Page 50 of Playing the Game
“They’re the same pictures Ava showed me, and she told me point-blank that she got them from my mother.” Iron forms in my throat, making it difficult to breathe. I swallow and shift to release my anxiousness.
“Is Ava behind this?”
“I don’t think so. The thing I need to understand is why my mom is after me and anyone who’s involved with me. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
His gaze sweeps around my face. “Let’s take a walk and have this discussion outside. After we’re done, if you still want Dori to work at Efron Worldwide, I’ll consider helping you.”
My chest expands as hope rises in me, and the lump in my throat dislodges. I follow my dad out of his office and to his lush grounds. The sun is shining brightly, so the temperature is bearable.
He walks toward his orchard. “You’ve been asking to know more about Joan—your mother—for a while now. I think it’s time I share some things about her.”
I shove my hands into the pockets of my jacket. “Thanks. I would appreciate any information you have.”
“She’s not as bad as you think. Or at least, she wasn’t when she left us.”
“I can’t think of anything that will make me believe that.”
“Understood, but she had her reasons for leaving.” He gazes out to the field before us. “She left to protect us.”
My eyes widen. “And how would she do that?”
“I’ve hesitated to tell you about this because of how it would reflect upon me, but I think it’s time.”
“It is, Dad. I need to understand what my mother’s motives for coming after me might be.”
He runs his hand over his chin. “When I bought the casino, there were things already in place from the seller. I made a deal with the devil, and now I think he’s here asking for his payment.”
“And just what was that?”
He faces me with trepidation. “I was able to buy the casino at the price I negotiated as long as I let a certain crime family launder their money through our company.”
My brows shoot up. “You what?”
“I wanted in and was young and dumb. If you think back on your life, you did the same thing when Ava came after you. Even the best men with good intentions can get caught up in dirty situations.”
“And what does that have to do with what I’m dealing with now?”
“That mob boss had his sights on your mother. She thought she was helping by talking with him.” My dad’s cynical laugh comes off like he should’ve known better. “She thought she could get him to let our business go legit.”
“Let me guess. She ended up falling for him, and that’s how we cleaned up the company.”
“She didn’t fall for him. She left us for him so he would pull out of our arrangement.” My dad tilts his head toward the greenhouse.
I stride in that direction. “So she got involved with him and he fell for her, then she agreed to leave you and marryhim. Once that happened, he agreed to pull out of our casinos.”
“Exactly. She loved us enough to want the best for us.” He strides down the path lined with tall trees on either side.
I walk beside him. “I doubt that.”
“It’s true. For the first ten years, we stayed in touch. She always asked about you boys and promised to find a way back to us. She only left us because he said he’d leave us alone if she married him. The deal was done when he found another way to launder their money.”
“Are you saying she sacrificed herself for us?”
“That’s what I thought, but one day it all stopped. I couldn’t reach her. They had up and moved locations.”
“You would reach out to her? How would that work?”
“She had a mailbox under a fake name and a friend that helped her mail me letters. When I got the first one, I thought it was a trap, so I didn’t respond. Then one day, I was in Europe on business, and she showed up at my hotel room.”
