Was blind, but now, I see…
I stared at the coffin as the priest prayed over Victor’s body, begging our Lord to relieve him of his sins and welcome him into his arms. As he continues the mass I continue to beg and bargain with our Lord for a chance to be reunited with my love.
Forgive him Heavenly Father.
Please don’t take away my eternal love.
The mass ended, it was time to take Victor to his final place of rest, the home where he’d wait for me to join him. A funeral procession of fifty cars, two limousines, three flower trucks and hearse guided by a dozen bikers stopped traffic along Fort Hamilton Parkway.
Wherever Victor was, I knew he had a grin on his face, loving that his send-off was as big as his personality.
The media were waiting outside the cemetery gates hoping for one last headline, snapping photos of us as we cried over his grave. One by one, everyone laid a rose on his coffin until there was only five of us surrounding him. Michael and Nikki said their goodbyes first, followed by Anthony and Adrianna.
Then it was just me.
Me and Vic.
I stepped to the coffin and placed my rose on top of all the others.
How do you say goodbye to the love of your life?
You don’t.
I’ll never say goodbye to my Victor.
I leaned over the coffin and pressed my lips to the top of it.
“Until we meet again my eternal love…I’ll be the girl in the turquoise jumpsuit.”
The End.
For now.
Epilogue
I ease Reina into the passenger seat of Lacey’s car after the cemetery. The two of us defied doctor’s orders, she took herself off bedrest and I damned my hearing to hell by riding, neither of us willing to give up the opportunity to pay our final respects to Vic and his family.
“Lace, take her straight home,” I tell my daughter as I buckle Reina’s seatbelt and turn my eyes to her. “You feel okay?” I ask, narrowing my eyes as she shifts uncomfortably.
“I’m fine,” she insists. “I’m just tired,” she adds as she kisses me.
“I’ll meet you at home and we’ll take a load off, watch one of those sappy movies you love so much.”
She smiles widely, and I laughed. Sunshine loves torturing me with the Lifetime Channel. I press another quick peck to her mouth before closing the door and tapping the hood of the car.
“Jack, I need a word,” Rocco Spinelli calls from behind me and the smile instantly falls from my lips. I turn, rolling my neck from side to side as I size up the boss of the Pastore family. The threads are the same and I’m sure Vic’s smiling down on his protégé. On second thought, maybe not, the kid seems to have forgotten the silk tie and matching handkerchief. That shit wouldn’t fly with Vic.
“We have nothing to discuss,” I say finally, lifting my gaze to his. Standing beside Vic’s coffin I observed a lot over the last few days and I decided on a number of things on behalf of myself and my club.
Victor Pastore wasn’t anything like the mobsters that flooded that funeral parlor. Not even the man he trained to take his place could ever fill his shoes, and I didn’t have a desire to join forces with any of these mutts.
“It’s about the bomb,” he mutters, undoing the top button of his collared shirt.
Rolling my eyes, I let out a sarcastic chuckle, he knows shit about that bomb. He wasn’t there when everything turned to dust. He didn’t lift a finger to help rebuild. He sat his pretty boy ass down, kicked up his legs in his mansion and barely checked in on his aunt.
“Thanks, but we’ve got everything under control.” I dismiss him, turning back around to head for my bike but he grabs a hold of my arm and holds me back.
Snatching back my arm, I step to him, narrowing my eyes as I drill him with a deadly glare.
“Don’t you ever put your fucking hands on me again, not unless you want me to cut them off—” I threaten but he quickly cuts me off.
“I don’t think the Corrupt Bastards sent that guy into your clubhouse with the bomb. There’s another enemy moving into our harbor and our streets and his name is Vladimir Yankovich. I have reason to believe he was working with the Bastards. Now, I think we can shut him—”
“Hold it,” I order, cutting him off and holding up my hand to stop the bullshit spewing from his mouth. “First, what happened to my club isn’t your concern. I don’t give a fuck about your theories and I sure as hell didn’t ask for them. Second, you made a mistake assuming there is a we here,” I growl as I wave a finger between his chest and mine. “My alliance was with Victor,” I clarify, pointing behind his shoulder to his fresh grave and his wife standing over his casket saying her final goodbye. “That alliance follows that coffin into the ground today. The Satan’s Knights are done with the mob.”
“But—” Rocco argues and I shake my head.
“And they say I’m the one with failing ears,” I grunt. “We’re done here,” I continue. “Good luck, boy, you’re sure as hell going to need it.”