Promises Forgotten
Chapter 52

A pin could drop, and it would shatter the windows with the sound of it. Those who didn’t know, their mouths were wide open. Those who did were smirking. I lifted up my hand and spun the ring around my finger. How it still managed to fit perfectly still boggled my mind. I always meant to ask Evie more about her father, but she wouldn’t say much about him, and I always figured it was still a loss she felt deeply. She had more time with her father than I did with my mother, but he was also all she had. He was a single father and that made him all the more important in her life.

Looking up, I smiled. “Jennifer, have you ever been to Greece?”

“Once or twice.”

“There is an island, Zakynthos. My parents have a summer home there, it’s lovely. The beaches are beautiful and it’s just an all-around experience. I went there for three weeks for my honeymoon, and it was spectacular. I would highly recommend it.”

Jennifer spit out the wine she was drinking, coughing slightly. I looked over at my parents and their eyes were wide.

“I had a wonderful honeymoon until I got shot at by some assholes from the Mafia trying to teach Father a lesson. Isn’t that right?”

Father stared at me and for the first time in my life, I saw fear in his eyes. “Zachary, matters like that don’t need to be discussed at the table.”

“Oh? But maybe we should talk about the side effects of muscle relaxants? How they cause memory loss when given too much?” I stared at him, keeping his eyes locked with mine. “Or how I begged you to bring my wife home with me as you did it. The wife who sacrificed her arm to save my life, because the bullet would have hit my heart if she hadn’t stepped in the way.”

My heart hammered in my chest, but I continued. “Or maybe how you knew about my son. The son I had with my perfectly legal wife. Who I have been married to for over three years now. But you already knew about my son and you refused to help them when they were taken and kidnapped by the Mafia, right?”

“What?” Adrian squeaked out, now looking at me.

Nodding, I sighed. “My wife was abused and raped by the f*****g Italian Mafia after she helped the police put away the men who shot at us and nearly killed us. My father received the ransom call with proof that Elliot was my son but he refused to acknowledge him because he was supposedly illegitimate.”

“But your marriage is public record. I found it when I was getting paperwork done for your wedding…” Jason stopped mid-sentence.

“Right. Which means Father knew about my marriage. The question is, when did he figure it out. Was it before or after he proposed the agreement with the Sinclairs?”

My fathers face turned red, and you could almost see the anger spilling out of his ears. He kept glancing at the Sinclairs and they were probably the only reason he was holding it in. His eyes are wild, but my mother pulled her hand back, resting them in her lap as she looked white as a ghost.

“And I was thinking, but it didn’t make sense for the Italian Mafia to be in Los Angeles. That’s not their territory. They don’t operate over there. Which makes me wonder what they were doing out there and if they were tipped off to someone being over there. If someone was trying to get rid of my wife and child before they became an issue before the wedding. Though it failed, but at this point, I wouldn’t put it past you to do something like that.”

I looked up at my father, fury ebbing out of me. He was furious, as well.

“After all I’ve done for you!”

“You haven’t done shit! You f*****g abused your position as a father to force me into a job I never wanted after you f****d with the Mafia! I stuck around for the sake of Adrian, but he is grown now, and I won’t f*****g stand for your shit.”

My father stood up from his chair, trying to loom over all off us, but I just smirked. “You are an ungrateful child. You’ve always been a child. You knew that woman for nine days. Nine! Then you married her. No money, no name, she was nothing. You think I would allow that? No, I won’t. Not now, not ever.”

“It’s a good thing I don’t give a rat’s a*s what you think. Allow it? I’m married. I have a son and I am moving to Los Angeles to live with them. I am taking over DV Holdings like I originally planned for my life. I don’t need your money or your last name to be happy. It should make you feel better I waited five more days than Grandpa when he married Grandma.”

“You think it will last? She married you for your money!”

I shook my head and laughed. “She didn’t even f*****g know who I was! She refused to let me pay for a suite for us. She refuses to allow me to pay for things. Evelyn has her own goals and own dreams that she is making a damn good living on, and she doesn’t need shit from me.”

“Which is good, because I’m removing you from everything!”

“I already removed myself a week ago!” I slammed my hands down. “You think I’m not a millionaire without you? Because I am. I bought my own house, without your name on it. My own summer home. My own business. Everything I have is mine and hasn’t been tainted by your dirty hands. I will never touch anything of yours again.”

He took a deep breath. “Get out of my house. Get out of my f*****g house. I raised my son better than this and if you think I’m going to allow you act this way towards me, then you have another thing coming.”

Standing up, I chuckled. “And when you want to see your grandkids, just remember this moment. The moment where you ruined any and all chances to be in their lives like Grandpa was in ours.”

My chair scraped against the floor, and I walked out of the dining room. I heard two other scrapes and Jason, with Stacy right at his heel, followed.

“You didn’t need to follow.”

“F**k them. All of them. We will always be on your side. Your father can suck it.” Jason snarled.

We opened the door and got in the car, Jason drove this time. We pulled out and headed away from the house. Taking a deep breath, I let out a hearty laugh.

“F**k, I feel free. For once, I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders.” I smiled as I leaned back in the seat. “I can finally just live my f*****g life. Jesus, I should have done this years ago.”

Stacy laughed. “Well, I’m glad you feel better. I thought Adrian was going to cry. Jennifer looked amused as f**k.”

“When I asked for that dinner reservation when I got back from France, I met Jennifer. We had a wonderful chat and dinner, but I already confirmed that we wouldn’t be getting married. So Jennifer and I already had that conversation.”

“That makes sense why you two were so relaxed around each other.” Jason piped up and I nodded.

My phone vibrated and I looked down at my phone.

E: I hope it went okay.

I smiled. Of course, she texted at the right time.

Z: It went as expected. I feel free. I can finally come home without feeling like I’m looking over my shoulder.

E: You still want us to come?

My eyes widened and I quickly texted back.

Z: YES!

Please!

Don’t make me take on the rest of the week alone.

E: Haha. Alright. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then. I need to put Elliot down.

Z: I love you.

E: I love you too, Z. Goodnight.

Z: Goodnight.

Putting my phone down, Stacy was looking at me with a smirk on her face. “I don’t even need to ask who it was when I see that f*****g smile plastered on your face. It’s nauseating.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Absolutely I am! A girl can dream, can’t she? I never thought it would be you first.”

I patted Stacy’s knee. “One day, let’s hope it doesn’t go as mine did. Take your time and enjoy it. Do you mind picking them up from the airport? I’ll give you her number and…”

“Oh, I already have her number. We chat from time to time.”

Blinking at her, my brow furrowed. “What do you mean you chat? When did you become buddies?”

“She’s a firecracker. Why wouldn’t I? Hell, I would have dated her if you were going to let her go. Gorgeous and sweet? I was going to jump on that so quick I would have married her that day.” Stacy laughed, but I pouted.

Jason also started to laugh as he looked in the rear-view mirror. “I mean, if you took her, I’d try my hand at Zach.”

Shaking my head at the two of them, I rolled my eyes. “You two are incorrigible.”

“I can pick her tomorrow, though. Will it before or after the press conference?”

“I think after. At least that was the estimated landing time. But knowing her…” My voice trailed off.

Jason dropped off Stacy first. We waited until she got in and Jason turned to go to the office, to drop off the car. I got out and sat in the front passenger seat with him, not feeling like sitting in back alone.

“You okay?”

I looked at him, my head cocked. “What do you mean?”

“I know he is a shitter, but they are still all the family you have left.”

Smiling, I shook my head. “Honestly, I haven’t thought of any of them as my family in a long time. I think this was the nail in the coffin. Evie’s adopted father punched me in the face, gave me bloody nose, and almost a black eye, but I feel more connection to him than I do my own. I found my family. In you, Stace, Evie, her extended family, Elliot, and of course still having Adrian. You are my family, and I don’t need anyone else.”

“Thanks, man. You know Stace and I have your back. I won’t stay at Anderson, though. Not after this. I think I might take some time off. Go travel around and replace out what I actually want to do.”

“You’ve stuck by me through thick and thin. If you need anything, I’ll be there. You know that. There will always be a place for you at DV no matter what you decide, if you need to work something in the meantime as well.”

Jason nodded and smiled. “I know Stace will stay to help Adrian. She’s a softy but eventually, she will leave. Help her, too if you can. She’s been stuck with our asses so long I don’t think she could handle being on her own right off the bat.”

“You underestimate her, but she knows there will always be a place for her.”

He pulled over in front of the hotel and patted me on the back. “I’m excited to officially meet her tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is going to be chaotic. Have your boys ready. If the press come for us, you’ll be the last line of defense.”

Shaking his head, he smirked. “I’ll take care of it as the final act as Head of Security. I’ll pass it over to Joe after that. He deserves it.”

Getting out, I headed into the hotel and flopped down on the bed. I had basically moved in for the week, with clothes in the closet and drawers. Tomorrow was going to be crazy and I didn’t have a full business suit that would fit my needs for the press conference. Sighing, I rolled over. It would be too late to have something made so I would need to get something off the rack. It would hopefully be the last one I would need to purchase for a long time.

My phone buzzed.

A: I can’t believe you just f*****g left me there in that shit show.

Laughing, I set my phone to silent, but before setting it on the charger, I replied.

Z: Now you’re the first and only son. Haha. Welcome to all that comes with it.