Page 91 of Possess Me
“Who was your father, Fallon?”
“Um… Steven Zimmerman.”
At this point, I could tell she was providing me with the truth. When Megan arrived in Vegas, she was almost twenty. I’d even kept the lie that she was twenty-one so she would be able to bartend. I was pressing the tips of my fingers together with so much force they were white.
If what Mikhail had told me was true, Steven Zimmerman had managed to keep himself off the grid for almost twenty years. That took skill and guts given his real identity.
“What about Megan?”
“She wanted nothing to do with our life there. I know she took Daddy’s death harder than she let on. I could tell his death changed her. She even looked different than I’d remembered. We used to talk about everything. Then her letters and calls stopped. A few months later, we learned she’d left school. Mama was beside herself, trying to find her. It was as if she’d justdisappeared. After a few weeks, Mama boxed up everything that belonged to her, acting like she didn’t exist. I was heartbroken.”
“So was your mother.”
“I know she was. Mama changed too after everything that had occurred. She had to work several jobs just to keep a roof over our heads. Things were so different. We never heard from Megan again. Now, I know why.” She sat back, stroking her fingers behind Bella’s ear. “What happened to Ladybug?” Her eyes were hopeful as if the pup was still alive.
“She’s been gone for about five years.”
“Did you keep her?” Her voice was breaking.
The hard edges that I’d tried to form around myself were completely gone. Seeing Fallon suffer was very difficult. No one was that good of an actress.
“I tried to keep her with me, but I was no good in the state I was in. You need to understand I was an angry man. All I could think about was revenge. After my family intervened, my aunt took her from me. That’s where Ladybug remained until she died ten years later. At least I got to see her, but the pain was too intense.”
“I’m so sorry.” The look of distrust remained in her eyes. I couldn’t blame her.
Sighing, I looked away. “Tell me about Luis Esposito.”
The moment Fallon jerked her head back up, I gathered not only another sense of fear, but anger that equaled mine.
“He’s a fucking son of a bitch, a predator who lured my mother into marriage. She thought she loved him. She was so broken, so fucking broken at losing the love of her life that she didn’t see the man for what he was. A fucking criminal. He was the hired gun of a mafia family. A Capo or something. I didn’t understand the politics of what was happening at first. He entered my life when I was ten. Later, I realized what a monster he was.” Her glare remained harsh.
“ACapo di tuttifor Giovanni Bruni, a brutal mafia leader from Chicago.”
“Yes. How did…”
“It didn’t take my family long to connect the dots, Fallon.” Now I understood much better her initial reaction to me. She’d had a bad experience with some horrible people. The coincidences couldn’t be ignored.
“He killed Megan. Didn’t he?” Her voice was so damn small, barely audible, yet through tears I could see determination.
“It was likely that his men handled the assassination under his orders.” I was surprised how calm I was at this point.
“Why? Why kill my sister?”
“My guess is that because Giovanni considered her tainted.”
“What?” She leaned forward, shaking her head. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Russians and Italians have been notorious enemies for generations.”
She cocked her head, trying to absorb what I was saying. “We weren’t Italian. My father was…” When she didn’t finish, she looked away.
I took the opportunity to bring her a glass of wine and refill my drink. “What did your father look like?”
“Why is that important?”
“Just answer the question, Fallon. Please.”
“It’s funny how memories can fade over time and Luis didn’t want my father mentioned at all. There were no pictures of my previous life allowed to be placed on bookshelves, no conversations allowed. But Luis couldn’t keep me from remembering my own father. He was tall with dark hair that was so thick. I used to love to tug on it. Drove him crazy.”
