Page 17 of Dangerous Command
As I left the podium, polite clapping murmured through the yard. My mother stood up next, and everyone shifted in their seats. She walked carefully to the podium, then lowered the microphone. Her eyes never left the ground.
“I loved him. And I always will.”
The same polite clapping followed. I couldn’t decide if my mother’s words showed weakness or loyalty. Perhaps it was both. But my judgment wasn’t important right then.
By the time the ceremony was over, my mother had been taken into the house by one of her friends, and I stood near the podium with my brothers. Axe stood tall, a protective arm around his girlfriend, Demi. She stood beside him in a black dress, which complemented her bright pink, purple, and blue hair. Across from them, Wil and Ellie held hands. A few yards away, Maddie was making her way toward the house. The last time we had done something like this, she had come to chat with us. But she was avoiding us this time. Avoiding me.
“You gave a good speech,” Demi said. Axe nodded beside her as if Demi was the direct line to what he refused to say. “Short. Sweet.”
“To the point,” Wil said. “Better than dragging it along. And you’re right, man.” He slapped my back. “Family always comes first.”
Ellie squeezed Wil’s arm. “Right. It was the perfect speech.”
“Better than I could have done,” Wil said.
“Thanks,” I said.
A sparkle from Demi’s hand caught my eye. She beamed back at me.
I started, “Did you—”
Demi turned to Axe and said, “We have something to tell you guys.”
“You got engaged?” Ellie squealed.
“Married!” Demi said.
The two wives hugged and Wil and I shook Axe’s hand.
“Congratu-fucking-lations!” Wil said.
“No kidding?” I said. Axe nodded. “When did this happen?”
“A few nights ago,” Demi said. A few nights ago, our father had died. Their wedding must have been the appointment, why Axe couldn’t supervise the first arms shipment. Axe’s lips twitched into a grin, and I knew we had to look past that. Life was complicated. What was happening with the world, that my soulless brother had fallen in love?
I patted Axe on the shoulder. “Congratulations, brother,” I said.
“Kind of funny, huh?” Ellie said. “Our family can’t seem to get enough of weddings and funerals.”
The five of us chuckled. A normal family might have still been grieving about their father, but we weren’t a normal family. Gerard wasn’t a normal father.
I glanced back at the house. Maddie was inside now. I knew nothing about her family, only that she had a stepdad; Maddie refused to talk about that side of her life.
My parents had been together for decades. An arranged marriage, yes, but one that had eventually, if you believed what my mother said, transformed into love. And yet even with that love, my father had cheated on my mother. If my mother couldn’t trust him, then who could anyone trust? Could Demi trust a brutal enforcer, like Axe? Could Wil trust Ellie, when she had tried to kill him multiple times? Would I ever be able to trust Maddie, when I didn’t know her real name?
My mother honored my father, even when he made mistakes. Forgave him, because of love. But how could that be love, when my father had disrespected her?
Family or not, my business or not, Maddie was hiding something, and until I knew what it was, I knew I would never be able to trust her.
CHAPTER 5
Maddie
Inside the Adler House, there were so many people that it was hard to keep track of where everything was. Last time there had been a funeral, Clara, Derek’s mother, had made everything from scratch, with a few casseroles added here and there from friends. But this time, for her husband’s funeral, her classic cheesy bread and chocolate chip muffins were there, but all of her other usual dishes were missing. And yet the dining room was still overflowing with food.
With tragedy came dining.
I didn’t work for the Adlers full-time anymore, which meant that I could mingle and eat and celebrate Gerard’s life, but I wasn’t in the mood. I hardly knew him, save for the handful of times that I had cleaned his place. And if I was honest with myself, I hadn’t relaxed in months. How could I celebrate anything?
