Vincent looks down and I can tell he really will never forgive himself for this.
“Vincent, please don’t blame yourself for this anymore. Both Luke and I have forgiven you and that needs to stay in the past.”
He looks back up to with tears in his eyes.
“Thank you, Shayne.”
He releases my hands and continues with his story.
“His family and friends were so damn persistent, Shayne. The threats I could handle, but when they destroyed my wife’s car and started leaving me messages telling me where she was and what she was doing to let me know they were following her, I knew I had to take those threats seriously.”
Leaning back into my chair, I take a really long, hard look at Vincent. Would I have done the same thing for my family? Hell, yes. I would have.
“Vincent, did they ever find out where you guys moved to?”
“I have no idea. My guess would be no, because after we moved all the threats stopped. It wasn’t like we changed our names or anything, although it nearly drained every last dime we ever saved to hire security to keep a watch on us for all those years. But knowing that my sons were away from me in college, there was no way I was taking any chances with their lives. Without them knowing, they had the best security team watching them the whole time they were away from home. After several years we heard Benito died in prison. We felt we were safe and that is when Camillia told me she wanted to try to move back here; you see, she hated California. We were fine until about four weeks ago when the threats started coming back in with phone calls and packages in the mail. We know it’s Ben and his fucking people and now…” He hesitates for a minute and slumps back in his chair.
“And now what, Vincent?”
“And now he is threatening Luke with you.”
I knew it, but I try and stay calm because we are in a public place. I mimic Vincent and slump back in my chair. The waitress comes over with our lunch and we thank her as she walks away. Vincent and I eat in silence for a few minutes before he continues on with his story.
“The three of us have someone watching Ben now after the run in at the beach. I know all about Adam and Luciano visiting him at the bank as well, but he won’t back down easily, Shayne. He thinks I did wrong by his father and ruined his family’s life, so he isn’t going to stop until he feels justice is served on his part. However, I have no clue what his notion of justice is.”
“Why can’t you go to the police with this, Vincent? I just don’t understand.”
“It’s not that easy, Shayne. Both of Ben’s brothers are on the force and it’s just complicated.”
“Vincent, you can’t let anything happen to my little girl.”
“Please believe me when I tell you we won’t let anything happen to you or Lucy. You’re family, sweetheart, and both you and that little girl mean everything to us.”
Standing up and getting some cash out of his pocket, he tells me to hang on a minute and flags down our waitress. He gives her some money and asks me to come with him. I pick up my purse and follow him out into the parking lot.
“Vincent, what’s going on? Why did you leave so fast?”
He stops by my car.
“What I am about to tell you next you are not going to want to hear, and I don’t want anyone around. Can we go sit over there on the bench?”
Silently, we go to the bench and sit down. Vincent turns to face me and when I look into his eyes I see so much sadness and guilt written all over his face.
“Vincent, what is it? You’re scaring me more than I already am.”
He takes a deep breath.
“What I am about to tell you isn’t going to scare you, Shayne. It is probably going to piss you off more than anything, but before I tell you I need you to promise me that you will try to understand my reasons behind this.”
Searching his face and thinking back to the conversation we had inside, my eyes grow big and I know what he is about to tell me. I start to shake my head and get up but he stills me with a soft touch on my shoulder. I feel the tears start to form in my eyes as I put my head down and start to cry.
“How long have you known, Vincent?”
“Since the day she was born,” he sighs. “I have kept tabs on you the whole time. I needed to know that both of you were safe and I wasn’t about to put my granddaughter or her mother in any kind of danger. You have no idea how hard it has been for me to keep the fact that I have known where you and Lucy have been this whole time and keeping a secret from everyone for the past seven years. I am sorry for hurting you, but I will never be sorry for keeping you safe.”
Lifting my tear stained face and looking out over the water, I try and get my composure as I let his words sink in. Neither one of us says anything to the other for quite some time. Finally, I gather my thoughts and speak.