Page 85 of Joey

Lorenzo arches an eyebrow at me, because none of us like my uncle Vito, and I don’t like to even think, never mind talk, about the reason why. But I don’t want any secrets from Joey. Not anymore.

“He and my mom had an affair. It all came out when I was twelve, but apparently it had been going on for a while before.”

Joey puts her hand over her mouth. “Oh, Max. That’s awful.”

That’s not even the worst of it. “Yeah. When my pop found out, he wanted to kill Vito. He was his kid brother, they were supposed to look out for each other, but he’d been fucking his wife behind his back for years. My pop had the gun to Vito’s head, but he couldn’t go through with it. Vito always kind of lived in his shadow. My dad was Sal’s best friend and his right hand, and Vito could never quite make it into the inner circle, which made him resent my father. Anyway, my mom left after that. She and Vito made a new life in Jersey.”

“Did she try to take you with her?”

“No. Didn’t even ask my opinion. Just told me to be a good boy and slipped out the door while I was eating my Lucky Charms.”

“Oh, god, Max.”

“I wouldn’t have gone anyway.” Is that the truth, though? She was my mom, and up until then, she was a good one. But it was a long time ago. I buried those feelings so deep, they’ll never resurface.

“But to just leave you like that,” she goes on. “That must have been hard.”

“It was harder on my pop. He was never the same after she left. He lost his wife and his brother at the same time. He started drinking more. He was always distracted. He lost his edge, and a few years later he was killed.” I run my tongue over my teeth and look away, unable to handle the concern and pity in Joey’s eyes.

“You know he was murdered while he was on a routine money collection for our father?” Lorenzo takes over the story.

Joey nods.

“It was just some punk with a knife, but my dad didn’t see it coming,” I add.

“Even though Vito was long gone by then, our father blamed him for the murder.” Lorenzo shakes his head. “And he made sure that he was never able to return to Chicago, even if he wanted to.”

“And Max came to live with us?”

“Yeah,” Dante agrees.

She lets out a low whistle. “Well, I can see why he’s nobody’s favorite person. And your mom and Vito never told you about Kristin? Or her about you? That’s so fucked up.”

“Yeah, but it’s all done with now,” I say, desperate to change the subject.

Lorenzo and Dante give me a knowing look, and when Joey goes to ask another question about my fucked-up family dynamics, Dante frowns at her, and she sits back in her chair and stays quiet.

“Finding this Jakob guy is the key to finding out who took you then?” Lorenzo asks me.

“And to finding Uncle Vito,” I add.

“So the threat right now seems to be to Kristin, not to us?” Dante adds.

I shrug. “It would seem so.”

“Max is one of us,” Joey snaps.

Dante sighs. “I know, kid.” Risk assessment and maintaining the safety of his family is a big part of what he does and the way he works. I know he didn’t mean anything by it, but she doesn’t. “If he was taken because of his suspected relationship with Kristin, it means it isn’t a direct threat to this family. But it doesn’t mean we won’t kill every single fucker involved.”

“Oh, okay.” Appeased, she relaxes in her chair.

“Because of my suspicion that Jakob was Russian Bratva, I had Dmitri do a little digging for me.” I dig my phone out of my pocket and start tapping out a text. “I’ll see if he’s come up with anything yet.”

Dante checks his watch. “He should be here shortly anyway. I thought it was best to get him in on this, considering the whole Russian connection, but if you’d prefer to keep him out of it given what we know now…”

“Nah, let’s see what he has to say.” I trust Dmitri, and I have no qualms about him learning my family history.

Lorenzo leans forward. “Until this situation is dealt with, I think you and Kristin should stay here at the mansion. This place is a fortress and you’re both safer here.”