Player (A Secret Baby Sports Romance)(56)
“No thanks to you.”
He blows air loudly through his lips and reaches to his back pocket for what I swear is the same fucking flask of Rebel Yell whiskey that was there fifteen years ago.
“Hey, who’s the one that brought your ass to peewee football, huh?”
“Mom,” I say evenly.
“Aw, what?” Dad waves his hand at me dismissively. “I definitely took you.”
“Yeah, when Tommy Rooney’s dad was there, cause he was dealing.”
Dad grins at me as he takes a pull from his whiskey.
“The fuck do you want, Harry.”
He fidgets, that same fucking junky shuffle that hasn’t changed one damn bit since he walked out before. “I wanted to talk to you about somethin’.”
“You’ve got one minute.”
“Son, it’s important.”
I roll my eyes. “Try me.”
Harry scratches the scruff on his chin. “I owe some guys some money.”
I laugh out loud, the sound mirthless and hollow sounding. “Oh, yeah, a real changed guy, pop.”
“A lot, Austin,” he says evenly. “I owe a lot of money.”
I snort, raising a brow at him. “Well, that sounds a whole lot like your problem.”
Dad’s suddenly right up in my face, the smell of stale cigarettes and rot-gut whiskey clinging to him like a second skin.
“Nah, son, that’s your problem, actually.”
I plant my hand on his chest and push him back a step, feeling my other hand clench into a fist. “I can promise you, it’s not.” I glare at him. “What do you mean by ‘a lot’.”
“Two million.”
I instantly throw my head back as I start to laugh. “Alright, a minute’s up. Thanks for the laugh.”
Dad’s not laughing when I glance back at him. He’s not smiling either, just slowly shaking his head. “I ain’t.”
“No one in the world would give a two-bit hustler like you two fucking million dollars, you’re out of your mind.”
He grins wickedly. “Some people would, if they knew my baby boy was a big-shot millionaire now.”
A shiver runs down my back as I freeze, narrowing my eyes at my father. “What the hell did you do.”
Dad pulls a crumpled pack of smokes out of his pocket and jams one in his mouth. “Had an investment opportunity,” he mumbles out, flicking his thumb across the cheap plastic lighter and bringing it to the end of the cigarette. “Real solid one.”
“Oh really.”
He blows out a plume of smoke, muttering under his breath and spitting on my fucking patio.
“Well, supposed to be.”
I swear. “Jesus fucking Christ, Harry.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Who.”
He shrugs. “Yeah, well, there’s the rub of it, kid.”
“Who.”
“They go by ‘La Cosa Nostra.’”
My jaw drops as I stare at him. “The mob.”
Dad shrugs again, puffing on that fucking cigarette.
“Jesus, Harry, you’re fucking unbelievable.” I jab a finger at him. “Still your fucking problem though. Your shitty debts are on you.”
He grins a yellow-toothed grin. “Nah, kid, they’re on you.”
“Spell that out for me,” I growl.
He nods, rubbing his chin and looking away. “You know your mother loves me, right?”
I bristle, taking a step towards him with my fist raised.
“Uh-uh!” He backs up, wagging a thin, sallow finger at me as he grins. “What can I say, kid, I’m a charmer.”
“You’re a disease.”
He chuckles out a rattling, hacking laugh. “It’d break her heart, you know, if something happened to me.”
“I’m very much willing to take that chance.”
Dad stretches, doing that junky shuffle again like it’s about time for him to start looking around for a fix. “Shame if I disappeared.” He grins. “Died maybe? Disappeared? No body?” He winks at me. “Pretty hard to collect debts from a dead guy, kid.”
I can feel my blood run cold as what he’s saying starts to sink in. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
He grins toothily at me. “I’m a resourceful man Austin, you know that. If I disappeared, it’d break your mama’s heart.”
“She’d get over it.”
“And the debt?”
I go quiet.
Dad takes a last drag of his cigarette and then flicks it in the pool. “That two mil? Yeah, that don’t go away though. Those Cosa Nostra guys are good like that, thorough.” He steps towards me and points a finger at my chest. “Real family people, those Italians.”
I’m shaking my head because I don’t want to believe if, but I can already put the pieces together.