He grunted, deep in thought.
“Ethan?” Loren asked.
“Head of another family. There are three main ones in Chicago; Mascros, the Delgados, and the Rawles. Ethan is the head of the Rawle family. He recently aligned with us in exchange for giving him our shipping portion. When he was at the compound, he mentioned that Benny and Dayton were in love with my mother, Shayna, but that Dayton won out in the end. I believe that there were actually four of them that were in love with Shayna.”
Loren nodded, processing the information. “You know, he made a vague statement about his friends and winning her. I can’t recall it exactly, but that could fit. So, does that mean you believe me?”
Atticus stared for an extended period before he spoke. “I don’t know. I believe someone with information on my family was in your office. That whoever they are intended for us to doubt if you did ever tell us, but that mostly they enjoyed being close to you and getting one over on us. You said you’re no longer seeing this client?”
She shook her head. “No, the day that he dumped the info, he also told me he’d no longer be needing counseling. After weeks of being creeped out by him and attempting to get rid of him, I was just glad he was gone, honestly. But when I saw him tonight, it smacked me in the face how he made me feel. Dayton is up to something.”
“Did he ever ask you for information?” Sax asked.
“Um, what do you mean?”
“Did he ever cross lines by asking about your life or others?”
“Yeah, he did, but I never told him anything.”
“Very good, Spitfire. What about items? Did he ever leave anything behind and then magically find it next week?”
Her face paled, and she nodded. “Yeah, he did. Why?”
“He probably bugged the office to see if he could gain information, I’d assume. So he either didn’t know Immy wasn’t coming there anymore and hoped to gain something, or his purpose was something different.”
Loren shivered, doing a full-body shudder at that. She started to fidget more, and I could tell she was feeling creeped out now, her resolve falling away with each revelation. “Do you, um, have a photo of your dad or anything?”
“Not digitally. Dayton was paranoid and had his presence routinely scrubbed from the internet. The only photos of him are hard copies, though he was known to destroy those at times too. I know there’s the one at the compound at least, the one with Benny and Shayna in it as well. I’ll send someone there to grab it. If Dayton is here, or someone is masquerading as him, which is more likely, then they’ve gone through great lengths to stay hidden this whole time. I have a feeling any paper photos have also been destroyed. It would be what I’d do if I was trying to fake an identity.”
“So, you believe me?” she asked, fear in her voice.
“Yes, Bellezza, I believe you met someone who is targeting us through you. I won’t jump to the conclusion that my father has returned from the grave until I see it for myself. There are some things you can’t put the lid back on once it’s out, and dealing with Dayton again after all this time, well, it would change me, and I’m not ready to be that man yet. Not when I just got you in my life. My father… doesn’t make it easy for me to be the best version of myself. And if he’s come to hurt you or Immy again, I won’t hesitate to exorcize that demon.”
“How are you so sure it’s not him?” I asked. Mas never talked about what went down. He turned to me, a stoic expression on his face.
“Because I shot him and then set the building on fire. So unless he’s a fucking Phoenix, I don’t see how he could’ve survived. Plus, I have his bones to prove it.”
Nodding, I let it go, trusting Mas to have covered his bases. I zoned out as they talked more about potential doppelgängers who’d have access to information. When I felt Loren’s hand on my cheek, I realized I’d been lost in my thoughts more than I’d realized.
“You okay?” she asked, curling up in my lap. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her closer, breathing her in as I placed my nose in the crook of her neck.
“Yeah. I will be. It’s just a lot to process. I don’t really care about Benny, I barely knew him, but it means that…”
“I'm your brother, and Immy’s your sister. In fact, it seals your position even more since we’re full siblings. You have Costa and Mascro blood in your veins.”
Nodding, I tried to process all of this. “Does that mean I can call you big bro?” I teased.
Atticus relaxed, shaking his head at me. “Try it. We’ll see how well that works, squirt.” He smiled, some emotion leaking through. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Atticus hoped it was true. He cleared his throat, looking at everyone. “Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's test our DNA just to verify. Especially before we tell Immy, I don’t want her to get her hopes up.”
“Yeah, you’re right. You’ll need more time to try to win her over for favorite brother. I see your play there, big bro.”
Mas rolled his eyes at me, but I caught the slight smile on his lips. “Keep it up, smartass.”
Loren giggled, and the sound helped ease any weird tension. “Come on, Beautiful, dance with me.”
“Okay.” She smiled, kissing my lips briefly before climbing out of my lap. The other two headed out of the room, and I lingered back with Loren, walking at a leisurely pace, swinging our hands. When we got to the dance floor, I gathered her up in my arms, the music soft and perfect for swaying.
“I like dancing with you, Beautiful.”