Dry Your Tears

Thirteen

"What?" Thomas laughed, head thrown backwards as if the mere notion of it was completely and utterly impossible. 

"Your brother has a daughter, her name is Olivia Gray." Elias said frantically, the sudden turn of events filling him with hope. 

"How would you know?" Thomas' eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How would you have known Michael? He died years ago, you would have been nothing but a a teenager then." 

"I didn't know Michael, never even met the man." 

"Then how would you know he had a daughter? And why should I believe you?" Thomas said with humour, shaking his head as if Elias was out of his mind and spewing bullshit. 

"Your parents, their names were Elizabeth and Graham Gray." Adam spoke just as Elias opened his mouth to begin arguing why he was speaking the truth. Thomas' smile dropped and Johnny's eyes widened.

"W-what? How?" Elias and Adam looked at each other before sighing. 

"It's a long, long story."

And so they began, telling Thomas and Johnny everything about Olivia, how she escaped Luca and came here to stay with her grandparents, managing to stay hidden for more than a year before Luca found her again and took her back. By the end of it, Thomas was leaning forward in his seat, clearly distraught, while Johnny was racking a hand through his hair in frustration and anger. James and Jonathon had long left the room to get a drink in the pub. 

"I- we have a niece and Luca fucking Barletta took her! Right under our fucking noses as well, we practically handed her to him." Johnny yelled in frustration while Thomas' eyes remained focused on Elias. 

"You love her don't you?" He asked and Elias was taken aback as his relationship with Olivia was something he purposefully left out. He  opened his mouth to deny it but Thomas stopped. "No one would go through all this effort to find her back if they didn't mean something to them. I understand you already have your vendetta against the bastard but even that wouldn't have you going through all this trouble if she was merely your neighbour." He cleverly concluded and Elias' shoulders sagged in defeat. 

"I love her, yes, I love her ok? I just want her back and you're her uncle, not to mention the only Gray left apart from you two, surely you must want to get her back as well." Elias argued and Thomas head snapped up towards him while Johnny frowned. 

"What do you mean by that? Even before you said were instead of are when referring to my parents." Elias and Adam became nervous, this was another part of the story that they had left out and they probably should not have. 

"Uhm, your parents are dead." Adam admitted when he noticed Elias hadn't said anything, Thomas posture stiffened at his words while Johnny had tears in his eyes.

"No, how?" Thomas spoke softly, the authority and vigour in his voice, gone. 

"Luca," Elias answered, eyes cast downwards. "He killed them and burned down their house before taking Olivia." Johnny was practically sobbing at this point while Thomas shook his head in disbelief. 

"I, we, haven't seen our parents in years." He spoke after a while. "We grew up here, Johnny Michael and I, born and raised here. Our Da started the first bookstore here, in this little town. Business didn't go too well at first, so sometimes he'd close the shop and curtains and the place would become a den of gambling and betting. Michael and I, we were teenagers, Johnny boy still a child." Thomas shook his head fondly at the memory, blue eyes glistening with tears. 

"We saw how much money Da made from the illegal betting and gambling but he hated doing it so he stopped and we thought it was the dumbest thing he could have ever done. So, naturally, Michael, Johnny and I and some of our friends ran our own illegal gambling and betting ring, it was a small thing at first but as we grew older and became better at it, word spread and well, we became richer. One day we had a huge altercation between another group and well, Michael and I beat them boys senseless. Turns out they were a part of The Birmingham Boys, who then tracked us down. Thought we were going to die that day but we didn't, they admired our work and asked us to work for them. " Johnny smiled solemnly at his brother, patting his shoulder while Thomas continued. 

"Michael being the excellent negotiator that he was agreed, as long as we could still be our own group. And that was the birth of the Gray Crime Family, everything we did since then was pure and utter evil but we didn't care, at least I didn't but Michael did, always did. Da's business became a success and they were set to move to London, before leaving they found out about our work and they were horrified, disgusted and disappointed. They begged us to stop, to drop everything and move with them to London to start afresh. But I refused, I loved this life too much and I suppose I still do. Michael hesitated but eventually I convinced him to join me and naturally John followed. That was the last I saw of them and that was almost thirty years ago. Michael hated it, he couldn't stand doing the killing and the hurting and he couldn't live with the fact that our parents despised us, he was one them good ones you see, and the moment he met Grace and fell in love he had decided that this ain't the life he wanted to live, packed up and left." Thomas sat back and pulled out his cigar, lighting it again before taking a drag.

"Funny thing is, he's dead now, Ma and Da are dead now, the good ones gone while the devil lives on." Thomas scoffed angrily and the room was silent, none knowing how to respond. 

"Thomas we can't let him get away with this, this isn't just about me anymore. He's got Olivia, your niece, please help us get her back." Elias was on the edge of his seat, his voice pleading, "It's least you can do for your brother, for your parents." 

"You and your friend should go get a drink from the pub." Thomas replied stoically and Elias' shoulders sagged in defeat, not a word being said as Adam and Elias left the room. 

°°°

"Maybe we should go, there's nothing here for us and we're wasting precious time." Jonathon suggested as the four of them sat solemnly at the bar, wary of the curious and harsh gazes that were constantly being sent their way. Elias swirled the liquid in his glass around before ultimately downing it, slamming the glass down loudly before getting up. He was a mixture of angry and disappointed at Thomas and Johnny Gray, how was it that their late brother's daughter, their own biological niece had been kidnapped by the same person who had cruelly killed their parents and they weren't willing to do a thing about it? 

"Cowards." Elias muttered, walking out the establishment with the others hot on his tail, and it hurt him, it hurt them all that they would have to go back to London, still on square one, and the possibility of getting Olivia diminishing further. 

"Elias Van Dyke." A voice called just as Elias wanted to enter the car, he turned around, James, Jonathon, and Adam standing behind him ready to draw out their guns. Thomas stood before them, Johnny by his side while all the men from the pub stood behind, as if ready to go into the battle. Thomas took a drag from his cigarette before raising his arms, grinning evilly before saying;

"Let's kills us some Italian bastards." 

A/N: I hope you guys are liking the story so far, a lot more focus on Elias in this book and I actually like it because we learn more about him than the terrible image we had of him in the first book. Remember to vote lovies! The next chapter or chapters will be out soon!