Page 77 of The Silencer
I hesitate to pull it out, but then when I peer at the screen, I see it’s my mom. I grin and answer it immediately. It’s been over a week since I’ve spoken with her, and I miss her.
“Hey, Mom!”
“Tatum-poo. My little Tater-Tot!”
“Please don’t call me that,” I say when I see Anthony’s lips twitch. My cheeks flush and I take a step away from him. Good fuck. He doesn’t need to be hearing any of that. How reprehensible. But I can’t really get mad at her. As embarrassing as they are, my mom and dad have been the best adoptive parents a kid could ask for.
“How are you, love? I haven’t heard from you in forever. I thought you were dead.”
“Jesus, I’m not dead. Just busy…with school.”
“Oh, of course you are, I was only joking. Paul! Paul! Come talk to Tatum-poo!” I can hear her yelling for my dad and I sigh, peering over at Anthony, who is watching me intently.
“Not a word,” I mouth and then remove my gaze from him when I see his lips start to twitch. Infernal man.
“Son? Tater? Poo bear?” my dad asks with a snort, and I roll my eyes, chuckling softly under my breath.
“Shut up, Dad. Don’t encourage her.”
“Ah, but you know how I like to rile her up. Gets her all huffy.”
“Paul!” I hear her screech, and I take a few steps away from Anthony, to the far side of the porch.
“How are you though? How’s school? Almost done? Have you sent us the graduation information?”
I peer over at Anthony and wonder if he’ll let me walk for the graduation ceremony. Honestly, I don’t know. We’ll have to discuss it because so far, I haven’t been able to leave the premises. Oh my god. Are my parents safe? I don’t fucking know.
Suddenly, my face feels hot and my heart is thumping too hard in my chest. I lean against the post and breathe deeply through my nose.
“Hey, Dad. I’m gonna go, but I’ll send you the graduation stuff, okay?”
“Yeah, you alright?”
“Mhm, just meeting some friends,” I lie and then tell him I love him before hanging up. As soon as I do, I turn to Anthony and his eyes darken.
“What? What happened?” he asks, stalking toward me.
I let out a shaky breath. “My parents. They’re gonna be safe, right? Like, oh my god. Nothing will happen to them, right?”
I feel his hands settle on my shoulders, and he grips me steadily.
“They’ll be fine. I already have cameras set up at their house and someone watching them.”
My eyes widen and my mouth falls agape. “What the hell?”
His fingers start to slowly massage my tense muscles and despite knowing I need to be appalled by his behavior, I just can’t be mad about it. He is Anthony Costello, mob boss. I shouldn’t have expected anything less.
“They’re safe. Don’t worry. Rafe is there with them.”
I don’t know who the fuck that is, but I’m glad someone is looking out for them.
“If my mom has any hint of Rafe lurking, she’s going to drag him in and feed him.”
“It’s already happened. She thought he was homeless.”
I snort and see Anthony’s eyes twinkle. “To be fair, he was in his car quite often this last week.”
My lips are pulled between my teeth, and I nod. “Thank you. Really. Thank you, Anthony.”