Page 51 of Villainous
“She just told me you didn’t know about me, and that one day when we did meet, you would accept me. She says you’re a good man.”
Guilt nibbles at my insides. There is no way I deserve Maya. But I’m a very selfish man, and so I get what I want.
Max finally opens the door, and Christmas music blares from the inside.
“Where is Devious?”
He ushers us to the living room. Maids are putting up Christmas decorations, and one of them offers us something to drink. She comes back with a bottle of water for AJ and a glass of bourbon for me. We sit on the couch as the electric fireplace sparkles with flames.
“Can I try it?” AJ asks with excitement in his tone.
“Hell no. You aren’t allowed to drink until you’re thirty,” I say, taking a sip of my drink. The cool liquid slithers down my throat, burning me.
“Thirty? That’s too old,” he whines.
“When you’re twenty-one, I’ll take you to get your first alcoholic drink.”
“Cool,” he says, leaning back on the couch.
Devious comes inside, wearing an Armani suit. I knew he was here because he had a meeting with Tommaso, the don of the Lombardi famiglia. He surveys AJ and cocks his eyebrow. Before I have a chance to introduce them to each other, AJ pushes himself off the couch and stands in front of Devious, stopping at his mid-stomach.
“Hey, Uncle Cayden. My name is Aiden, but friends and family call me AJ.”
“Uncle?” Devious glances at me with a questionable look, then studies my face. “You adopted a kid?”
“No, he’s my biological son.” I point to the couch and say to AJ, “Stay right here while we speak in the foyer.”
He nods and grabs his gaming system, hitting the button on the side.
We stroll to the foyer, and I tuck my fingers into my pocket. Devious folds his arms across his chest as shock filters through his face.
I explain everything that happened up to this point, but I don’t mention AJ getting abused by Kennedy. I want to tell my brother, but I promised AJ I wouldn’t say anything about it. And I want him to be able to trust me with his secrets, but eventually, he has to tell Maya. She deserves to know.
Devious is quiet for several seconds as he rubs his dark goatee. “Oh. He looks like both of you.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing with this kid. We had a shitty upbringing, and I don’t want that for him. I hope I’ll be a better father to him than Draco was to us.”
Devious places his hand on my shoulder. “You will be. Are you two going to get back together?”
My shoulders sag. “I want to, but she doesn’t. I did some fucked-up shit to her. And I don’t know how to even fix it.”
Sadness colors his face. “That’s the problem with us. We always get vengeance when someone’s done us wrong, and we end up destroying the person we love.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask him.
He doesn’t respond. “Go speak to Roselyn. She can help you with getting back together with Maya.”
I nod. “Where is she?”
He points to the marble staircase. “She’s in her art room upstairs. She found out she’s pregnant again, but we haven’t announced it because we don’t want to lose the baby. We don’t want to get our hopes up high again, just to be heartbroken,” he says with sorrow in his tone.
It’s ironic. I end up having a child and I’ve never been a kid person, and he has trouble having kids.
“I’ll talk to her.”
He nods. “I’ll keep AJ occupied.”
I take the elevator and hit the second floor. I go to the door at the far end and knock, and she yells, “Come in.” I walk in, and the smell of paint hits my nostrils. Unfinished canvases are against the wall, and she has a paintbrush in her hand as her tiny frame is perched on a wooden stool. When our eyes meet, she smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
