Page 6 of Death Of A Sinner

“Our mother,” I say.

“Why? Has she contacted you?” he asks.

“No.”Why the fuck would she?

“Then why do we need to kill her, exactly?” Gio’s expression remains impartial. He’s not opposed to the idea. I’m sure he’s already thought of it himself. He’s also not just going to jump onboard with it either. He wants to hear me out. See if my logic aligns with his.

“I have a feeling her coming back from the dead is going to cause chaos. Something bad is going to happen,” I tell him. “That woman is the curse on this family.”

“Maybe. But is that reason enough to kill her? Especially since she hasn’t reached out to a single one of us yet?” Gio asks. “She’s known where we are our whole lives. She chose not to be around. Pops has been gone for years now, and still nothing. She’s not coming back, Marcel.”

“So, what? We just let her live out her life in that clubhouse, and we go about ours as if she doesn’t exist?”

“Exactly. Nothing changes,” Gio says. “Come on, I’ve got a son who wants to see his favourite uncle.”

“Wait… Say that again. After I hitrecord. Someone needs to put Vin in his place. He thinks he’s the favourite just 'cause he’s younger.” I pull out my phone.

“Fuck off.” Gio walks past me. Laughing as he turns down the hall. And I follow him out of his office and into one of the living rooms his wife converted into a play area.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were here. You want a drink? Food?” El stands from where she was sitting and playing with Aurelio on the floor.

“No, I’m good. I just came to give this little man some lovin’ before I head out.” I bend down and pluck up my nephew.

“Well, I’m gonna get a drink. Be right back,” El says and walks out of the room.

“This is why,” I tell Gio, holding the toddler close to my chest.

“What?”

“This.Aurelio and Luciano are exactly why we should kill her. So she can’t infect them with her poison.”

“That’s never going to fucking happen,” Gio grunts. “I promise, if she so much as sniffs in our direction, I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.”

ChapterFive

Ifix shit. It’s what I’m good at. It’s the reason all my brothers come to me with their problems. This current problem, though… Yeah, I don’t think even I can fix it. I know Gio wants to just get rid of it. Forget it was ever there. That’s my big brother’s way of dealing with shit.

Most of the time, I’d agree with him. Encourage it even. But this problem is our mother, and despite what Gio says, I know he wants answers. We all do. We all have questions for the woman who left us. And those questions need to be answered.

I just need to find a way to get through to him. We need to have a meeting with her. Just one, long enough for all five of us to interrogate her, so we don’t have to live the rest of our lives wondering why and how a mother—our mother—could walk away from us.

She knew.She was married to the asshole. She had to have known what we were destined to endure growing up under our father’s thumb. Fuck, whatVinhad to endure.

Anger courses through me at the thought of what that sick bastard did to my little brother. I slide out of bed, careful not to disturb Daisy, and make my way through the house in the dark until I reach the kitchen.

I don’t know what to do. I always know what to do, and it’s fucking killing me right now that I don’t know how to fucking fix this problem. There’s no manual on what to do when your mother returns from the dead.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” The light flicks on at the sound of my wife’s voice.

“Nothing. I didn’t want to wake you.” My arms wrap around her, and her head falls onto my chest.

“I would rather you wake me than have you sit here in the dark, drowning in whatever bullshit is going through your mind. We are a team, Gabe. That means we work through shit together.” Daisy pulls back and smiles up at me. “Also, I happen to be an excellent listener. I’ve got a framed piece of paper qualifying me in just that.”

I press my lips against hers and wrap my arms tighter around her. “You are the best listener, babe, but I’m not going to burden you with my problems, especially in the middle of the night. Come on, let’s go back to bed.”

“Let’s. But you need to talk to Gio. Tell him what needs to happen for you all to move on. Or do it without him,” Daisy says as I lead her out of the kitchen.

Do it without him?

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