Page 21 of Little Fury

We head out the back door and make our way over to the arcade. We head through to the back and up the stairs. I walk over to the computer that controls the feeds, type in a few commands, and instantly, we can see the cameras up at the main house. And sure enough—there he is.

Enzo Rossi.

He hasn't seen his son since the day five years ago when he left his son here.

Marcus and I told each other a couple of years ago why we were here. Marcus’s mom had died, and his dad wanted to marry another woman. But that woman wanted nothing to do with Marcus and told his father to get rid of him. So, Enzo sent him here. Gave Harry no choice. He pays for him to be here, and Harry wasn’t about to turn his back on a kid in need.

I’ve never met the man, but I really do fucking hate him. Marcus and I have slowly been learning the ins and outs of what his father does. Over the last five years, we weren’t taught per-say, it was more like osmosis. We absorbed the information from around us. Parker was the only one here who could teach us things. But I have a feeling that is all about to change. We turn the sound up so we can hear the conversation.

“What brings you here, Enzo?”He doesn’t even try to hide his disgust with the man.

“What the fuck have you been doing with him all this time? I expected him to be more than this!”Enzo yells as he gestures to his silent son.

Marcus is gangly. All limbs and sinew. He’s handsome and you know that he will only grow into his looks as he gets older. He has the most intense green eyes, his blonde hair is long, but he doesn’t care; just pushes it out of the way. He has a straight nose, high cheekbones and an air about him that makes it seem like he is looking down his nose at you. On a kid, it's not the best look, and it's gotten him into a few fights over the years, but as he gets older, you can see the authority of the role he was born into, rising closer to the surface.

“Listen very carefully to me, Enzo.”Harry says in a muffled voice, his Scottish brogue in full force,“Ye dae nae come intae my house and start yelling for any reason. Dae I make myself clear? This is ma ranch,‘n’here my word is the only fuckin word”Harry pauses to take a breath getting the Scottish in him under control.

“I seem tae remember some pathetic asshole telling anyone who would listen that someone takes him or ye will put a fucking bullet in his head. I also remember informing that asshole about how I trained or when I started the training th’ bairn was at my discretion. His parental rights were null n’ void. Dae ye think the asshole remembers thatpart o’ th’arrangement?”Harry pauses, calming himself down, staring at him.“So, I will ask you again. Why the fuck are you here?”

Enzo realizes quickly he is not in charge here. He’s in Harry's world and here Harry is God.“I came to see my kid and bring him home for his birthday weekend.” Saying it like the Scotsman is an idiot for making him explain himself. Parker steps forward and whispers into Harry’s ear.

“Or maybe,”his temper finally reigned back in.“Mila’s family has arrived in New York and wants to meet her son. I’m assuming you didn’t tell them five years ago that you would put a bullet in his head if no one would take him. And that has always confused me. Why didn’t you just give him to Mila’s family?”Harry asks him.

Mr. Rossi says nothing, so he continues.“I would bet it's because you worried if they knew you were threatening to kill Mila’s son, they would at the very least strip you of any standing in their family and take the boy and the money he has from Mila. Or, and I do think it's this reason more than the other—they kill you for being such a shit father. Take the boy and the money and never give you another thought,”. Harry says with a smirk.

“I'm surprised it took five years for someone to finally rat you out and tell them they should check on Mila’s only child. I do wish the families here had better relations with Mila’s family there. But I guess even sometimes the sun shines on shit.”

Marcus steps forward.“It's okay, Harry. I’ll go.”He tells him, not bothering to look at his father.

“You don’t need tae go wit this twat.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind. So, take a breath; your Scottish is showing.”I laugh lightly hearing the taunt we are so fond of using on Harry.

Marcus is gone for a week, and I find myself unsure what to do with my time. We’ve never been apart since he came here. Even when we were younger and he didn’t talk to anyone, not even me, he was still always with me. We had to cancel his birthday party, but I hope we can do it when he returns. After five days of him being gone, I was starting to worry he wouldn’t be coming back. But two days later, Harry gets a call and has to drive to the airport to pick him up.

“Ava, you need to calm down, you’re vibrating, it's annoying.”Parker tells me as he types away on his keyboard.

“Whatever Parker, I'm excited; he’s been gone for a week!”I tell him a lot louder than I need to, but my nerves make me weird.

“I’m aware Ava. I live here as well.” he deadpans.

“Parker, I miss the old you who was quiet and didn't know what sarcasm was,”I retort.

“Now, Ava, don’t be mean. I may have been quiet, butsarcasm and I are old friends. I just refrained from saying it out loud to people.”He smirks.

“Well, can you go back to keeping it to yourself? I honestly think it would do the ranch a great service for you to stop talking.” I deadpan.

Parker barks a laugh out,“Ava, I swear to god my smart mouth has nothing on yours. I can’t wait to hear the venom that’ll leave your mouth in a couple more years.”

After spending another hour with Parker, learning some coding and doing what I am pretty sure was hacking into Wes’s computer.I head back to the house.

“Hi, sweetheart '' Beth calls from the living room as I enter the house.

“Hey,”I say with a distinct pout as I sit down.

“They’ll be here any minute, please try and relax.”

“I know, but a week, Beth! What if something happened to him? It’s a long time with an asshole like his father.”

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