Page 136 of Sins of the Father

“I don’t want to involve you two in this. You could get hurt.”

“Beth, you need to tell us,” Jamison replies, calmer than I’m able to communicate.

I pull a chair up and take my mom’s hand. “Please.”

When she picks her head up, it’s the first time I notice the red veins in her eyes and the lines that seemed to have formed overnight even though Maximillion pays for her to get shots in her face. She doesn’t admit it, but Quinn found out one time and told me. And it’s another reason I hate him.

My mother is beautiful and doesn’t need to be pumped full of chemicals. But whatever Maximillion wants, she’s always done.

And she looks thinner than usual, bordering on the too-skinny side.

How long has this been weighing on her?

“I... I didn’t know. I promise. He picked me up around nine Sunday night. I... I thought we were going to dinner by ourselves. I wanted to convince him to leave you alone, but...he got a phone call. He had the driver turn around and said we had to meet an important donor involved in the urban housing initiative.”

“The one Vivian’s foundation is a part of?” Jamison asks.

“Yes.”

My stomach flips. Vivian creates low-income housing in urban Chicago areas. She’s worked hard to provide clean, safe, and affordable homes for those who need it. When I was a child, before my mother began working for Maximillion, we lived in a low-income apartment. It was disgusting and unsafe. The electrical was outdated and things always broke, but the landlord never fixed anything. Vivian’s apartments are the exact opposite, and all of us support her foundation and do whatever we can to help her. “What happened?”

“We didn’t go to a restaurant. We went to a mansion in Lincoln Park on Burlington street. Giovanni Rossi was at the dinner table. They spent the entire night discussing Giovanni’s involvement in the unions and how he wants the contracts to the upcoming developments. He promised Maximillion the union vote would go to him if he gets it. But that wasn’t all.”

“What else, Mom?”

“I saw the papers and the accounts.”

“For what?”

“The folder he sent you. The one you returned to the governor’s mansion.”

New chills run through my body. “What about it?”

Her voice shakes. “It had been resealed. Did you open it?”

“Yes. I didn’t know what it was. When I realized it was the campaign finances, I put it back in and had Shira mail it.”

Her face turns green.

“Why is this important?”

“It doesn’t match the real numbers. I know this because the large donation from several construction firms wasn’t on it. Giovanni is funneling money out of the union workers’ pensions, and Maximillion is laundering it into secret accounts. Those secret accounts were on the papers.”

My pulse beats hard in my ears. I can hardly think. Jamison raises his eyebrows, and my mom stares at her shaking hands.

“You said you learned about this on Sunday night. But you didn’t want me working on his campaign when I told you about it Friday.”

Guilt washes over her face, and she squeezes her eyes shut and pulls her lips inward.

Jamison and I exchange another glance.

“Mom?”

She doesn’t open her eyes. “He breaks a lot of rules. I questioned it last election, and he told me every politician does it. I know I should have left him then, but...” Tears escape from her closed lids. “I tried. He kept pulling me back.”

So much hatred swirls in my veins toward Maximillion. And I should probably feel some of it toward my mother, but she’s like his pawn. He’s always had a hold over her, and for whatever reason, she can’t seem to live without him.

My mom opens her eyes and grips my hands. “I didn’t want you working on his campaign, Steven. I know he does illegal stuff, but it’s always had to do with accepting donations and how he reports it for it to be legal. His ties with the mob, I... I didn’t know. And now I am aware of his relationship with Giovanni, it’s like puzzle pieces coming together. He’s involved in a lot of bad stuff.”

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