Passion.

Chapter Thirty Seven

"This is a fucking disaster, you idiot!" David screams at Roan. I've never seen him so infuriated. "Do you know how much shit is gonna come out because of this?" "What does that mean?" I ask. I just saw Roan Smith snap a mans neck, I'm not in for any more surprises today. Roan and David exchange a look. It's secretive. They're keeping something from me, and I don't like it. "If there is anything you want to tell me, tell me now because I cannot handle anymore shit.." "Shut up!" They yell at me. Shut up? Shut up? Who the hell do they think they are? "Don't ever tell me to shut up again. I just witnessed you snap a mans neck," I tell Roan "and you're being an asshole. Call me when you get your shit together." I walk out of the house. Sometimes, I'll admit, I am too stubborn for my own good. I'm not safe on my own right now. But Michael's dead, so that's a plus. Before I can even make it nearly halfway out the door, the guys stop me. "I'm sorry." They each say. "It's fine. I understand we're all stressed, but every one just needs to calm the fuck down!" I yell. David laughs. I laugh. I'm screaming for every one to calm down when I'm freaking the fuck out. I feel a buzz in my butt and answer the call. "Aunt Ava!" I yell. I'm overly excited for her to possibly get me out of this crisis. But she does the exact opposite. "What's wrong?" I ask, when she doesn't respond. "I know you're with Roan and David Smith." She says. I never told her there names. "Okay. And?" I question. I have no clue what is going on. Or how she knows who they are. "I know about The Mafia, Claire. I know The Smith Family and I know the Richardson Family very well." What? How does she know about The Mafia? I'm shocked that she knows about The Richardson's because even though every one may know who Reggie Richardson is, they know very little of him. You can find some family history of his, but you cannot find part of his team. You can't find who does his dirty work, nor can you find who he does his own dirty work to. This is all very odd. Something is going on here, and I have a feeling Roan and David know what it is. I realize I haven't answered Ava's sentence in a while. "There is something you don't know Claire. But I cannot tell you. It is up to Roan and David Smith to let you know what our family has been hiding from you." She hangs up. David asks me what is going on. I don't respond. It's all too sudden. Am I really going to be able to handle what I'm about to be told? But Roan knows. I see it on his face. How did he know Ava's address? "What is it, Roan?" I ask. He stops himself. His eyes are soft and his hands start to shake. "What the fuck is it Roan!" I yell. "We've spent so long hiding it from you." A look of awareness appears on David's face. "No. Dad, no." David says. This is the first time I've ever heard David call Roan "dad," This has to be serious. We're still standing outside, so Roan gestures for me to go inside. I do as he says, while David holds back and gets rid of the body that is Michael Richardson. "Tell me, Roan please." "Claire, this could change everything between us. But I promise you, every thing I feel for you is real. It's the same way for David." He's stalling. "Get to the point." I say, sternly. "Your father," he swallows. "Your father was Mark Stone. He wasn't a councilman. He was much more than a man of honor. Claire, he was our boss. Your father gave me, David, Reggie, all of us, orders. He was Mark Stone, The Crime Boss. We didn't know he had a daughter, but when he found out he had cancer, he told all of us. Your Aunt knew about all of it, but since your mother didn't, you always went to your Aunt's house for protection. We didn't offer you to stay in our home just because we wanted to fuck you like the rest of the girls that have stayed here, we offered it because that was the boss's orders. If we disobeyed them, his men would've killed us." Oh my god. It was all a lie. "It was all a lie?" I ask. "No, no Claire we are in love with you. I love you so fucking much. And that first night we spent together was incredible, but our main duty was to protect you." My heart shatters. Aunt Ava knew. The only constant person I had in my life betrayed me. The voluntary drives to her house that my dad made, were because he was on his way to murder people? It doesn't click. It clicks, but it hurts. It's different with Roan and David. I pretty much always knew they were dangerous and in The Mafia. But my dad. My flesh and blood. He was my dad. He was kind, and giving, and never selfish. He was the man that gave me lollipops before breakfast. He was the man who taught me how to swim. Roan? David? They were in on it. They didn't want to be with me automatically. They needed to protect me. It was an order. One they couldn't disobey. "Was it all fake?" I ask, genuinely. "Did you ever really love me?" I ask. David walks in the room and takes a breath. "Of course he does. I do too. But Claire, this is the truth. We sought you out at that party your mother hosted, and then we made the plan. We did always have sex together, and we did have girls stay with us. You weren't the first woman we took into that red room. But, We made you sign the non-disclosure agreement to make it seem like you would stay temporarily. But we both knew you'd stay permanently." Permanently? "I'm not permanent! I don't give a fuck who my father was. Neither of you are him, and neither of you can tell me that you own me. I'm not your property!" I scream, throwing my phone across the room and breaking it. "Claire we know that. There were so many people who wanted to murder you, though. There still are. We don't know why, and we haven't quite figured it out yet, but-  "No. You can't be saying this to me right now. You can't be telling me that the past eight months of loving both of you has been fixated in my head because my father gave you orders to protect me. And it was all my life? Every one knows. Every one knew it except for me. Why couldn't you just tell me? Why couldn't you just fucking tell me!" I scream. "Because if we did your Aunt would've murdered us!" David screams. My Aunt Ava isn't even my fathers sister, shes my mothers. How did she know so much? "I need to get out of here." I say. "Claire don't, please." Roan grabs my arm. I backhand him. I don't feel bad for it. I truly feel no remorse at all. David does the same when I walk past him, and I wind up slapping him too. Again, nothing. I'm in shock. I feel like my entire family has betrayed me, and the two men I've ever allowed to love me, have been in on it the entire time. Mark Stone was A Mafia Capo? And Roan, David, and even Reggie worked for him? This isn't good. This means he was a monster. If Reggie feared my father, he was evil. He couldn't have been any better than Michael. His whole councilmen act was a facade. But I don't get it. When you google "Mark Stone" all that comes up is his "Kind" and "Passionate" biography. He wasn't passionate about his family. Or his work. He was passionate about murder, drugs, and danger. My father always told me "You have to have Passion in this life, Claire. Being Passionate will get you to where you want to go." I always thought it was just fatherly advice. What he really meant, was that his passions were making him the Notorious Mobster, Roan and David just made him out to be. It's all so terrifying. I feel betrayed. My own father, in his last dying breath, never thought to tell me? Aunt Ava? That fucking bitch. I rush into Ava's car, and hit the gas. I don't care who I crash into. When I show up at her house, I bang on the door. She opens it and my first collides with her jaw. "That's for not telling me about my father!" I yell. I'm surprised she's still standing, I hit her pretty hard. "And that's for not telling me the men I love were in on it!" I scream again, punching her with my other fist. She falls to the floor. "And this!" I practically run to her car. "Is for making me look like a fool!" I take the gun out of my pocket and shoot multiple holes directly through her windshield. I'm mad. I'm infuriated. I throw her the keys to her now wrecked car, and run down the street. I don't know why I'm running, and I have no destination in mind, but eventually I'll find a place. I'll find a place I could take shelter for the night. I have no phone, no money, and no shelter. All I have is a gun. After a while, I'm out of breath. But I've let off quite a lot of steam and am at least two miles away from my Aunt's house. I'm out of breath; desperately in need of water, and I feel like I'm going to collapse. I thought there would be something around here, but it's just a bunch of houses. I still don't want to be with anyone, though. I'm definitely not calling any of the lying bastards I just got away from.  A suspicious car pulls up and I point my gun. When the door opens and I see it's Demetria, I'm relieved. "How are you here? I thought you were in Canada." I say. "I was. I got back yesterday to surprise you and then your boyfriends told me you were having a breakdown. They didn't tell me why though, so get in." She says, calmly. Oh, she has no fucking idea.