“It was my weekend with the kids and I paid no mind, no attention to their scared faces as I tore this house apart. I ignored Lacey’s cries, forgot they were even there, I was crazed and determined to find the wire taps I was sure he hid in my house. Why else would my brother become an agent if not to put me away? He knew what the patch that read one percent on my cut meant. I was an outlaw, and he was disgusted by it. He never minded the money though. Money I earned illegally is what got him that fancy degree he used to get into the bureau,” he sneered, sucking in a harsh breath.
“I’m sorry your brother went against you like that,” I offered, reaching out and running my hand along his arm.
“He never showed up to my kid’s funeral, never saw his sorry ass until I was in Ryker’s doing some bullshit bid. The minute I saw him in the visitor’s room I thought he was there to gloat, but it wasn’t the case. He was never out to get me or bring my club to its knees like I thought. He came to tell me they assigned him to some RICO case or unit, I don’t even remember, to be honest. Anyway, little brother had bigger fish to fry and wanted to bring the mob down. He came to Ryker’s to tell me he was changing his last name. He didn’t want to risk his career by being associated with me,” he said, pausing for a moment. He reached out, wrapped a strand of my hair around his finger and watched as it slowly unraveled.
He leaned into me, cupped my face in the palms of his hands and bent his head a fraction so his lips could glide over mine. It was a soft kiss, just a test of how my lips felt against his. He pulled back slightly and his eyes darkened as they stared into mine.
“Daniel Parrish became Daniel Gregorio,” he said finally.
I watched his lips as he said the words but even as I read his lips, my ears played tricks on me because what I heard couldn’t be true. I lifted my eyes to his, and the truth slammed into me, punching me in the gut, stopping my heart for a moment.
His eyes exposed his truth.
“I’m Danny’s brother,” he whispered. “I’m your Danny’s brother.”
“You’re lying,” I accused, shaking my head in disbelief.
“No more lies, Sunshine,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Stop it,” I demanded, retreating backward. “You’re lying because my Danny didn’t have a brother. His parents died, and he was an only child.”
“Our parents died and he might as well have been an only child because we didn’t have much of a relationship after they passed.”
I shook my head adamantly, wondering why he’d do this. Why would he bring up Danny, and in such a way?
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, feeling my eyes fill with tears.
“I didn’t speak to him after that day. Three years and not a word then Victor Pastore asked me for a favor. The Fed’s dug up a body and threatened to take Vic and his organization down. Victor asked me to take care of the Fed and I agreed because that Fed he was gunning for was Danny. I had no doubt that if I didn’t agree to help Victor, he’d have someone else do it and I was the only person who could save Danny. He sent Bianci with me to do the job and I confessed the truth to him. I told him Danny was my brother and I wasn’t going to kill him. My plan was to get him to shut down his investigation,” he said, pausing to give me a moment to process his words.
My head was spinning, still processing Jack was Danny’s brother and trying to comprehend that Danny was a Fed.
“He was a financial investor,” I whispered.
“He was a federal agent,” he insisted.
“You were going to kill your own brother?” I questioned. Even if what he said was true, and Danny was his brother, he was going to kill him. What kind of monster was I in love with?
“No, I wasn’t. I swear on my son; I would never kill Danny. I struck a deal with Bianci, he would tell Victor I took care of the problem,” he explained. “But I was too fucking late. I was too late because when I got there his house was already up in flames.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered, lifting my hand to my mouth to cover the gasp that escaped but I couldn’t hide my tears as realization set in.
“Reina…” he whispered, stepping closer.
“You were there,” I cried, dropping my hand. “You saw the fire…you knew!”
He shook his head.
“Not at first, not then. I didn’t know until that first night I came to Dee’s. I had no idea you existed,” he admitted.
“You knew all along. You knew everything,” I whispered in shock.
“I knew you were his girlfriend. I knew you were with him in that fire, that you were hospitalized but that’s it. Bianci convinced me to go to you, to grill you for information. He made me think that you could give me closure or maybe I could give you some. But one fucking look at you and I couldn’t do it. You wouldn’t even look at me, Reina. For fuck’s sake you took five weeks to tell me your name and by that time it wasn’t about Danny, it was all about you. It didn’t matter you were his, the instant you looked up at me and told me your name you weren’t his anymore because you were mine,” he shouted. “Look at me, Reina,” he pleaded. “Yeah, I thought you were some high class bitch and yeah, I planned on using you to get information on Danny but that shit faded away. It faded real fucking quick,” he said, reaching for me but I quickly moved away from him.
“Don’t touch me. Don’t fucking look at me that way either,” I yelled through my tears.