"I'm F.B.I. agent Mason Brady and I have a few questions for your daughter. She happens to be a nanny for Tony D'Angelo's son and Mr. D'Angelo has an open child services case. Given that she's also in a relationship with Tony I have a few questions."
My heart sinks into my stomach. I want to throw up. I also feel like I'm going to pass out. He did not just say what I think he said.
"Relationship? What do you mean my daughter is in a relationship with Tony?"
There's no pause or hesitation from Mason before he says, "Let's just say we have our ways of knowing what Tony D’Angelo is dabbling in."
I can tell my father isn't fond of his choice of words. He is my dad after all. So now my mind is working in overdrive. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to navigate the shiny piece of information that was just laid out point-blank to my dad, in his own home. And this is what I come up with…
They're the FBI, no matter how much I want to try and deny what he's saying he came here knowing what he was doing. He has all the answers and he has probably a bit of proof.
I can't deny this.
But he's probably expecting me to deny it. He's probably expecting this to hurt me or cripple me or ruin my dad. Whatever the case may be, he has an agenda by saying what he just did, which is why he was so eager to put it out there in such a forced, crass way. He's not here to interview me about Luca or anything like that. He just wants my father to get angry enough to snitch on him. That's exactly what he's here for. I’ve figured out. So I'm going to take back the narrative.
"Tony and I are in a relationship, Dad. I'm the one that forced it. It's all me. Don't take it out on Tony."
"Don't take it out on Tony?” he asks incredulously, raising his voice before turning to our uninvited visitor. “You know my daughter. He crossed the line."
I look at the smirk that's quickly growing on Mason's face, but I still have a chance to keep the upper hand in this conversation if I act fast, and get Dad calmed down even faster.
"Dad, let's talk about this?"
"There’s nothing to talk about." He grabs his coat from the coat rack. Now my heart is racing. "I'm going to kick his ass."
"Dad please."
My dad's already out the door and I'm staring right at Mason.
"Do you still want to have the stupid little interview or not, because I need to go follow my dad?" As much as I want to tell him to F off, I have to be respectful and not lose my cool like my dad’s doing right now.
He doesn't move when he says, "You know I think it'd be best that you go follow your dad. I wouldn't want Tony to do anything that could get him arrested. You know, your dad storms up to his mansion, barges in, and curses him out, and then Tony shoots him dead. We'll be watching of course…for everyone’s safety."
I brush past Mason and try to keep my eye on my father who's getting in his car and not wasting any time starting it. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe that my dad thinks that he can just walk up to Tony's mansion and confront him for dating a full-grown woman. Yes, I'm his daughter but at the same time, I'm legally an adult who can make decisions for herself.
I don't need my father's permission.
I don't need people to coddle me.
I don't need any of that.
But this seems to be exactly what's happening…or about to if I can’t stop this.
I run up to my dad's driver side window pounding on the glass. I pray in my head that he'll just hear me out, but the door stays shut and the car’s engine roars to life.
Aaaand he's off.
Mason follows suit as I rush to get in my car because I have no choice other than to chase my father to Tony's house. If I can stop my dad before he confronts Tony everyone will be better off. Everyone but Mason Brady that is.
But if I can’t, and especially if my dad shows up and starts making thinly-veiled threats out loud so that Brady can hear, trying to bait Tony, then there’s the possibility that Tony or one of his men will kill the one man who knows Tony needs his big secret kept exactly that…a secret. Forever. Ending the forever I was starting to really believe Tony and I had, together.
Then what?
8
Tony
Ilook at my son Luca taking a peaceful nap in the middle of the afternoon, shining a light on the fact that I don’t want to have the life that I have. I don't want to be involved in anything illegal ever again.