Page 121 of Relentless Oath

The pain wasn’t as raw, but it was still there. It was shoved deep down inside until I felt that I could just forget, but it resurfaced whenever it pleased, scaring me with its intensity.

She needed to know, but it wouldn’t come from me.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and made my way back to the room, pausing at the door. They were talking…talking about Vicky.

Her full name was Victoria Remington. I had met her at a bar. She’d been a bartender, and I had been working as a bouncer at the time, trying to make my own way. We’d become friends.

She was only bartending during the summer and had plans to go to college that fall. Except a reckless one-night stand between the two of us left us with a situation.

She got pregnant. And I had the stupid idea to join the family business to give my kid a future. I wasn’t making enough money as a bouncer and I cared too much about Vicky to make her struggle alone.

She was my friend. My only friend.

So, I got back into the family business, started working with my father’s old friends, and introduced the doctor to Vicky, who couldn’t afford any medical care. Almost exactly nine monthslater, while I was overseas making alliances to expand the business, I received a call that still made me feel sick inside.

A local business rival had tried to take her and the baby hostage. There had been a struggle, a car chase, and they had both died. They had been snuffed out in an instant, all due to my line of work. I had done everything right to keep them safe, and it hadn’t been enough.

I threw myself into work. I didn’t go to the funeral. I couldn’t. The pain was too much to bear. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to hold my child.

I pushed past the pain and listened to the doctor talking to Mya.

“They both died?” I could hear Mya ask with sadness in her voice.

“Yes, and he felt like it was his fault. He felt that he didn’t protect them well enough.”

“But he did everything that he could,” she said.

“Yes, but I’m sure you can understand how he felt. Now you can probably understand why he’s tried so hard to keep you safe, even if you hated it.”

“Yes,” she said, her voice small.

“I offered you a safe place to escape to because I knew that I could keep tabs on you if you came to me. I knew I could keep Dario informed of your whereabouts. But I could never have kept you safe enough long-term.”

There was a little silence.

“I can see that now,” she said, her voice stronger.

I came through the door.

They turned and looked at me. Mya’s eyes were red. She’d been crying.

Dammit. I hadn’t meant to upset her.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “About Vicky…about the baby. I thought Vicky was your mother. I didn’t know?—”

I frowned, “My mother? Why would you think that?”

“Because of something Nico said…he mentioned her to me. I think they organized the kidnapping, Dario. I think your brothers caused her death.”

For years, I didn’t let myself think about them or what I had lost…and to know my brothers had hated me so much that he took all that away from me, hurt more than I cared to think.

But I knew I couldn’t have fully embraced Mya and my daughter without first honoring the memory of Vicky and my son. And that started with talking about them, something I had never been able to do before. Until now.

“I lost a lot that day,” I said, “And the pain will always be there…but I can’t keep looking behind me. I need to honor their memory but keep pushing forward.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it tight. “Dr. Kali …speaking of pushing…I uh think it’s time.”

He ran over and looked under her gown and said, “Well, that was fast. Let’s deliver a baby, shall we?”

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