Leah
"How many desserts are you making?" I asked my mom incredulously. She already started making her fourth dessert. She had made her famous homemade pound cake, chocolate fudge, peanut butter cookies and she was now on pumpkin pie. You know, to keep it festive.
"Well, I'm the one hosting this thing. I can't just have one dessert." She said almost breathlessly as she turned the spatula of her pie mixture. She had started this baking frenzy since his morning and now it was close the evening. Perfection takes time.
I shook my head at her and reached for a cookie off the cooling rack. Her hand came lightning fast and slapped my own. "Ow!" I cried out in pain.
"No cookies." She warned in a motherly tone.
"Aw mom. No one will know." I tried to convince her.
"I will know. Don't you dare, I've counted them." I gapped at her. She really went that far.
"Whatever." I muttered under my breath. "I hope it's okay that I've invited Jace." I watched her with intent eyes. I mentioned to her earlier in the day that I had invited him, but I left out the detail of his mom.
After the dinner at the Rylan's cabin estate, I haven't seen her much to even try to discuss the revelation that I overheard as she was stuck at work for most of the time. Truthfully, I wasn't in the mind space to even attempt too.
What was I gonna say? Any mention of my father and she would try to change the topic.
My mom gave me a warm smile. "Of course it's okay. He is your boyfriend after all." I felt my heart flutter at the word. I was still not use to hearing it especially since it refers to Jace.
That asshole as been on my mind like a broken record. I found myself thinking about him in the most random times, found myself actually missing his annoying presence and stupidly handsome face. I just couldn't break free. What is going on with me?
"Which we still haven't discussed yet." My mom pointed out and I cringed at the words. I knew I was in for a round of rapid fire questioning and I was not prepared. Especially since Mrs. Rylan knew before her. I wish I could just tell her it's not real, but that would bring way more questions. "Don't worry, I won't do it today. But I will soon." She gave a forewarning.
"Yes ma'am." I answered. "For my foreboding misery, can I have a cookie as a pre-reward?" My mom just have me one of the motherly 'you know better' look. "Geez, fine."
The doorbell rung a moment later. I was tasked with letting our guest in as my mom finished up her desserts. I opened the front door to see the Rylans standing there with beaming smiles.
"Welcome, come on in." I said politely. See, I can be a gracious host. We exchanged warm greetings and hugs as they entered.
"Is that freshly baked cookies I smell?" Mr. Rylan asked excitedly. Totally a true foodie.
I let out a laugh. "Yeah, mom just finished making them. Trust me, I tried snagging one and she already shot me down."
"Leah, you have to be stealthy." Mr. Rylan lectured. "Or you have to immerse your victim in a deep conversation that they won't even notice."
I nodded. "Good tips, Mr. Rylan."
"Don't listen to him." Mrs. Rylan added disapprovingly to her husband.
"Why not? It's good advice." He countered. "It even works when you want to get rid of things. Ever noticed your diminishing candle collection, honey?"
Mrs. Rylan gapped at him. "You did not." One thing I've learned about Mrs. Rylan is to not mess with her candle collection. She has spent years on added the perfect candles to it. She will hunt you down if you break one or accidentally misplace it. Mr. Rylan just grinned as he walked towards the kitchen. "Matt, I will burn your watch collection. Don't try me!" She shouted following directly after her husband.
I laughed as I overheard their bickering. "Those are my parents for you." Nate said removing his jacket and hanging near the door, his cream colored sweater made his dark blue eye stand out.
"What's a marriage without small spats?" I told him and he shook his head.
"Peaceful." He pointed out as we approached the kitchen.
I glanced down to the container on his hands. "You actually made the pumpkin roll." Excitement filled me.
He nodded happily. "This bitch took three tries, but I finally perfected it." Nate said proudly. "And of course I did, you requested it. I couldn't let you down."
I smile as I felt his eyes linger on me for a moment. That was sweet. "Thanks Nate. That's why I keep you around." I patted his shoulder.
He scoffed but didn't respond as we entered the kitchen. Mrs. Rylan had her husband listing off the many candles that he had tossed out. From the look on my mom's face, I could tell it was quite a bit. She looked weary of the conversation.
"Oh Leah! Please keep an eye on the pie. I just need to run to the restroom quickly." She gave me thankful eyes and bolted out of the kitchen leaving me in kitchen with bickering couple.
The doorbell rung once more. "I'll get it!" Happy for a way out of the kitchen.
"Hey, no fair!" Nate shouted after my departing figure. Sorry Nate, but those are your parents.
I headed to the front door, but already saw my mom standing there with the door open. "Oh my god, Charlotte!" She exclaimed in excitement a moment later.
"Mel!" Jace's mom greeted with the same excitement. They pulled each other into a tight hug. My own eyes widen at the sight. What the actual fuck?? That was not the reaction I was expecting. I was hoping to catch the parents off guard and fumble the secrets out of them. Well the joke is on me. "How have you been? It's been too long!"
"We have so much catching up to do! Oh gosh, come on in boys." My mom ushered Jace and his brother inside from cold. Sam had his eyes glued to the game console in his hands. Even Jace had the same wide eye expression I had. What the heck is going on?
"You guys know each other?" I asked cautiously as I approached the group.
"Of course we do." Mom said with a smile. "Charlotte and I went to college together. She was my roommate for all four years."
"It seems like you guys were close." I added looking between the two women. I've never heard of this in my entire life. The news was shocking to say the least.
Mrs. Emerson nodded. "We were! Life just happened and we lost contact after a few years. But it's so good to finally reunite."
Mom took the large cake container from her hands. "Come in, I was just finishing making a pumpkin pie." She guided her towards the kitchen.
"Are you still a baking like crazy?" Mrs. Emerson asked.
"Only when I'm not busy with work. Remember that cookie disaster in junior year?" My mom asked chuckling at the memory as they disappeared into the kitchen. Sam followed right behind eyes still glued to his game, not a greeting out of him. What the heck is he playing to keep his attention like that?
"What the hell is going on?" I muttered to myself.
"Seems like there is more to the story then we know, yet again." Jace spoke up from behind me, humor in his tone.
I turned around to meet his amused hazel eyes. "This isn't funny." I said seriously with a pointed look etched onto my face.
"Aww, don't worry. We knew this wasn't going to be easy." He comforted me. "My mom was actually excited when I mentioned this gathering. There was no hesitation on her part. It's like she knew who she was coming to."
"I guess we're just gonna have the pry the information out." I stated turning my head to glance into the full kitchen. Everyone was talking and laughing.
I froze in my spot when I felt fingers brush across the nape of neck ever so softly. It caused a small explosion of tingles to spread across my body. "Seems like it's gone already."
I slapped his hand away. "Yeah, no thanks to you. Do you know how hard it was to keep it hidden from my mom?" I whispered yelled.
"Well, get use to it." He said nonchalantly with a mischievous smirk on his perfect lips.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why would I need to get use to it?"
Jace closed the already small distance between us. We were perfectly hidden away from the kitchen by the staircase we were standing in front of. His hand went under my chin and tilted my head up to meet his eyes. "Because trust me, the next time I will do so much more worse." His voice coming out huskily.
I felt heat rising within the core of my body from his words. I couldn't let him know how much he affects me. I can't let him play with my feelings, especially since I don't know where he stands with his. Does he feel the same or are we back to the game? Is this still for his entertainment?
"What makes you think I would let you do it again?" My own voice coming out in a whisper. I could feel the air around us becoming tense.
An irresistible smile lined his lips. His hand moved from chin to side of my neck, his fingers resting there. That small touch did something to me, I found myself melting from the simple gesture. "That's why." His voice also coming out as a whisper. His thumb grazed my bottom lip softly. "I want to hear my name leave your pretty mouth again."
His lips inched closer to mine. I didn't stop him, I didn't push him away. I welcomed it.
"Seriously, get a room." A voice rang clearly from behind. That alone sent me back to reality. Jace lowered his head in slight disappointment and moved away to reveal Kayla with a devious smirk on her lips standing at the front door. "I mean her room isn't far. Just up those steps." She teased and gave me a knowing look. I glared daggers at her.
"I know." Jace answered simply. No, wrong answer!
"Oh, you know?" Kayla asked with a raised eyebrow that was directed towards me.
"I probably shouldn't have said that, right?" Jace whispered for only me to hear. You think!
"Wasn't the door lock?" I asked my best friend trying to change the topic.
"Think you forgot, I have a key." She said holding up the small silver item. Of course she does. "Please, don't let me stop you, continue on." She said playfully walking towards the kitchen leaving Jace and I behind.
I cut a glare at Jace for putting us in this predicament as I smacked him once on the chest. His face showed no remorse whatsoever. He shrugged off his jacket and grabbed my hand leading me towards the kitchen.
When we entered the kitchen everyone was immersed into a conversation about Mrs. Emerson and my mom's failed attempted at making blueberry scones in college. The room was lively, it was like old friends meeting up after sometime. There was absolutely no tension.
And for some reason that irked me even more.
They had all dished out the desserts. Kayla's cheesecake pumpkin bars were a hit, Nate's pumpkin roll was definitely in the top three, but Mrs. Emerson's Black Forest cake stole the show. The moment I took a bite, I was taken to heaven. It was the right amount of chocolate and raspberry filling. It was quite literally perfect.
"Char, what did you put in this cake?" Mrs. Rylan asked. It also turned out that my mother, Mrs. Rylan and Mrs. Emerson were all friends in college. Go figure.
"It's a secret." Mrs. Emerson teased.
"No seriously, Mrs. Emerson. You could make a killing off of just selling this." Kayla said taking another bite.
I nodded in agreement as I finished the last bit of my piece. Damn, I want more but I didn't want to look greedy.
A forkful of the very cake was raised to my lips and I glanced up to see Jace was the one holding it. He gestured to it, almost as if he read my mind. I took the bite and was taken to heaven and back once more. He let out a soft chuckle to my reaction and I couldn't help the blush that rushed to my cheeks.
"This was actually Jeremy's favorite cake." Mrs. Emerson mentioned all eyes landed on her. I could hear the hint of sadness in her voice. "It's the one I would make on his birthday every year."
The tension in the room increased drastically. "He would be happy to know that we are all enjoying his favorite cake." Mr. Rylan spoke up soothingly. "I'm sure he would have stole the whole cake for himself if he was here."
Mrs. Emerson let out a small laugh. "That he would. He wasn't much of one to share the things he liked."
"Trust me, I know." Mr. Rylan stated. "Even back in high school it was always so hard to get a single chip out from his bag. I swore one time he was ready to bite off my hand." He chuckled at the memory. "James was there to save me from his wrath."
"Those two were attached by the hip." My mom spoke up with a sad smile on her lips.
"Till the very end." Mrs. Rylan added almost as if she forgot we were all in the room. A deep heavy silence filled the room and I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take the constant mention of our fathers and not knowing the truth. All this reminiscing about them was adding fuel to a very large fire.
I dropped my fork onto my plate making a loud clank that echoed through the silent room. "Then why were they murdered?" The words left my mouth before I could stop them. Every single eye in the room landed on me. I could feel anger and frustration running through my veins.
"What?" My mom asked incredulously. "Where did you get that from?" Her eyes darted to Mr. and Mrs. Rylan for a brief moment.
"Don't lie to me, mom." I warned her looking directly into her worried eyes. I felt Jace's hand slipped into mine in a comforting manner. This gave me courage to move forward.
"Leah, I have no idea where you heard this from." My mom defended. "But it's not true."
I left out a humorless laugh. At this point Kayla read the room and took Sam away into the living room and away from this heated conversation.
"We overheard your conversation in the kitchen the other day at dinner." Nate spoke up from my side. He stayed to help in revealing what we learned. Our parents looked taken back.
"You must have misheard us." Mr. Rylan argued. Misheard? Don't kid yourself.
"Sure. We can go with that." This time Jace spoke, his tone steady as ever. "We can go with them mishearing the conversation, but I know for a fact that my father was murdered." His eyes piercing into his mother's surprises ones. "I know what dad was involved in."
The silence was deafening. They had no words. They couldn't fathom what we just dropped on them. "Just tell us the truth." I said breaking the silence. "We just want know the truth."
"Knowing the truth won't set you free." My mom spoke up with hard eyes. "Just leave it as is."
"No!" I yelled. "No you don't get to do that! All this time I thought dad died in a car accident. Now it's murder? Mom, how is it murder? What do you know?" She just shook her head and I felt tears burning my eyes. "Mom, please." I pleaded. I was desperate to find the answer.
Silence fell again until Mr. Rylan spoke up. "Jace, if you know what your father was involved in. Do the rest of you know?" He asked referring to Nate and I. We nodded. "Then you know how dangerous this all is." We all nodded this time. "You want answers and if we don't give them to you, you all will find a way to them. It's better to be safe then sorry."
"Matthew, don't." Mrs. Rylan warned. "They're just kids. They don't need to know this information."
"It's too late." He said looking at the rest of the adults in the room. "They are already looking for answers. It doesn't matter how much we try to protect them from it, they will eventually find out. It's better if it comes from us." After a moment of thought, the adults nodded in agreement. "What you overheard is true. We believe your fathers were murdered."
"Why?" I asked almost breathlessly. "Why do you all think so?" Jace's hand squeezed onto my own tightly and I returned the grip.
"The three of us were close in high school. You couldn't separate us if you tried. Wherever one went the others followed. You could say we were a little reckless. I mean we were teenagers after all." Mr. Rylan started. "Until one day we were approached by a man named Dominic. Things happened that led us to meeting him and he wanted Jeremy specifically to join his mafia which you all know is the The De Luca Family. Well, just like I said, where one goes the others follow and we ended up joining. I won't dive into the details leading up to it."
"Is that what broke your friendship apart?" Jace questioned, his demeanor tense.
Mr. Rylan nodded. "James and I couldn't stay after seeing what the De Luca Family had to offer, we saw the horrors of it. We wanted Jeremy out also, but your father actually grew to like it. He was only shown the luxury of the mafia, Dominic wanted to keep him and he did."
"So you left him? You abandoned him?" Jace's tone harsh. I could only imagine the thoughts running through his head.
"No, we did not abandon him." Mr. Rylan defended. "We were always there for him even after leaving, but he kept getting deeper and deeper into the lifestyle. It didn't matter how much we tried to pull him out, he was stuck. Life continued, and we eventually had families." He gestured to us. "We couldn't risk our children."
"But how is dad involved in this? How did ended up getting in the middle of all of this?" I asked looking between the adults.
My mom let out a heavy sigh. "Jeremy approached your father one day. It seemed like he had enough of the mafia life and wanted out. He came to James for help." She answered.
"That's true. From what I remember Jeremy was always trying to find a way out and he got to a point where he couldn't take it anymore. He was worried about our safety. All I knew was that he had an idea to help get him out, but he never revealed it to me." Mrs. Emerson spoke up. "But he needed James's help to execute it. That's all I know."
"For what? Why did he needed Mr. Tate's help over anyone else's?" Nate asked the question that was on all of our minds. What did Mr. Emerson had plan that included my dad?
"James never revealed it to me nor did Jeremy." Mr. Rylan said. "It was extremely secretive. All I knew was that it was deep rooted and will bring Dominic down for good. I never got details."
"When your fathers passed away, we tried to do some research of our own to figure out what they were working on and to see if we could carry it out. But it became dangerous." Mrs. Rylan chime in. "We were afraid that Dominic would come after us in the long run."
"We wanted to finally let this go and keep you kids safe. So I asked for this research to be stopped." Mrs. Emerson added. "We just wanted to move on, keep the memories of your fathers alive, but bury the past."
"Okay, I understand that." Jace said. "But that still doesn't explain how you think they were murdered."
"For months, James and Jeremy were working on their plan. Almost every single day." My mom spoke. "Jeremy would pick James up every time and drop him off. It was a routine."
"Okay." I said simply to let them continue.
"Well, the day of Jeremy's accident they had left together." My mom added.
I furrowed my brows in confusion. But my dad's car accident was dated a week later. "So dad wasn't in the car, then where was he? The article of his accident was dated a week later."
Mr. Rylan shook his head. "No, that article just stated that he passed away from the accident. That's not when it happened. It was never added to the article."
"What are you trying to say?" Jace asked his voice unwavering.
"Think about it. James and Jeremy left that day together like they normally did for the past few months, yet they were found in two separate cars miles apart from each other that very same day." Mr. Rylan said looking between us.
"Fuck." Jace whispered under his breathe. He glanced over to me with a heavy gaze. "Dominic knew what they were doing. They were set up."
***
Hello my loves!
Happy Early Thanksgiving! 🦃🍁
I'm so sorry it took me so long to upload this chapter! As you can see it long and filled with detail so it took sometime to write. Also it doesn't help that I'm under the weather. 🥺
What are your thoughts on the parents reveal? Did any of you called it?
So much more to come!
Also please check out my new story called 'For All The Wrong Reasons' I'm super excited to be writing that story! ❤️
Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT!
Lisa S.