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“Her purse was right there.”
Maybe Sally is right to be worried about them.
“That’s no reason. Did you steal to feed yourselves? No. Did you steal to pay rent? No. You had no reason to go into her purse. Do you want to know what’s gonna happen if I hear either of you have stolen anything again?”
They both stare at me, waiting. “I’m not going to teach you how to use a gun… when you’re older.”
“We won’t do it again, we promise,” they both say simultaneously.
“You have to be trusted to use a gun, and do people trust thieves?”
They both shake their heads. “No, they don’t. Thieves are right down there with the lowest of the lows, and I won’t have you boys thieving from good people in this town.”
It goes quiet while they work digging the holes I need to stash some cash. I could use a bank, but they’re the worst kind of thieves. I’ve never trusted them, and I never will.
“How far do we have to dig?” Myles asks.
“Until I tell you to stop. Now, explain why you’re being bad for your mom and dad?”
I listen to their pathetic excuses and sit forward in my chair when they’re finished.
“I’m going to say this just once, and if you forget, I won’t forgive. Your mom and dad are the only two people, besides me and grandma, who will ever love you for who you are. How do you think your mommy feels when you’re naughty when she loves you so much?”
“Sad.”
“Yes, it does. Why do you want to make Mommy sad, then?”
“We don’t. We won’t do it again.”
“You’re making a lot of promises today, boys. What is a man who doesn’t keep his promises?”
“He’s no man at all.”
“That’s right.”
They will learn, and there won’t be anything to worry about. These boys are the future, and they will be strong enough to face it. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and my grandsons will never be the prey.
Chapter Thirteen
Mason
Myles said I could be free. Month after month of being trapped in my own head has been lifted, all because I let him in. I was right, my brother is the only one on the earth that I can let in. Truly let in and see everything about me.
Because he knows me so well, he knew to act like his usual self this morning and every hour we’ve been driving home. He didn’t look at me like I was less of a man. He saw me. Just like he has every day of our lives, but he was right. I shouldn’t have tried to die when I thought he was gone. Yet, I reckon, I knew deep down that he would be the only one I could tell and still look in the eye.
Thank fuck. We turn off onto the road leading to the club, and it comes into view—something to focus on other than myself.
My phone pings with a text, and I turn it over in my hand to see a message from Luca. He and Victoria are twenty minutes out.
I show Myles, and he says, “It gives us time to tell Mom and Grumps.”
Sickness ripples through me now we’re driving in through the gates. Emma sits at a picnic table with Tommy on her lap, and Penelope sits beside her. Mom is sitting opposite them and jumps up to her feet at our arrival.
“She has no idea we’re about to break her heart,” Myles whispers.
The prospect parks up at the end of the garages nearest their table, and that’s when I see Mom’s eyes, red and puffy. She’s clutching onto a tissue. Brothers are still riding in, but she sees us first and bounds over.
I throw open the door, and she’s there.
