“It doesn’t matter. Dad died last year. Heart attack.”
“What!” Sal gasped, sitting back onto the bed in shock. “No.”
Reaper cleared his throat and said, “I am truly sorry for your loss, gentlemen, but we are getting off track here. I want to hear the rest of this story before my kid is born.”
“Anyway, for about a year, Catarina and I kept our relationship quiet. We didn’t want anyone to know about us, so we would sneak out to the garden after everyone had gone to bed when we were home. We talked a lot that night, mostly about running away together. We didn’t know of any other way to be together. Well, as the night wore on, we um…Catarina and I, well we….”
Reaper chuckled, waiving his hand. “Got it. Go on.”
“We must have gotten caught up in the moment.”
Ghost laughed, “We all do, kid.”
“Anyway, when I woke up, Angelo was there with a gun pointed at my head. He said he was going to tell Gio, and Gio would kill me. He said that it was decided that Catarina was to marry Gio after graduation. I didn’t know, and when I heard that, I knew Gio would surely kill me. I had touched what was his.”
“Gio would never. He considers Catarina a sister,” Antonio stated, looking at his brothers, who all nodded.
“Anyway, Angelo ordered Catarina to wait at home for him. When she left, well, that’s when Angelo showed his true colors. The man is evil, Sal. I mean it. He has a hatred for our family. I can’t even find the right words. He hates us all. As he escorted me towards the back of the property, I knew he wasn’t just going to let me walk away.” I said, looking to my brother, who picked up where I left off.
“I found Reggie a few hours later. He was beaten to a pulp. Both of his eyes were swollen shut. His arm was broken, and so were three of his ribs. He had a concussion and a hairline fracture of his skull that caused some bleeding on his brain. The doc said if I hadn’t found him, he wouldn’t have made it. When Reggie woke the next day, he told me that Gio was going to kill him. I didn’t need to hear anymore. I got my brother out of there fast. We headed for California, then one thing led to another, and soon we were patched into the club. You want to know why neither of us said a word about where we came from, Reaper. It’s because of that. Both of us honestly believed Reggie had been marked. That our cousin had put a hit out on him.”
“Fuck,” Sal muttered.
“Reggie, who beat you that day? That’s a lot of damage for one person to do. I know Angelo. He isn’t big enough to inflict all that damage. He wasn’t alone, was he?”
I looked at Lorenzo and slowly shook my head. “No.”
“Do you remember who else was there?”
“No. I just see blurry figures when I think of that day. I think there were three, maybe four. I’m not sure.”
“And this Catarina woman. She is yours?” Reaper asked.
I snapped my head up and nodded. “Yes. She is my woman if she will still have me. I’ve loved her my whole life, Reaper. She is the only one I’ve ever been with. I want her to be my last.”
“Wait a minute,” Chaos shook his head. “Player, I’ve seen you with other women. Why do you think we gave you the name Player? Every time we’re at the Golden Skull or partying at the clubhouse, you have women hanging all over you. Hell, one morning, I saw three women walk out of your room. You can’t sit there and tell us all that the only woman you’ve ever been with is Catarina because that’s not true.”
I blushed, shaking my shoulders. “It is. I’ve never slept with any woman but Catarina. The women you see me with, the ones who’ve slept over in my room. They are college students. I tutor them. What you witnessed many times were all-night study sessions. I somehow had to keep up my studies and my standing in the club. Those women were kind enough to help, and in return, I helped them.”
“Math,” Massacre laughed. “Holy fuck. You’re good at math. You’ve always been. Fuck. I should have known. You tutored kids in high school too. Damn.”
“Yes.”
Reaper leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and said, “I know you are anxious to call her. I get it. I also know you want to hop a plane and see her for yourself, but Player, I’m sorry you can’t do that.”
I jumped to my feet. “You can’t stop me! She’s mine, Reaper. God knows what she’s been through. She needs me!”
“No, what she needs is time. Time that Healer will make sure she gets. In the meantime, you will stay here with me.”
“You can’t keep them apart, Reaper. I know my cousin. The second he can, he will go to her,” Sal added.
“I know. That’s why I am ordering him to stay.”
“No!” I shouted, getting in his face. “You can’t do that. If it was your woman, you would kill anyone who got in your way, and you did! I saw what you did to those men who took her, and you expect me to just sit on my ass and do nothing? I won’t do it!”
“Yes, you will, Player. I will also give you the courtesy of telling your story to your cousin yourself.” Reaper ordered right as he received a text message. When he was done reading it, he turned to my cousins. “Tell your brother he has his deal. I will sign whatever contract you want, but I only have one stipulation, and it’s non-negotiable. I will talk to him personally about that, alone.”
“Reaper! I need to see her!” I shouted, getting his attention.