Hey Everyone! I just want to say that I am so sorry for the huge gap between chapters. Long story short, my computer went kaput because I am one of the most frugal (re: cheapest) people you will ever meet. I have been putting off buying a new computer for well over a year and it finally bit me in my keister. I have been working like a mad woman trying to play catch up. I am still behind :-(. However, I didn't want to make you all wait any longer. I hope you like this chapter and please excuse if it is a little rougher than normal.
Nearly two hours ago, Bonnie had walked out of the Salvatore Manor with her head held high. She knew with certainty that separating from Damon was the right decision. However, she would not deceive herself by pretending that she was not heartbroken. Bonnie loved Damon and probably always would. The girl had fallen for the mobster before she was old enough to understand the true price. Unfortunately, her love for him had morphed into something dark and twisted. The toxicity of their relationship was on full display while they argued in the conservatory. Bonnie had struggled to ignore the overwhelming urge to slash Damon's handsome face with her switchblade. Her words, while brutal, did not even begin to rival the pain he had inflicted on her for four years. She would never receive true recompense from him.
Ultimately, Bonnie made the decision to focus on having a good life. Revenge was sweet but it took so much energy. Bonnie recognized that vengeance had the ability to become all-consuming and rarely did it ever bring satisfaction. Ruining Damon's life would not give her back four wasted years of her life. It would not give her back a single tear that she had cried over him. It would not knit together the tattered pieces of her self-esteem. The only outcome would be delving deeper into the violent madness that the Salvatore Family equated with love. Bonnie knew that it was better to focus all of her energy on the things that truly mattered—her children. She had the ability to save them from the poison that had infected her husband's very soul.
Bonnie was not naïve enough to believe that Damon would simply allow her to walk away from him without a fight. His male pride wouldn't allow him to stomach such a brutal rejection. Somehow, he had deluded himself into believing that he owned Bonnie because she was his wife. She would just have to disabuse him of that notion firmly. The young mother was prepared for the intense conversation she would have with Damon after dinner. Bonnie planned to inform her husband that she and Sarah would be moving into the beach house soon. Before she left for Tenerife, Bonnie had paid through the nose to get an interior decorator to overhaul the house in three weeks. The project was moving on schedule and would be ready by next weekend. Fortunately, the changes were limited to new furniture, fresh paint on the walls, and upgraded kitchen appliances. The five bedroom and 6.5 bathroom beach house was the perfect landing spot for Bonnie's little family.
Bonnie wasn't looking forward to breaking news of the separation to Sarah. That little girl loved her daddy with all of her heart. Moreover, it wasn't just Damon that they would be leaving. Sarah had grown up in a house filled with cousins, uncles, and aunts. Even some of the long-time staff members were like extended relatives in some ways. Bonnie hated that she would have to break her daughter's heart. However, she knew from experience just how resilient children could be in the face of adversity. Sarah would be sad for a time but she would acclimate to the changes eventually. Bonnie planned to do everything in her power to ensure that happened.
After leaving the Salvatore manor, mother and daughter had gone to a spa. Bonnie treated them to manicures, pedicures, and facials. She had even allowed Sarah to get her ears pierced. Caroline had taken Sarah and Bella to get their ears pierced as babies. Unfortunately, Sarah's ears had become infected after a week. Damon had removed the tiny stud earrings and allowed the piercings to close naturally. Recently, Sarah had been asking to have her ears pierced like Bella. Bonnie and Damon had discussed the matter and decided that it would be okay to try again now that Sarah was older. She was well aware that this afternoon with her daughter could be considered a bribe. However, her grams had always done something special when there was going to be a major change in Bonnie's life. Sheila wanted to reinforce that despite changes in Bonnie's life she would always be a constant. Bonnie wanted to do the same thing for Sarah.
Tyler pulled up in front of Abby's house and turned off the engine. He climbed out of the car and opened Bonnie's door. Tyler hadn't been able to stop smiling since overhearing her cut Damon down to size. He had been standing outside the conservatory just in case Damon had reacted violently. Fortunately, his intervention hadn't been necessary.
The green-eyed girl climbed out of the town car and asked, "Could you get our bags from the trunk?"
He nodded. Tyler was glad that Bonnie intended to stay with Abby until the beach house was ready. He didn't trust Damon's ability to restrain himself once he realized that this situation wouldn't simply blow over. "Sure. I will bring them inside for you."
"Thanks, Ty." She lightly squeezed his arm as she walked by him.
Sarah asked, "Can I ring the bell, Mama?"
Bonnie smiled and said, "Go ahead."
The girl raced to the front door and pushed the doorbell. Sarah grinned when she heard the chimes playing a cheerful melody.
Bonnie's smile faltered when Ric opened the door. She hadn't anticipated him being there. Bonnie had assumed that Ric would want to go home to his wife and daughters after being away for so long.
Sarah beamed up at him and launched herself into his arms. "Hi, Zio."
He smiled and hugged his great-niece before setting her down. "Hi, sweetheart. It is good seeing both of you. I was planning to stop by the manor later to check in with everyone."
Bonnie said, "I seem to have really awful timing. I am sorry for intruding, Ric. We can leave."
Ric was surprised to see Bonnie and Sarah at the front door. He knew that Damon had been excited about getting home to see his wife and daughter. He could only assume that his idiot nephew had done or said something to upset the girl. However, Ric couldn't imagine what Damon could have done after being home for only a few hours. "You don't have to leave. You aren't interrupting anything. I was just helping Abby cook dinner. Come inside."
Sarah ran by him and shouted, "Cooper? Where are you?"
Bonnie smiled tentatively and walked into the house. "I guess we're staying."
Tyler walked into the house carrying a couple of suitcases.
Ric eyed the bags suspiciously. He hoped that Bonnie wasn't attempting to leave Damon. He knew that his nephew would never go for that.
Abby walked out of the kitchen. "Is that Sarah Alessandra that I hear?"
Sarah nodded excitedly and hugged Abby's waist. "Hi, Nonna! Look at my nails. Mama took me to a spa."
The older woman examined the blush pink polish on the girl's fingernails. "Oh, they look beautiful. Did you have fun with your mama?"
She nodded and said, "The lady painted my toe nails, too. See."
Abby chuckled as Sarah tried to stand on foot so that she could take off her shoe. She kissed the top of the girl's head. "You can show me your toes later. I am going to want to hear all about your trip to the spa."
"Okay, Nonna. Where is Cooper?"
"He's in the backyard with Jamie and Seline. Why don't you go out there and see what they are doing? They just might be playing on the trampoline."
Sarah beamed up at her. "Okay!"
Abby and Bonnie chuckled as they watched Sarah tear out of the living room in search of her young uncles.
Bonnie lifted an amused eyebrow at her mother's apron. The black apron depicted Marlon Brando as The Godfather. "Interesting choice in aprons."
Abby took off the apron as she walked over to her daughter. She laughed softly. "It was meant to be a gag gift from Gianni. Of course the joke is on him because I love it."
She shook her head with a small smile. "I was telling Ric that I didn't mean to intrude."
"You aren't intruding, baby girl. I am glad that you are here. Is everything okay?"
"I, uh, I did what I said that I was going to do," Bonnie answered in a quiet voice.
Abby was frozen in place for a beat. She knew that Bonnie planned to separate from Damon. However, she had worried that her daughter's love for the man would ultimately win out. Abby had never been so happy to be wrong. She pulled Bonnie into her arms without warning and hugged her fiercely.
Bonnie sagged into the embrace without thought. Until now, she hadn't realized how much she needed a hug from her mother. She was wiped out from all of the emotions that had spilled out of her earlier. However, she had kept it together because that was what Sarah needed from her.
Abby stepped back and cradled the girl's face in her hands. "Oh, look at my brave girl. I am so proud of you. Do you hear me?"
She nodded.
"How did it go?" she asked tentatively. Abby's eyes carefully studied her daughter's appearance for even a hint of violence.
She shook her head. "I told Damon the truth about how I feel. I gave him my terms and explained what would happen if he violated them. We didn't get to talk much after I gave him the test results. I am sure he's still at the manor with Katherine."
The older woman huffed out a laugh. She said, "You did it without rat poison. Kudos."
Ric hoped that he had heard the girl wrong. He couldn't imagine a scenario where his nephew would disrespect Bonnie by inviting Katherine into their home. Some lines just couldn't be crossed. Ric tried his best to keep Jo and Abby separate as much as possible. However, it was difficult because of how the Salvatore and Benedettos families were intertwined. Unfortunately, all of his hard work had been for naught because he was certain now that Jo knew about his affair. He was avoiding going home for that reason. Alaric was stalling the inevitable conversation he needed to have with Jo.
"Is it still okay if Sarah and I stay here for awhile?" she asked.
"It is more than okay, baby girl. You and Sarah are welcome here at anytime. I had Seline make a copy of the keys so that you can come and go as you please. I cleaned out that closet in the first floor guest suite for your things. You and Sarah can share the suite. Or Sarah could stay in the guest room on the second floor if you want a little privacy."
Ric cleared his throat. "Would anyone mind cluing me into what is going on here? Bonnie and Sarah can't be seriously moving in here."
Bonnie tensed at his tone. She looked up at her mother. "Maybe this was a bad idea, Mama. I don't want to cause trouble between you and Ric. I can go somewhere else."
However, both women knew that Bonnie didn't have anywhere else to go. Abby was the only family member that lived in the area and the girl didn't exactly have any close friends outside of Caroline and Hayley. She couldn't stay with either of them. Abby also knew that Bonnie would not feel safe at the beach house while tradespersons came in and out to do their jobs.
"You are not causing any trouble here, baby girl. Ric might have bought this house but he was dumb enough to put the deed in my name. Therefore, this here is my house. If he doesn't like the idea of you and Sarah being here then he can fuck off back to Jo's house."
"I just got home. Do you really want to start this shit with me?" he snapped.
Abby smiled prettily at Ric but her eyes warned him of the danger. "I am not starting anything, Alaric. I am simply saying that my daughter and granddaughter are always welcome in my home. If that is a problem then you can remove yourself from my home. I don't really care either way."
An awkward silence filled the room as the couple glared daggers at one another.
Ric was the first to break. He muttered, "I need a drink."
The older Bennett woman looked at Tyler and said, "Take those bags to the guest suite, sweetheart. It is around the corner and at the end of the hall. The door is open so you can't miss it."
Tyler tried hard to hide his amusement at Alaric's predicament. He said, "Yes, Ma'am. I am sure that I will find it."
Ric growled, "We need to talk, Abigail. Now."
Abby smiled at Bonnie. "You should go unpack your things. You can get a feel for if the guest suite is big enough to share with Sarah. I will come find you once I finish speaking to Ric. Then the two of us will talk about how everything went down with Damon. Are you hungry? I can bring a snack, too."
"Mama…" Bonnie tried.
"Hush now. Go on to the guest room, baby girl," Abby said. There was no way she was going to let Ric run her daughter out of a house that she owned.
Bonnie gave up on arguing with her mother. It was pointless to belabor the point when Abby was being obstinate. She had to admit it was nice knowing that Abby was choosing her. Bonnie had worried that her mother might change her mind once she was face to face with Alaric. She wouldn't have blamed Abby for doing what caused the least friction in her already strained relationship. Bonnie had put up with plenty of bullshit in order to keep the peace with Damon—until now.
Ric waited until Bonnie disappeared from sight. "What the hell is going on?"
She said, "Bonnie and Sarah need a place to stay for awhile. She is separating from Damon. Your nephew has been quite the busy boy but then you know that because you were in Tenerife with him a couple weeks ago. Do I even want to know what you were doing while Damon was screwing around with his mistress? I hope you know that we won't be having sex until you've undergone an STD test."
His jaw dropped as he silently cursed his idiot nephew for putting him in this position. "How do you know that we were in Tenerife?"
Abby's hazel eyes flashed dangerously. "I realize that you both think that my daughter is young and naïve but I sincerely hope that you don't think me to be old and dumb. I still talk to my family back home. When you didn't arrive on time I made some inquiries to find out where the plane had landed."
"I would never think that about you, Abby. We stopped in Tenerife for a few days so that Damon could see Katherine. I didn't sleep with anyone while we were there. I spent most of my time drunk or arguing with Stefan."
The woman's unimpressed expression spoke to her level of skepticism. She said, "Well, Bonnie flew to Tenerife once you all were in Milazzo so that she could confront Damon's mistress. If you want more details then perhaps you should speak to your nephew. Meanwhile, I will worry about tending to my daughter. But don't begin to think that you can dictate what I do in my house with my child."
Ric sighed and said, "Now you are angry with me again. I said that I didn't fuck anyone while I was in Tenerife."
"I am not angry with you, Alaric. I don't actually care what you did right now. I am more concerned about my daughter and granddaughter. This is not your mess…it is mine. I should have taken Bonnie far away from my mother and your family when I had the chance. Instead, I have to watch my daughter suffer through a loveless marriage with no chance of escape. I did this to her and I am going to do my best to help her through it. Your family is a curse…it is a poison. Even if you will never admit it to me, you know this to be true."
Ric groaned as he watched Abby walk out of the room. This was the last thing they needed when Damon had just secured Big John's support. Bonnie talking about a separation instead of a divorce was a small miracle. However, he saw clearly that Big John had played them from the outset. He obviously knew what was coming down the pike when he insisted on having blood members of the Benedetto family assist Damon with managing the smuggling operation.
He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a large glass of scotch. Alaric finished the drink in three hurried gulps.
Tyler entered the kitchen. "Uh, Abby sent me in here to get something for Bonnie to eat."
Ric nodded and motioned for Tyler to get on with it.
He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the plastic container that Abby had described. Tyler grabbed a bottle of water as well before leaving the kitchen.
Alaric took out his phone and called Damon. He waited impatiently for the little bastard to answer his call as he poured a second drink. As soon as Damon answered, he asked, "What the fuck did you do?"
"It's always nice to hear from you, Zio. We have such a warm and fuzzy relationship. Can I take this to mean that my wife and daughter are at your house?"
He walked into the living room and began pacing as his anxiety levels continued to rise. Alaric ranted, "Yes, they're here with suitcases, Damon. Now Abby is giving me grief because of your insistence on stopping in Tenerife. And please, tell me that Katherine wasn't really at the fucking manor."
Damon groaned. "Bonnie is the one that invited Katherine to the house. They ambushed me! It's all fucked up, Zio. I'm down the block from your house now. I was already on my way when you called. I tried calling Bonnie but she hasn't been answering my calls."
"I don't want any fighting here, Damon. My kids and your daughter are in this house," he warned.
"I'm not going to fight with Bonnie. If she wants to stay a few nights with Abby…I won't put up a fight."
Ric frowned because he knew it had to be a dire situation if Damon was trying to be reasonable. "Is it truly that bad?"
"Worse. I'll fill you in when I get there," he replied.
The older man ended the call and stuffed the phone back into his pocket.
Tyler walked into the room. "I'm going to be out in the car if anyone needs me."
Ric hoped the kid would stay in the car and avoid Damon at all costs. Tyler would be a convenient target for his nephew's rage. Ric wasn't interested in breaking up a fight right now. Frankly, he was ready to wring Damon's neck for bringing his marital drama to his doorstep. He didn't need Damon's bullshit to upset the balance in his relationship with Abby. The love of his life was obviously ready for a fight but Ric wasn't about to fall into that trap. He couldn't win in a fight with Abby.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the front door.
He glanced out the peephole to confirm it was his nephew before opening the door. "Hurry up and get in here," he muttered.
"Where are they?" Damon asked without preamble.
"Abby is helping Bonnie get settled into the guest suite. Sarah is outside with my kids and Seline."
He walked into the house and closed the door. "I have another daughter," he blurted out.
Ric plopped down onto the couch and lifted an eyebrow at that. "Come again."
"I have a daughter with Katherine. Her name is Nadia and she is seven years old. She speaks French fluently. She's amazing, Zio," Damon explained.
Alaric's spine straightened at this new information. "You told me that Nadia was some other guy's kid."
He sat down across from his uncle and said, "At the time, I assumed that was the situation. I couldn't understand why Katherine would hide the truth from me if it meant a bigger payday. A mistress is one thing, but the mother of my child is a completely different tax bracket."
Alaric couldn't argue with his nephew's logic there. However, he couldn't believe that Damon hadn't thought to get a paternity test to be safe. He hardly needed Katherine's permission for that. It was as simple as having someone break into the mother's house to steal a toothbrush or a hairbrush that belonged to the little girl. "Did Katherine explain why she lied to you for this long?"
He nodded as his jaw clenched in anger. "She didn't tell me the truth because of Giuseppe. He raped her and then had one of our guys pay Katherine for her silence. She was scared that Nadia was his daughter and that he would take her."
The older man stilled when he learned that his older brother had raped another woman. He ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck…"
"Yeah, tell me about it. I had to promise Katherine that Giuseppe would never be in the same room with Nadia. She's scared…"
It wasn't lost on Alaric that all of the women in their lives feared Giuseppe. They saw him for the monster that he was. These women saw the sexual predator that Alaric tried so hard to ignore. However, he supposed it was easy for him to ignore such a thing when he would never be the target of that sort of violence from his brother. Abby had accused him of cowardice when she first learned of Giuseppe's attack on Bonnie. She was right.
Ric put down his empty glass and asked, "How did all of this happen?"
"Bonnie tracked Katherine down in Tenerife and convinced her to get a DNA test to prove that I was Nadia's father. Then she invited her to the manor after I told her that I was coming home today. She laid into me about being a shit husband and then said that we are married in name only now. She wants space….whatever the fuck that means. Bonnie said that I could keep seeing Katherine but threatened me with a messy divorce if she finds out that I've picked up another mistress along the way."
Ric just stared at Damon in shock because that didn't sound like the Bonnie he had watched grow up. She wasn't duplicitous or vicious. It just wasn't in her nature. He lowered his voice. "Do you have another mistress?"
Damon looked a bit guilty. "I wouldn't call her a mistress but I do see this woman on occasion. Andie helps me relax. I don't know if Bonnie knows about her or not but…"
"You don't think her threat of a messy divorce was idle," he finished
He shook his head and groaned. "No, she definitely meant it. I'll put an end to things with Andie tonight. As far as, what I am going to do about Bonnie…I have no idea."
Ric said, "Separate rooms."
Damon looked up. "What?"
"She's probably going to want separate rooms. My mother did when she finally grew tired of my dad running around on her with Zach's mother. They got separate rooms and basically lived separate lives until he and Cecilia were killed in that plane crash."
He scoffed. "That's not happening with me and Bonnie. She is my wife. She is angry right now but there is no way I am agreeing to this space bullshit for a prolonged time. I'll give her a few days to calm down but no more than that."
Ric shook his head at the younger man's denseness. He said, "You need to be careful how you handle this, Damon. Bonnie is pregnant she doesn't need to be stressed out by your bullshit. Also, this isn't just your marriage we are talking about here. A nasty divorce could gut Velocita. Not to mention you saw how fond Big John is of Bonnie and Abby. We would lose our relationship with the Benedetto family if this all goes to shit."
"I know! You don't think that I know all of that, Zio? I don't want to screw up our business situation but I am more concerned with keeping my wife. She is mine. Bonnie belongs with me and I am not letting her leave me. We'll work this out," he swore with unearned confidence.
He shook his head but knew it was useless to talk the boy out of anything. Damon would have to learn his lessons the hard way.
Damon said, "I want to see Bonnie. I need to talk to her. Hopefully, she's had a couple of hours to cool down so that we can both behave rationally."
"Go at your own peril. Abby is in rare form. She isn't happy with our whole family right now. She called us a curse and a poison. They are in the guest suite. It's down the hall on the left."
Damon huffed but thought that Abby might be right. Salvatore men tended to destroy the women that had the misfortune of entering their orbit. "Thanks, Zio."
He walked down the hall but stopped just outside of the bedroom door. It was slightly ajar so he could hear the voices inside.
Abby said, "I am proud of you, Bonnie. I know what you did today wasn't easy."
"I have to stop loving Damon because he will destroy me if I don't. I wanted to have Katherine killed in front of him to hurt him, Mama. That's not who I am. It's not even who I want to be. I have been thinking a lot about the moment I fell in love with him. I mean…I have always thought he was hot and he was always sweet to me. Nevertheless, there was a moment where I fell in love with Damon and I can remember it as clear as day. I was 13 years old and Giuseppe decided to take us all to Tenerife for a month that summer."
Abby smiled. "I remember that. Jamie and I joined all of you for the last two weeks of the trip."
Bonnie nodded and said, "Giuseppe told Damon that he could host a party on the yacht for his birthday. His only condition was that he had to take me and Stefan with him."
She rolled her eyes. "He probably just wanted some time alone with your grams. The villa in Tenerife was a little tight on space when we were all there at the same time."
"Exactly. Anyway, Damon begrudgingly agreed because he knew that Giuseppe wasn't going to change his mind. It was a great party and I was having so much fun. Damon was too busy whoring it up with the local talent to notice that Stefan and I were drinking champagne and liquor. I was dancing with some older girls when I heard laughing coming from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw this group of guys around Damon's age. He had gone to college with a couple of them. I didn't know what they were laughing at until I overhead one of them ask who had let the nigger on board. He said that someone should tell me that the yacht wasn't a slave ship."
Abby tensed as she heard the venom that had been directed at her daughter. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly shocking. In her travels, she had encountered racism both overt and covert. Sometimes it came from the most surprising places and people. Other times it was exactly what she expected.
"I had never been called that before. I was shocked, angry, and embarrassed. I ran below deck to one of the staterooms and accidentally walked in on Damon getting a blowjob from some girl. He barked at me for barging in without knocking until he saw that I was crying. I tried apologizing while backing out of the room but he told me to stop. Damon zipped up and kicked the girl out of the room. Then he asked me what was wrong. He thought that Stefan and I had gotten into another one of our childish fights but then I told him what happened. His face...he looked like the devil. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back up on deck. He ordered them to shut off the music and then made me point out the man who had called me that word. Once I did, it was as if a switch was flipped."
Abby knew exactly what she meant about a switch being flipped. She had witnessed it in all of the Salvatore boys except for Stefan. They could be sweet and loving one moment and remorseless killers in the next. The Benedettos were similar in that way. Sheila had been a devout Catholic that had no problem slaughtering her enemies with her own two hands and then going to Mass to pray. She never prayed for forgiveness because that would have been disingenuous.
Bonnie said, "Damon beat the poor bastard bloody while everyone just watched in horror—except for me. I loved every minute of it. I didn't close my eyes or shy away from the violence. I wanted him to kill the bastard. Well, he didn't because there was a party full of witnesses but he came close enough. Then he made this grown man get on his knees in front of me. Damon told him that I was worth more than every single person in his family. If he wanted them to continue living, he would need to beg for my forgiveness. So, this man that he beat half to death is bleeding at my feet and blubbering for mercy and forgiveness. I looked into Damon's eyes and I saw that he meant it. He would have wiped out this poor fuck's entire family to avenge me. I let him plead for his life for a few minutes before finally accepting his apology. But Damon wasn't done. He forced that guy to kneel on the deck for three hours until the party ended. Everyone just ignored him as if he wasn't even there once the music was turned on again. The rest of the night Damon kept me tucked against his side and I was in love because he was my knight in shining armor. No one except for grams had ever showed me that kind of love before. No one else had ever made me a priority. Now I am not sure that he even likes me all the time."
Abby said, "I am so sorry, baby."
She shook her head. "I am okay, Mama. Leaving Damon won't be easy but I am going to be okay."
"You are strong. You are so much stronger than I have ever been," Abby replied.
Bonnie said, "You are strong, too."
She laughed softly. "I doubt anyone would agree with you."
"I can't imagine the guts it took to say no to Grams. You stood up to her and took control of your own life. You weathered years of her disapproval and disdain. I know that she cut you off financially for years, too. I couldn't have done what you did."
Abby said, "I should have taken you with me. It wouldn't have been an easy life but you would have known without a doubt that you were loved."
"I know now and I appreciate the way you have had my back, Mama. I am going to do better for Sarah and the twins. I am going to surround them with love and positive role models. I am so ashamed that I allowed Sarah to be around Giuseppe for this long. I knew what he was. I knew it was only a matter of time."
"You have no reason to feel ashamed. You are getting her out of that house now and that is what matters. You are going to break the sick cycle in our family."
Bonnie went quiet for a moment. A question had been on her mind for a while. However, there had never been anyone to ask. "Did Giuseppe abuse Grams when you were little? We he always like this?"
Abby's heart dropped at her daughter's question. She knew that Bonnie had probably witnessed the same level of violence as she had as a child. The guilt of her poor decisions hung around her neck like an albatross.
She nodded. "I just didn't understand that it was abuse at the time. Your grams was fierce. She didn't take shit from anyone. She couldn't because she was a woman running a criminal organization. She loved that bastard despite his many faults. This one time Giuseppe came to visit us in Shadow Hills. He was drunk and angry about something. I couldn't have been more than eight years old at the time. He freaked out, broke a plate, and threw it in Mama's face. It sliced her good and there was blood everywhere. I was screaming…I was scared for her. But your grams, she didn't shed a single tear. She grabbed a half-empty wine bottle and busted that asshole across the face. It broke his fucking nose."
The girl nodded because it had been much of the same when she was a child. Giuseppe would become extremely angry about something that was seemingly innocuous. He would lash out at Sheila and hurt her in some brutal way. Then Sheila would pick up something heavy to knock fire out of him. Afterwards, they would pretend as if it never happened. It was a sick pattern that Bonnie had watched play out too many times to count.
Abby said, "I need to tell you something."
"Is something wrong?"
She smiled a little. "No, there isn't anything wrong. I just wanted to let you know that Rudy is coming into town. He's been up North for a about a week and change. But he'll be coming down this way in a few days."
Bonnie blinked. "Why?"
"He just wants to visit."
The girl leveled a skeptical look at her mother.
Abby smiled. "I might have told him that you were pregnant and in need of your parents."
"Mama…"
She said, "No, you listen to me. Your father is a stubborn man. He is prideful to a fault. He made a mistake when you were a teenager. He should have been the adult instead of returning the anger you unleashed of him. He realized the foolishness of his actions almost immediately but Rudy felt that he couldn't take it back. Your father has his flaws but he would gladly skin anyone alive and turn them into a three piece luggage set if it meant keeping you safe."
Bonnie stifled a laugh and asked, "A three piece luggage set? Is there enough skin on a human body for that?"
The older woman huffed out a laugh. "I never said how large the luggage pieces had to be. The point is that there isn't anything Rudy wouldn't do to keep you safe. I'm not suggesting that you run into his arms but give him a chance."