and I forgot to breathe as I gazed upon the gorgeous oak coffin gleaming in the sun. Instead of a funeral spray, we had chosen a few roses to be placed on top. Harper had never been a flower man anyway.
It was hard to believe that my mentor was in that coffin, dressed in his customary dress shirt rolled to his elbows and wrinkled khakis that we had specifically told the funeral home not to press. They had cautioned us not to ask for a viewing, the bullet ravaging his face so badly that they had struggled to put him together, and I was glad that I had declined to see him. I didn’t want my last memories to be that visage, but one of him grinning or hanging the cigar off his lip as he grumbled about the last article before the deadline.
That was the Harper I knew.
I also recognized a few of the staff members from the paper in some of the seats behind Alice, all wearing their appropriate masks per the protocol. Harper didn’t have any family save Alice, so we had decided to have those that were close to him in his work be the guests of honor.
But as I gave them each a smile, my smile died as I saw the lone man seated in the back row, sans a mask.
“What the fuck?” I heard Nico say as he saw his father at the same time I did. I couldn’t move. Why was Carmine here? Why was he picking this time, an incredibly sad time in my life at that, to feel the need to come and be the center of attention?
Now I saw the guards standing among the headstones, clearly ready for a fight if one were to start. I didn’t know what Carmine would be here for other than to intimidate us, and I wanted to march up to him and give him a piece of my mind for what he was doing.
But that would be causing a scene, and right now, this was about Harper.
Carmine inclined his head, a smirk playing on his lips, and I turned away sharply, nearly dragging Nico with me as we found our seats next to Alice. “Who is that man?” she hissed, clearly seeing the exchange.
Nico warned me with a squeeze on my hand, and I drew in a breath, glad that my mask was hiding the trembling of my lips. “No one important.”
Alice snorted, adjusting her skirt around her knees. “He certainly doesn’t look like someone that isn’t important. He came with an entourage.”
Luckily, the priest presiding over the service stepped up to the casket, and I didn’t have to answer, a thousand thoughts swirling in my mind about why Carmine was here. He had killed Harper, either him or Elias, so were they here to gloat on their job well done or was it something else?
I hated this. I hated having all these questions and no answers!
The service was designed to be short, and as the priest neared the end, I felt a fresh flood of tears start. Soon they would be lowering Harper into the ground, and he would become nothing more than a distant memory in the months ahead. Sure, I would be surrounded by his presence while I remained the head of the Midtown Post, something I hadn’t even had a chance to discuss properly with Nico, given our own uncertain future to begin with.
Would he let me work once all of this with his father was over? He had let me keep my job so far, but being the editor and owner of a paper was far different than me publishing a few articles here and there.
Did I want a full-time job like that? At another point in my life, I would have jumped at the chance, but now that I had a family, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be career-focused. It had nothing to do with the amount of money Nico had or the nice life we lived.
I wanted to see Anthony grow, take his first steps, say his first words. I wanted to be there for every milestone, something I couldn’t do if I was holed up in the office all the time.
That, and since tangling with Carmine, I was starting to realize how precious life was. Every moment was like a gift, and I didn’t want to waste whatever time I had on this earth.
The service wrapped up, and Alice reached over, wrapping her arm around me. “That was lovely.”
“It was,” I responded, my voice clogged with tears.
“I’m sorry to hear of your loss.”
My head shot up at the familiar voice, and I found Preston looking down at me. What the heck?
“Who are you, again?” Alice asked immediately, wariness in her voice. “I don’t recall.”
“I’m representing the NYPD Investigative Crimes Division,” he replied smoothly, his eyes on me. “Preston Roberts, district attorney.”
Alice eyed the hand he held out, but I was more focused on the low growl that had escaped my husband as he realized who else had come to join the party. “I, well, thanks for coming,” she answered. “I hope you get whoever did this.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, looking at Nico. “Mr. D’Agostino.”
Nico rose before I could stop him, and I recognized his stance, my heart lurching in my chest. “Roberts,” he answered. “I didn’t know that the NYPD did funeral calls like this.”
Preston smirked. “A new policy. We find it easier for those who need us to recognize a face with a name.”
I stood quickly, grasping Nico’s arm with my hand. There was only one reason that Preston was here, and that was to bait Nico. “Surely you can understand that this is a private affair,” I forced out, keeping my voice even.
Preston took a step back. “Of course. I just wanted to pay my respects.” He looked over at me. “I’m sure we will be talking soon, Mrs. D’Agostino.”
Nico started forward, but I held him back, hating that Preston walked away unscathed. This wasn’t how this day was supposed to go. “He’s not worth it,” I murmured to Nico. “Let him go.”
Nico cleared his throat, but he didn’t let down his guard as Carmine came forward, clasping Alice’s hand in his own. “I’m so sorry for your loss, my dear,” he replied, every word like a dagger to my own soul. “Mr. Owens was a close personal friend of mine.”
Alice, God bless her, saw directly through Carmine’s ruse and narrowed her gaze. “I don’t recall you ever around my Harper.”
Carmine chuckled, patting her hand. “It’s because he liked to keep his business separate from his personal life. I assure you; I knew Harper very well.”
She didn’t look as if she believed him, but he released her hand and turned toward us, winking. “Good to see you both.” I cringed as he leaned forward, bussing my cheek with his lips. “And I am intrigued that you are sharing secrets with the DA, my dear. I can’t wait to discuss this with him.”
“Leave her the hell alone,” Nico growled as his father straightened. I was helpless to hold him back, my hand slipping off his arm as he took a step forward. “If you have something to say, you can say it to me.”
“Nicolas, Nicolas,” his father replied, shaking his head. “That possessive nature of yours will get you in some trouble one day.” He tapped on Nico’s chest. “I look forward to our next encounter, son. It’s never a dull moment.”
Nico visibly stiffened, but he let his father walk away, likely unsure like I was at what Carmine would do if he were attacked. “Come on,” I told him, reaching for his hand. Lord, I could feel the anger right down to his fingers! “Let’s go.”
“I hope to hell you will tell me what that was all about one day,” Alice muttered as she joined us. “Because those two were no friends of my Harper.”
“No, they weren’t,” I murmured, watching as Carmine’s guards fell into place behind their don. It was a show of strength, what Carmine had done here today, and I knew it was far from over.
