Redemption(97)

I sighed and looked into Tara’s eyes. “I just want him home.” I gripped her shirt as the tears began streaming again.

Tara stroked my face, wiping my tears away as her own surfaced. “I know, Jessica,” she whispered with a nod. “I know.”

I looked over at the officers. “Do you want to come inside?”

One officer smiled. “We need to do something out here first. We’ll come in when we’re done.”

I nodded and walked into the house with Tara and Jimmy. As soon as the door was shut, Jimmy ran his hand through his hair. “Fuck!” He looked over to me apologetically. “I’m so sorry, Tyler.”

I frowned. “Why are you sorry? You haven’t done anything.”

Jimmy shook his head with a huff. “I’m just as much in this at Dean. Pinzano, Jr., has just been itching to get back at Dean. He wants Dean dead, so I doubt any harm will come to Jeremy.”

I cringed as my heart sank. “That doesn’t make me feel any better, Jimmy.”

He winced. “I know. I’m sorry. I know nothing can make you feel better right now. I just don’t know what the fuck to say or do to make everything okay.”

I slumped down on the sofa and placed my head in my hands. I felt Tara’s arm wrap around my shoulders.

I looked up at Jimmy. “Where’s Dean, Jimmy?”

Jimmy inhaled. “I was telling the truth when I said he was looking for Pinzano. He knew you must have called the police and he didn’t want them stopping him from getting Jeremy back. He’s just doing what he thinks is best. He’ll call when he needs me. At the moment, he wants to keep his line free. He knows Pinzano will eventually call. I think he just wants to make Dean sweat for a bit.”

I closed my eyes. “He’s not the only one.” I sank back into the sofa and sighed. I wanted out of the house. I wanted to get my baby, but there was nothing I could do. I wouldn’t even know where to start. For now, I had to put all my trust in Dean doing what he did best.

I just hope he didn’t break his promise.





Chapter 19



Dean



Love is such a powerful subject matter

Because it comes in so many different shapes and sizes.

It’s about timing, fate, failure, redemption.

Jim Sturgess



I was enraged. I thought I had felt all the anger in my life there was to feel, but I was wrong. I was a second away from losing my shit. I was pissed. Pissed at Pinzano, pissed at his son, and pissed at myself for not pressing Tyler more about fucking Charlie from the mall yesterday. The minute Tyler hung up on me, I knew what I had to do. Pinzano, Jr., wanted me dead. I knew that much. I would happily sacrifice my life for Jeremy’s. All he had to do was ask.

And I knew he would because it was his ultimate goal. He wanted me dead and out of the way so he could take over for his father. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t care less about running the show anymore. He wanted the competition gone. I doubted it was about me killing his father, either. It was all a ruse so he could make sure I was gone. When he was around, his father didn’t give two fucks about his son, so I highly doubted it was really for revenge. But that was what we’d keep saying it was for…just to keep up the pretense.

Just the thought of him touching Jeremy made my blood boil. I wanted to cut off his hands. If I got my chance tonight, I would kill him with my bare hands. I didn’t care if it ended up with me in prison. You didn’t dare hurt my family. Ever. And he needed to know that as soon as humanly possible.

I drove around, trying to find areas where I thought he could be hiding out. I even tried calling him on a number I had saved a few months back. All it did was go to voicemail. He probably knew it was me, but was trying to draw this out as long as possible. The little fuck was sick and twisted. The sooner he was buried alongside his father, the better.

As I drove into the parking lot of a diner, I went in, ordered coffee, and contemplated whether I should call Tyler. I knew she was angry with me and I couldn’t blame her. This just proved her theory that I would bring danger to her. I had proved her whole family’s theory. They would never forgive me for this and I couldn’t blame them. I would never forgive myself. So the real reason I ran after Tyler called? I was a coward. I didn’t want her looking at me with those disappointing eyes. I didn’t want to see that her love was now lost because I had gone and proved the one thing for which she pushed me away in the first place. It killed me to know I brought this to her door, but it would kill me even more to see the pain in her eyes. That knowing look that I failed to protect our son. My own fucking flesh and blood was out there somewhere with a fucking numpty who thought he could do this to my family and get away with it. This was why I pushed people away. This was why I sank deeper and deeper into my own dark world and didn’t let anyone in. Getting close made you weak. And, now, I was weak as shit. Gone were my bad ways, the gangster boy, the one who thought he ruled everyone and everything around him. I was a father now. A father who would do anything to get his son back and keep him safe. That was all that mattered to me now, all that mattered until the last breath left my body.