Chapter 265 The Talk
Dakota's P.O.V.
As I walk into the house, I look at Enzo and Addy. They look relieved, then angry again, when they look at Raul.
"You have me now, so let the kids go," I say.
"They're not going anywhere. I know the police aren't coming because you like to handle things yourself, so sit down. Let's talk." I sigh and sit on one of the two chairs.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" My hand is itching to get my knife out and send it flying straight between his eyes, but I can't while he has a gun and the kids are in the room. Raul sits in the other chair.
"Almost fifty-five years ago, a man named Santino seduced a young woman named Laurel. She was a shy, beautiful, twenty-two-year-old blonde waitress who worked at a restaurant owned by Santino. He would stay until she got off work and give her the attention no one else ever had. Laurel fell in love with him, but he only wanted to use her. She was a surrogate for the woman he couldn't have: Gloria." A chill runs down my spine when Raul says my grandmother's name. Does this have more to do with my family than it does with the Buccheris?
"Do you want to guess what he did with her? He used her for sex, and when he was done with her, he tossed her aside just like everyone else had done to her her whole life. Laurel became depressed from the heartbreak, and when she found out she was pregnant, she had hoped it would be enough to make Santino take her back. However, when she showed up at his house, he had already moved on to another woman and told her that if she ever came back to spread those lies, he would kill her. Laurel left, but still held on to the hope that having his child would make him come around. After her son's birth, she wrote a letter to Santino with a picture of her baby and waited for him to knock on her door. Instead, someone else showed up. A man came to her apartment and smacked her around until she agreed to never contact Santino again."
My heart aches for Laurel and Raul. I don't want to make excuses for Grandpa Sandy, but I know how much he loved my grandma, and no one would ever measure up in his eyes. He still shouldn't have treated Laurel that way. I wait for Raul to continue.
"Laurel focused all of her energy on raising her son. She spoke Russian and went to school to become an English teacher for Russian-speaking students while working two part-time jobs. About five years later, she was offered a job at a school in Russia. Laurel left the United States with Raul in hopes of finding happiness. Do you think she found happiness?" He looks at me angrily.
"No, she didn't. She found that no matter where you live in the world, people will hurt you for no other reason than that they can. Raul was bullied in school until it became impossible for him to be safe, so Laurel homeschooled him in the evenings when she got home from teaching. She became bitter at the world, and her depression came back with a vengeance. On Raul's eighteenth birthday, she took a bunch of pills and killed herself. All she left for him was a letter telling him about the only man she ever loved, and to not fall into the trap of loving someone only to be broken by them." He stops talking and sits back in his chair.
"So, your name really is Raul? We thought maybe you had changed it because we couldn't find anything about you prior to the past thirty years." Raul bangs his fist on the table beside him.
"You're missing the point. My mother died a lonely, bitter woman who no longer had the will to live, while Santino lived like he didn't have a care in the world. Do you know how it made me feel to find out that Santino had a son, younger than me, whom he treated like a little prince? My mom and I weren't good enough for him, but Galdino was." Raul begins shaking with rage as he bangs his fist on the table again.
"I'm sorry for what happened to your mom and you, but I can't do anything to change the past. So why are you doing this?" I glance at the kids and see Enzo trying to untie the rope tied around him and Addy. I still don't understand why Raul took the kids or me.
"Why? You don't get it, do you? You're just poor little Dakota. You were given something you shouldn't have. You had five uncles who could have taken over the Kondrati family business, but Christov gave it to his little princess." I'm even more confused.
"Why are you upset about me taking over?" I ask softly.
"You don't deserve to be the head of anything, just like Galdino doesn't deserve to be the head of the Buccheri family. I should be leading the family, and if I were the head, my son would not be engaged to marry a little bitch who is the head of a rival family. You have everyone falling all around you like you're some great leader, when in reality, you're nothing. You're lower than nothing." Raul gets up and begins to pace. I glance at the kids, and Enzo seems like he's almost got the rope untied. I need to get them to safety so I can make this asshole shut up once and for all. I promised Valentina I would let her have her turn kicking his ass, but I may not be able to keep that promise.
"So, what is your plan here? Are you going to kill me and then try to kill Galdino so you can take over the family? That makes no sense. You won't get out of this house alive." Raul stops pacing and smirks at me.
"You don't see it yet, do you? Think really hard about why I would lure you here with your henchmen. We knew you would track my phone and come after me." I freeze when I realize what he says. He didn't say 'I'; he said 'we'.
"What do you mean, we?" I ask. Raul sits back down and laughs lightly.
"Think about it. Think really hard, and maybe you'll figure it out." I stand and begin pacing because I think better when I'm moving. I also want to keep his attention on me and not on the kids.
What did I miss? I think back over the past few days, and only one thing sticks out. I rethink everything, and all the pieces fall into place. When I stop pacing and look at Raul.
"No. It can't be." His smile widens, and he nods.
"Oh, but it can. Surprise." I glance toward the door. I have to get to the compound before it's too late. If I don't, everyone may be dead by the time we arrive.