A/N: This chapter could irk some people, the subject matter and all. Just thought I should mention that.Thanks to all who reviewed and read the last chapter.
Song/s for the chapter 'Stay' by 12 Stones, "Lost In A Portrait" by Trapt, or "Outside" by Staind. Take your pick really.
Vince slid out of the elevator, tired and sore. All he wanted to do was get home, kiss Tala and give Rory a hug before crashing out on the couch in front of the television. Marcus had him sorting through the year's receipts and categorising them into repairs, paint and custom builds all day. He had gotten three quarters of the way through the stack of papers when everybody's favourite secretary, Marie, had opened the window. It just happened to be blowing a gale outside at the time. The hours of work he had done was completely destroyed and all he could do at the time was stare at the mess of invoices all over the office, dumbstruck. Then, then, the stupid woman had the nerve to say 'oops' and bend over right in front of him. She had been rather offended when he told her to get her fat ass out of his face.
He had been so busy in the back offices all afternoon that he had skipped lunch and hadn't seen Leon all day. Sad for the simple fact that they worked at the same place, the same hours, but neither had even glanced at each other the entire duration of the day.
Retrieving his keys from his pocket, Vince paused outside the door, hearing voices. One was definitely a baritone, male, and the other was Tala. She didn't sound upset, so he just shrugged it off and slid the key into the lock, twisting it and pushing the door open.
"Babe?" He called ahead of him, pushing the door closed quietly.
"In the living room, V!"
He kicked off his boots and slumped tiredly, rubbing his right arm. Since Aurora had been born he had been pushing himself even morso than before to get better, using the limb a little more each day. He could lift some things, hold onto others occasionally, but when his arm decided it didn't want to work, it didn't. If he was fit enough to drive he just knew his car would be decorated with one of those pretty little disability stickers. His crowning moment had been when he actually hugged Tala properly for the first time. It had hurt, but it had felt good at the same time. He still needed to be handed Rory though. He wasn't steady enough to actually pick her up himself yet. Yet.
He yawned, shuffling down the small hallway into their living room, rubbing his eyes. "Who's here?"
"Your dad."
He stopped dead in his tracks, slowly raising his eyes to look at her. His heart almost stopped beating when he saw his father. Holding his daughter. Tension immediately flooded him, painfully tightening across his shoulders and a headache started to pound behind his eyes.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He snarled, glaring at the older man. His voice was quiet, deathly so, and he could feel that old sneer creeping up on him.
His father, Joseph, smiled at him. "You have a beautiful daughter, Vinnie."
Vince glanced at Tala, her facial expression reading of confusion. She had no idea why he was being so hostile. "Give her to Tala."
Joseph's mouth opened in shock. "Excuse me?"
"I said, give her to Tala. Now."
Tala's eyes darkened, her womanly instinct telling her to trust Vince. She had never seen him so worked up over someone touching Rory. Wordlessly she took her daughter back from the big man, watching Vince become more and more rigid out of the corner of her eye. The closer she got to Joseph the more he tensed.
"Vince? What's the matter?" Her voice shook. She had seen him do mad on more than one occasion, but this was different. This was sheer fury and hatred. He shook as he turned to her.
"Did you leave him alone with her?"
She shook her head. "No, not once. Why?"
Vince took a deep breath and took a step back, motioning for the front door. "Take her to Mrs Willard's. You wait there until I come to get you."
Anger swept over her at his demand. "Vincent, don't you tell me-"
"NOW Tala!"
She gently gathered Aurora closer to her chest and started toward him, frightened. He had never yelled at her like that before. Only once she was close enough to touch him did she see the tremble of his fingers. He was terrified. All trace of anger she had felt a moment before left her and she glanced back at her father in law. He had a small, some would call it sick smile on his face. The fear swelled in her chest, making her bundle Aurora even closer to her breast.
"Vince.." she looked up at him, "Vince."
He looked down, his good hand coming up to touch Aurora's head. "Go," he demanded softly, "I don't want you near him. Please firefly.." he pleaded softly, giving her a push toward the door.
"You're telling me everything later, Vincent." She told him almost inaudibly. The pain that momentarily flashed in his eyes scared her. "Alright?"
He nodded slightly. "Go on, baby." He pecked Rory on the head, muttering an 'I love you, princess' before shooing her toward the door. "Go."
The eerie silence that followed her gave her a sick feeling in her stomach and she quickly snatched Vince's cell from his pocket as she moved away from him. As soon as the door clicked shut she almost ran down the hall to her elderly neighbour, knocking frantically.
"Mrs. Willard! Please.." the door opened and the spirited old woman smiled at her.
"Hello, dear! Oh and little Aurora! Come in, come in."
Tala heaved a sigh of relief and almost pushed Aurora into the old woman's hands. The lady gave her a confused look, then saw the fear on Tala's face.
"I'll take care of her." She said firmly. "You do what you need to do."
Tears came to Tala's eyes at the old lady's kind words and she hugged her impulsively. "Thankyou, Mrs Willard. I'll just be a minute."
"Take your time, dear."
Tala nodded, scrolling through Vince's cell for Leon's phone number. She could hear muffled arguing coming from their apartment and nerves started to make her shake.
A moment later, Leon answered. "Yeah, V?"
"Leon! It's Tala. Look, Vince is acting weird. He came home and just freaked. He yelled at me, he sent me out of the apartment.. He's arguing with your dad as we speak."
There was a muted squeal of tires on the other end of the phone and she could hear Leon's breathing pick up pace. He must have been on his way home. "Wait, wait.. Dad is where?"
"He's in the apartment."
"In your apartment? Now?"
She nodded, biting her thumb. "Uh huh.. Leon I'm scared. He wont tell me what's going on.. Leon? Leon?" She pulled the phone away from her ear, looking at the display.
He had hung up on her.
Vince glowered darkly at the man that had ruined the first twenty years of his life, hatred coursing through him like wild fire.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
Joseph smiled, lifting his hands in an innocent gesture. "Heard through the grapevine that I had a grandchild. Thought I'd come and see her." he picked up a photo frame that was sitting on the mantle. One of Vince, Tala, Leon and Letty on their wedding day, dressed to the nines, all posing for the camera. Leon wore a look of debonair indifference, making him look more like a Mafia hit man. Letty was posing like Marilyn Monroe, Tala was doing a gone with the wind and Vince was leaning on a pool cue, cigarette hanging from his mouth, his tie hanging undone.
The older man chuckled, looking at the photo. "You four look like you were enjoying yourselves." He looked up at Vince with a spiteful smirk. "Trust you to knock her up before you were married. Never could keep it in your pants, could you son."
Vince sneered. "Fuck you! Where do you think I got that little trait from you bastard."
Joseph smiled at his anger, then looked back at the picture. "This Leon? My, my, well hasn't he grown up nicely." He scowled at Vince. "Your mother would never let me see him. I wonder why."
"Maybe it's because she knew you'd fuck him up just like you did me."
Joseph threw the picture down, the glass shattering upon impact with the floor. "You do know that you're going to turn out just like me, don't you son."
Vince shook his head furiously, steeling himself as his father walked toward him. "I'll never be like you."
"Oh but you already are, Vinnie," he crowed, swaggering closer. "You've been in prison, you yell at your wife, you have this nasty little violent streak.. Face it. You're well on your way to being me."
"You have no idea what you're talking about old man." Vince snapped, barely keeping himself from flinching as his father's hand curled around his jaw, squeezing painfully. "Let. Me. Go."
Joseph got his face as close as possible to Vince's, close enough to smell his acrid breath. "Or what, Vinnie?"
Neither man heard the door creak open behind them. Neither saw Tala's head peek in.
"I said, let. Me. Go."
The older man pushed closer, making Vince take a step or two back. He smirked arrogantly at the movement. "I knew it. You're a pussy, Vinnie. You were always a squealer, you know that? All mouth, you are. You wouldn't take a swing at me if your life depended on it. You didn't fight back then and you wont do it now."
Vince was trembling now, barely repressed rage making him clench his jaw so tightly it hurt. "You touched my daughter." He said quietly, flexing his fingers against his thigh.
Joseph smiled, nodding. "She's a pretty little thing, isn't she. Looks just like that mother of hers. Tell me, Vinnie. What bullshit did you have to feed her to get her in to bed? Come on, let me in on the secret." He licked his lips, quirking a brow. "Tell me all about your pretty little wife and daughter."
Vince bit the inside of his cheek, nostril's flaring with each breath. "You shut the fuck up about my family."
Joseph's laughter boomed throughout the apartment. "Or what?"
Vince tore back from his father's touch, shaking his head slightly before taking another step back, then flying forward, his shoulder driving into his father's gut. The old man's breath whooshed out of him as he found himself off his feet and being driven into the wall. His head bounced off the hard surface, leaving a crack behind.
"You little bastard!" he snarled, his fist pounding against Vince's back trying to free himself. Vince took no notice, his left hand hammering into the man's kidneys. When it came to fighting Vince was fairly capable with both hands, but his left hook was by far nastier than his right.
"I hate you!" He growled dangerously, ramming his shoulder into his father's gut again, pinning him to the wall. "I fucking hate you! You ruined" punch, "-my" shoulder, "-life!"
Joseph struggled, kicking and squirming to free himself. He hadn't counted on Vince being so angry, nor strong. He was much bigger than he remembered.
It was a lucky shot that freed him from Vince's savage attack, his fist landing hard against Vince's right bicep just on the right angle. Vince screamed, jerking backward and slamming into the wall in agony.
A twisted smile spread across Joseph's face, his eyes settling on the scar tissue covering his eldest boy's arm. "Well, well.. Looks like we have an old injury. Big mistake boy. Big mistake."
"Tala you get the fuck away from that door!" Leon roared at her, pulling her backward. Her face was pale.
"He.. Leon help him. Please." She begged, tears sliding down her cheeks. He kissed her on the head and pushed her toward her elderly neighbour.
"I will. Don't you worry."
She nodded, stepping back. It was then that she noticed the double barrel shot gun in his hand and a sob caught in her throat. She looked at his face and saw that dark, protective glimmer in his eyes that he wore almost constantly when she first met him.
"Get inside." He ordered, watching her long enough to make sure she was alright before entering the apartment.
Vince and who he assumed to be his father were rolling around on the floor, fists flying and swearing, threatening each other.
He gulped down a scream and strode over to them, then slowly pressed the barrel of the shot gun against their father's ear.
"You hit him one more time, and I'm pulling the fuckin trigger."
The large man froze, turning his head slightly. His fingers let go of Vince's damaged arm and he lifted himself off him slightly, though he was still resting heavily on top of him. He licked his lips slowly, grinning.
"Is that you Leon?"
Leon ignored him, only pressing the gun closer and harder against his head. He looked down at Vince, the terror in his eyes at having their father laying on top of him the way he was. He nodded slightly, kicking the older man in the side as hard as he could.
"Get off him. Now."
The instant Joseph was off Vince, Leon could see the relief wash over his face. His eyes fell shut. His face was taut with pain. "You alright, Vince?"
"Get that fucker out of my home." Was all he said, avoiding answering the question. Leon turned to Joseph, eyebrow quirked.
"You heard him." He snapped. "Out. Now."
Joseph brushed at his bleeding mouth, chest heaving from exertion. "I'm going to the police." His hands clutched at his ribs where Leon had just kicked him and Vince had been ramming him before that.
Vince started to laugh, the sound ominous and maniacal. "For what old man?" He was still on the floor, eyes still shut. He was smiling now, but it was closer to the smile he used to wear while beating the shit out of people. It was a smile that quite frankly, scared Leon.
Joseph glared at him. "You assaulted me, Vinnie! Unprovoked!"
Vince lifted himself upright into a sitting position, his eyes open now. "Unprovoked," he chuckled, "How's this for 'unprovoked'.. YOU RAPED ME FOR YEARS!"
Leon flinched at Vince's blatant words, his grip tightening on the gun. He knew what had happened to him but to hear Vince being so frank pained him. He wasn't sure what made him do it, but his eyes flitted toward the door and he felt a wave of sadness wash over him. Tala stood there, eyes wide and wet, her hand over her mouth.
Vince looked up at him and noticed his look, turning to see what brought it on. Nausea sunk it's claws into him at the sight of his distraught wife.
Leon waved her in, gently pushing her toward Vince then turned back to their father. He rammed the butt of the gun against his temple, sending him reeling into the wall.
"You come near us again, and next time I will shoot you. Get out."
He followed him to make sure he actually left, then made his way back up the seventh floor where Vince and Tala lived. He peeked in the door and saw Tala curled around a sobbing Vince, crying herself and slowly backed out, quietly closing the door behind him. They needed some time alone.
He gave Mrs. Willard a small, tired smile. "It's been a long fucking day." He said apologetically.
She nodded slowly, taking the gun from him. "How about I have this, and you have this?" She carefully set the gun inside, then came back with a fussing Aurora.
He took her and curled her against him, her cheek laying against his neck. "It's alright princess," he soothed, bouncing her slightly, "Uncle LeLe's gunna take care of everyone." He kissed her tiny hand. "I promise, baby doll."
He looked at the closed apartment door down the hall and fought a wave of tears He couldn't quite figure out how he was supposed to break the news about Dom to Vince now. He feared it would break him.
I need Let.