NICCO
Once Immy and her entourage had cleared the door, the silence in the room became deafening. Mas didn’t want to admit he’d been bested by his little sister or that he’d played right into his father’s hands, but as Immy had stated so clearly, he had. This was a mind fuck, and Dayton wanted us unfocused.
Though I wasn’t convinced yet that it was the Reaper.
I’d seen Mas that night, and he’d been shaken, certain he’d killed his father. So, I’d be the one to ask the hard part, Loren had already done enough tonight.
“Mas, I know you don’t like to talk about it, but…” he glared at me, daring me to ask the next part. I raised my brows in a challenge, not scared of his glower. “How sure are you that you killed him?”
“Very,” he growled. Loren sighed, raising a hand to her head.
“Listen, whoever he is, he knows a lot about you. Let me just ask you if anything he told me is accurate, and then we go from there. Okay?” I heard her mutter, “It’s not like I haven’t already broken confidentiality. I might as well go all in.” She shifted on her feet, bringing a smile to my face. Atticus rolled his eyes, but Loren smiled, patting his arm.
“First, I need to sit; these shoes are not meant to stand in for hours.”
Before she could take a step, Sax swept her up into his arms, smirking down at her as he walked over to an armchair and sat in it with her. She giggled, not bothered one bit by his behavior. It confirmed what I knew to be true; we were all meant for each other. This felt natural.
Atticus and I sat in the other chairs, facing them, and waited for Sax to quit nibbling on her neck. When he gave no sign of stopping, whispering something in her ear instead, Atticus grew impatient, snapping at his oldest friend.
“Cut it out, Sax. This is important. Keep your dick in your pants for once.”
“Challenge accepted,” he purred, lifting his eyes to Mas.
Laughing, I covered my mouth with my hand when my cousin turned his glare on me. “You’re not helping.” Lifting my hands, I pleaded innocence. It was Beautiful who finally got the big man to stop when she whispered something back to him, biting her lip when she pulled away.
Looking at me, she then glanced at Atticus, debating where to start. Blowing out a breath, I watched as she came to a decision, a resolve coming over her.
“He had dark hair with some salt and pepper and was probably around sixty. He was tall, always dressed in a suit, and I suppose he was handsome in a conventional way.” Sax growled, tightening his grip on her, but Loren didn’t react, lost in her memories as she tried to pull relevant information.
“Dayton gave off a weird energy. He always felt like danger, in a way that makes you want to run away from him, but he would purposefully make himself appear less intimidating. He slouched, fidgeted, and would be soft spoken or with a stutter. He spoke of a fallout with his son; how he had disappointed him, siding with his sister.”
Mas stiffened, sitting forward more as she spoke, and I wondered if he was starting to take Loren's claim more seriously. I believed Loren. She wasn’t one to lie or create false hope.
“He was strict on responsibility and family…” she trailed off, almost like it clicked for her. Shaking her head a little, she blinked, refocusing on us. “I don’t know how much is accurate, but he mentioned killing someone once and wanting to kill, well, um, you.” She swallowed, but when Atticus didn’t say anything, she continued. “Our last session, he shed a lot of information. He spoke of a brother, um, Benny, I think.”
Bolting upright, I startled her with my sudden movement. “What did he say about Benny?”
Her eyes took on a sense of sadness, and I knew it wasn’t going to be good. “You can say it. I never believed the lie he told me about my father. There were too many questions surrounding his death, but I hit a brick wall any time I tried. Eventually, I stopped.”
“Well, um, apparently,” she stopped, looking between Mas and me. “Benny was having an affair with your mom, Atticus, or at least she was, according to Dayton.” Loren shifted in Sax’s lap, clearing her throat.
“Is that all? I feel like you’ve purposefully left something out to protect my feelings, Bellezza. You don’t need to. I have very few.”
She looked up, sucking in a breath as she looked between us again. I had a feeling whatever she’d held back included me too. I watched as she started to pick at her nails, rubbing her forefinger over her thumbnail.
“I… don’t know how to take that. But you’re right, I can’t manage this for you. Dayton told me that he sent Benny and Shayna on a forever trip, but before he left, he made sure to let Benny know he’d known about his affair and had taken retribution by stealing his heir. He, um, raped your mother, Nicco…”
“Wait, but that would mean…” I turned slowly to Mas, looking at him. His face was full of shock as well, his brows high as he stared at me. He blinked, his features returning, and he looked at Loren. I didn’t know how to feel. I hadn’t known Benny, only the stories I’d been told, so it wasn’t devastating news to be told he wasn’t actually my father.
But…
If Dayton was my father, then it changed things. I didn’t know how yet, but I could tell it was something significant.
“What do you mean by ‘forever’ trip? Are you implying he had them killed?”
“That’s the phrase he used, but knowing what I do know, and the atrocities he’s committed against you and Immy, I’d put money on that. He killed your mother and his brother because they loved one another.”
“It tracks with what Ethan told us, connecting the dots a little more,” Atticus said, looking at Sax.