Page 20 of A Game of Secrets

I nod in acknowledgement. "How's Alessandro getting on with school? Is he coping OK since his mother?"

"He's doing alright, I think he misses her a great deal, even though she wasn't the best mother to him. Linc finds that hard to understand at times but I've had chats with Alesso about it. He's a smart, level headed kid, just needs time like we did,'' Cole explains. When Alessandro's mother died I was in lock up, so I haven't been able to speak to the kid about it or I’d have been there for him like I wanted. I know Cole will have stepped up, he always took our mother's death harder than I did so I know he’ll have helped Alesso through it too.

I nod my thanks "Thank you brother for stepping up, not just with the business but in place of me with Alesso, it means a great deal to me and Lincoln, you know this." Cole just nods as Aunty Kim comes rushing over with two cups and a pot of coffee.

"So my boys, where is my dear Lincoln?" she asks.

"He's with his boy today, Aunty K" Cole smiles.

"Oh he needs to bring him here so I can spoil him like I spoil you boys. Now tell me everything, how have you been?" Kim asks, directing the last part at me.

"First place I come from lock up is to see you Aunty K. I'm happy to be out, I just wanted somewhere familiar before I'm back to business," I tell her, knowing she would never judge, she never has.

"Oh my boys, my diner and doors are always open to you whenever you need to get away." She wraps her arms around me in an embrace, then pulls away placing her hand on my cheek. "Don't leave it too long next time! Here comes your pancakes and bacon, so I'll leave you to it. Oh and Cole, stay out of trouble!" she laughs, knowing him too well. Out of the three of us, he was the one that always found himself in a tangle.

"I'll try Aunty K, but I can't promise anything," he hollers back to her. Stacey the waitress brings our pancakes and bacon out and I demolish them in a few mouthfuls. First real food since entering prison and it's amazing. I'll be having to work out a hell of a lot if I keep enjoying food like this though.

After we settle the bill and head back to the Lamborghini, Cole taps the roof of the car "Where to next fratello?"

"Home, brother," I smile. I'm more than ready to get back to business and to find out all about la mia Luce.

Chapter 12

Lincoln

Iinhale deeply, pulling at the cigarette between my lips, feeling the heaviness of the smoke seep deep into my lungs before releasing it out into the air in front of me. I really should quit smoking, but it's an easy way to keep my hands busy when I'm not at work.

Sitting quietly by myself on a bench in Oxford Park, listening to the birds singing in the trees above and the shouts of men playing at the baseball pitch behind me. I watch Alessandro kicking his football back and forth against a pole between the spring seats in the park. His wavy brown hair flopping down into his eyes, casting the perfect mirror image of his mother. I inhale another drag on my cigarette, a vivid memory flashing before my eyes. It's only been 18 months since I found her body stiff and cold from an overdose. Thank God it was me who found her and not Alesso. We may not have always gotten along, and there was no love there in the end, but I never would have wished for that to the mother of my child. Her eyes were nothing more than two deep pits in her skull. The fresh track marks still littered her skin along with the scars from all the times she'd shot up before.

The poor kid, he still doesn't understand why she left, he asks if she loved him and I know that she did, but if she did, why did she do it? An ice cold chill spreads over my body causing me to shudder and I vow to myself never to put anything of the sort into my body so long as I have Alesso to care for. That boy is my whole entire life.

A few moments later, I sit and watch as a boy a little younger than Alesso, runs straight into the park shortly followed by a man that seems oddly familiar, but I can’t quite place him. Their interactions are affectionate. Maybe father and son I think to myself, pulling out another drag, when a few steps behind them is a woman, strikingly beautiful as she steps into view. Even from this distance I can see the beauty radiate from her, with long wavy blonde hair I instantly imagine being wrapped around my wrist and a tight, slim physique I’d like to undress. I don’t usually feel this way about women. I don’t do the dating scene, not since Alesso’s mother. When I need to get my fill, I don’t usually stick around to form any sort of attachment. I take a long drag of my cigarette. The fact that this stranger has aroused something deep within me, disturbs me more than I’d like to admit. Now I'm intrigued and I need to know who she is before I make my mark on her. I sit and watch as she talks to the boy before taking a seat on the bench near to the entrance of the park, leaving him to run off towards the climbing frame. I study the couple closely from behind my Ray-Bans and notice as the man stands in front of the bench and scans his surroundings, almost as if he's making sure the coast is clear before he can relax. He’s obviously in the game. I follow his eyes as they sweep over Alesso and the other middle aged woman with her two children already in the park, then come to rest on me, trying to suss out whether or not I'm a threat. I search him momentarily and notice he's packing too, a gun hidden in his waistband under his shirt. He stares a little longer, the act feeling as if it's dragging on for too long. Maybe he recognises me too I wonder, and slowly I begin to slide my hand across my hip towards my holstered gun under my jacket, only halting when he then turns to sit down next to the pretty blonde and begins talking. A short sigh releases from my lips and I shake my head wondering if I'm being paranoid, or if I’m too fucking distracted thinking about getting my dick wet.

I brush it off, whatever feeling is trying to rear its ugly head and watch their entire conversation unfold before me. I'm starting to wish I was close enough to hear what they are saying as something unsettling raises the hairs on the back of my neck. The blonde's expressions flit between annoyance, shock and something else I can't quite put my finger on, while his face remains serious throughout, almost like he's ready to put his fist through a wall. It is not until the last moment when I see him stand and turn to say something before he walks off that something clicks and I finally recognise his face, my gut feeling never letting me down. "Fuck!" is the first word that comes to mind as I throw my cigarette to the ground, feeling glad in this moment that nobody else is close enough to hear me. "Fucking Irish, East Territory scum." No wonder he was fucking looking at me, I think. He's the enemy, underboss of the East Territory, Ronan Costello's only son and heir to his fucking empire; Max Costello. If he recognised me there would have been blood shed. I look over to Alesso who is now sitting under one of the trees off to the side of the climbing frame picking at the grass, then back to Max as he walks away from the blonde on the bench and out of the park, my mind is reeling.

I release the breath I've been holding and move to reach for my phone in my pocket as I hear, “TEDDY,” being shouted through the park. I pause and snap my head up at the name to see the young boy running towards the blonde sitting on the park bench and suddenly a whole shower of anger pierces through me. There is NO way. Shaking my head at what is happening before me, as all of the pieces seem to suddenly fit together in an all too unfriendly way. Teddy, Max, Teddy, Max. I run my fingers through my hair, this is some sort of sick joke I think before whispering the name, "Lucille," and narrowing my vision on the woman that seems to have all the men in Vegas falling at her feet.

I feel my fingernails cutting deep into my palms as I clench my fists trying to think of my next move, weighing up my options. Do I take this opportunity to follow the Irish scum and wipe him off the face of the earth while he's out without his crew? Or do I sit and watch the woman in front of me who has my brothers in a twist, and try to get to the bottom of her relationship with Costello? I watch as Lucille ruffles the hair on top of the little boy's head before he runs back towards the climbing frame, wielding his toy airplane above his head as if to make it fly. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I tap out a message to Zack, ordering him to dig deeper into the background of Lucille and find out what her connection with Max Costello is, leaving no stones unturned. I want to know what this bitch eats for fucking breakfast. I press send and run my fingers through my hair in frustration.

A few moments pass and I'm suddenly made very aware that I have been staring at the blonde bombshell without meaning to for quite some time as Alesso shouts, "DAD!" over to me from a large Chestnut tree, bringing me right back to reality.

"Shit," I groan as I notice he is no longer alone, but stood next to the little boy who, on closer inspection, looks exactly like his mother. Both boys are staring up into the tree with their shoulders slumped down in defeat. I get up and walk towards them, noticing as I do, that Lucille is also on her way over to see what's going on.

"What's up, Son?" I ask as I reach the boys, both looking up at me.

"Teddy's plane got stuck up in the tree and we can't reach to get it down," he says, pointing toward the little toy wedged between two branches a little above my head.

"No worries," I say. "I got this." Pulling myself up on a lower branch and reaching towards the toy plane.

As I land back on the ground, plane in hand, I notice Lucille standing behind Teddy, hands resting on his shoulders protectively. Her face is a picture of bewitching beauty now that I can see her up close and I want nothing more than to ravish it.

I smile awkwardly and hold the plane out to Teddy who takes it as he smiles back. "Hey, thanks Mr!" Then he turns towards Alesso with a huge grin on his face. "Come on Lesso, let’s see who can make it fly the furthest." Alessandro turns to look at me, silently asking for permission, he knows the rules. No strangers, even children can be a threat to us. I take a second to think it through before replying with a nod of approval and both boys run off towards the spring seats in the sand.

"Stay in sight," I shout behind them. I need to watch closer now than before and have my wits about me. I can not let my son get involved with the enemy, and if Costello does come back, I need to be on high alert.

I eye Lucille beside me, taking in every delicate feature of her face while her attention is still on her son, from her soft green eyes, to the dimples in her cheeks, the almost cute way her nose upturns slightly just at the tip, and the fullness of her lips parting slightly as they meet. I have to drag my eyes away before I become too enthralled, and begin my way back towards the bench I was sitting on before but I'm stopped dead in my tracks as a voice as smooth as silk cuts through the air.

"Hey, what's your name?" she asks, her voice seeping deep into my soul. I swallow dryly, knowing if I get too close, or if this goes the way that I think it might, one of us may end up regretting that we ever met, or even worse, it will end in carnage. I need to be smart here.

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