Sold To the Grizzly Don (Alcee and Bruno) novel Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Alcee stared at the message from Mercurio and then at her son and his dog and shook her head sadly and looked at Susana.

“I have nobody I can trust. I don’t trust him. I can’t bring my son to people I don’t trust.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Is Raniero still down there?”

“I don’t know what happened, but I caught Torq throwing him into his office and Tito and Bastiano were behind him before the door slammed shut. I couldn’t hear anything.”

“His office is sound proofed. I don’t know who he bought this place from but all the rooms with doors are sound proofed.”

“Weird.”

Alcee sat on a concrete block and shook her head, “how the hell did it go so wrong?”

“Raniero and Cianna are a big part of it, but Torq’s selfishness is the other big part,” Susana said quietly. “He’s the center of the Lozano universe so thinking of other people isn’t his first priority, maybe? I don’t know. All I know is, he wasn’t thinking of either of you today.”

for “He thinks he was,” Alcee whispered staring at her son who was still walking Avalanche in her circles. “He told me he was doing all of this mine and Ant’s protection. He was worried if his enemies or paparazzi made our names they’d find us pretty quickly to get him identified and by coming out the three of us, people would put a face to the name but also the body behind it. He knows he’s a scary looking bastard.”

“I guess.” Susana twisted her lips, “what are you going to do? I’m sure Mom would let you guys come stay with us.”

“Your uncle might not approve since he’s signed a major treaty deal with Torq.”

“He’d pick you and Ant over Torq.”

“At the risk of losing everything? I’m not so valuable.” Her phone buzzed again, and she grimaced. “He’s not giving up.”

“Do you want me to stay here with Antero, and you go talk to Mercurio?”

“Do you want to deal with the fallout if I’m not in his line of sight? He threw a lamp and kicked some books earlier because I didn’t follow him fast enough.”

“You’re his mama and his security blanket. Nothing wrong with that.”

“I’m tired.” Alcee whispered sadly. “I’m so fucking tired. Every day there is one thing or another with him. It’s a therapist appointment or a doctor appointment or a meeting with his school. It’s fights or silence. It’s dealing with sudden decision where he no longer likes the same sandwich I’ve been forced to give him for a full year, but he doesn’t know what he wants, only that he doesn’t want that one. It’s this, constant being on guard and “watching for the crack in the communication which is going to make him disassociate and pull away. Torq mentioned having more kids and all I think of is how the fuck would I manage two like this? I keep telling myself there are two of us now so we can divide and conquer but for all the sweet words Torq has spouted, for all the promises he’s made to keep us safe and protected and telling me he’s hired some of the best therapists for him and his men, they failed us tonight. Not one of them stood up for Antero. The man who wants to be his father didn’t stand up for him and didn’t protect him and didn’t acknowledge the problem. He forced me to deal with it without him. What happens to the women who don’t have the support system I do in you and Amal? Single moms dealing with this kind of diagnosis are on their own far more than I am. He’s not even bad compared to some kids. He’s verbal. He can communicate. He has never been one for a lot of violence. The odd thrown block or,” she waved at her face, “a flailing hand, but he’s never been aggressive with me. He’s brilliant and while he can’t communicate feelings well, he can talk up a storm. He’s one of the good ones. He’ll grow up and be able to run the fucking world and I have no doubt. I feel like I don’t get the right to complain because I have you and Amal and your mom and dad and he’s not the worst–case scenario and there is money in the bank to get him the help he needs but I’m so fucking tired, Sus. I’m so tired and I held this little flicker of hope, this small light at the end of my tunnel which told me I was going to have a partner who would have my back and help me.”

Susana wiped her own tears off her cheeks, “you’re allowed to be tired. You can’t compare apples and oranges. Your situation is better than others, but it doesn’t make your feelings any less valid. Torq fucked up tonight. I can’t argue it. He was so focused on bringing his family out of the shadows he missed the light already in the room.” She squeezed Alcee’s fingers.

“Amal gave him shit and he didn’t even acknowledge it. He stood there yammering about how he didn’t even know what the fuck was happening and told me to put Antero to bed so we could talk.” Her eyes were glossy as she stared at him.. “My first thought was to get up and just leave.”

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Chapter 133

“Yeah. To leave him with Antero, Avalanche, the shit, the mess, the emotions, the fallout. Give him a real taste of what parenting a child with autism is like. Let him feel the helplessness, the frustration, and the loneliness which comes from this darker side of it all. I wanted to get up off the floor and leave.” She watched Antero’s steps getting slower knowing he was getting tired, “but I can’t leave him when he’s distressed. For better or worse, he is my heart on legs and when he’s hurting, I can’t leave him but oh fuck me did I want to.”

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