Page 119 of New Beginnings
“I can’t wait to see her. She’s doing good though?” I asked. “You were gone for a bit.”
He leaned back in the chair. “Yeah. When she’s with her aunt and uncle, it’s like I don’t exist,” he said, laughing. “She’s ready to go back. She couldn’t stop talking about how much fun she had with her Papa which blew my mind. But I’m glad Rev is trying to have a relationship with her.”
I think it was beneficial he kept a close relationship with his in-laws because it would benefit Siobhan. She deserved to have a connection to her mother’s family.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
We might as well get it over with.
“I think you know sweetheart.”
“Why are you coming to me with this?”
“Because he’s your godfather, Rebel and I don’t want to hurt you. However, there’s no way he didn’t know Revels had gone off the rails. You know it and I do too.”
“I know, J.D., but you can’t expect me to give you the go ahead to harm him.” I stood, then paced in front of him. “I love him. He’s my family.”
“And he harmed mine.”
I stopped pacing and looked at him. “I understand. I really do but I can’t tell you I’ll be fine with you harming him. I just can’t.”
“Then what do you suggest, I do Rebel because godfather or not, he will pay. He allowed Revels to do whatever the fuck he wanted as long as he brought me and my club down. My family ended up dead because he turned a blind eye.”
“I know. I know.”
“So, tell me what you expect me to do? He won’t walk away without facing the consequences.”
“I don’t believe he knew exactly what Revels was doing.”
“And how do you know that?” J.D. asked. “He’s been after me for a longtime sweetheart. How do you know how far he’d actually go to get rid of me?”
It was a good question. As someone who operated solely on evidence, I was always hesitant to make decisions based on intuition or gut feelings. If you could show me tangible proof, I’d believed it. But in this case, I had no proof he didn’t know. All I had were my feelings for the man who was like a father to me. A man I considered my family.
A tear fell from my eye, and I quickly brushed it away. “I don’t have any proof, J.D. All I know is the man that I know wouldn’t condone what happened to Dani and Luca. The man I know would be disgusted by what Revels did.”
“But is he still that same man?” J.D. asked. “That’s the real question.”
He reached for my hand and gently pulled me down onto his lap. “Look, I’ll listen to whatever he has to say. But Rebel, I’m sorry if I have any sign that he knew anything about Dani, I can’t let it go. He’ll suffer the same consequences that everyone else did. The same consequences my father and my brother faced. This is about my wife and child. I love you but no one gets a pass on hurting my family. They just don’t.”
“But what if he didn’t know?”
I heard the heartbreak in my own voice. I prayed he didn’t, but I can’t say that I know for a fact and it fucking sucked.
“Then the consequences he’ll face will only be for not keeping Revels on a tighter leash while knowing he was doing shit he had no business doing. Can you live with that?” he asked, swiping my hair away from my face.
“You won’t kill him?” I asked.
“No but he’ll wish he was dead,” J.D. said.
If it kept him alive, then I could agree with anything.
“Yeah, I can live with that.”
A knock sounded at the door, he tapped my thigh, and I slowly rose from his lap. “I’ll get it,” he said.
I nodded and slowly sat back down in the chair. I woke up this morning feeling some minor pain, but I was so thankful that it wasn’t worse than what it was or as bad as it had been.
I looked up when I heard approaching footsteps and I wanted to roll my eyes. I hadn’t seen my sister for weeks despite her trying to get in contact with me. J.D. leaned over and pecked me on the lips.
