Phoenix Rising: The Veiðimenn Mob, Book Two

Thirty-Two

“Did you get hurt?”

He glanced over at Andromeda’s worried face as he removed his shirt to change before dinner. Kennedy’s words echoed in his head, reminding him not to lie to his new girlfriend. “It’s not mine, but the blood of an enemy of Kenni’s. She lost her parents as a child to a double homicide. Her mother was… well, she was repeatedly assaulted before being shot. With the help you gave us in locating Fabian, Ken just finished off the last of the men responsible for turning her and her sister into struggling orphans.”

Andromeda fell quiet, but the look on her face told him that she was empathetic to Kennedy’s plight. Having lost her own mother, the blond girl knew the deeply scarring pain that the other girl was going through. “She’s okay, right?”

“As far as I can tell, she is. She wants to go visit their graves soon. Rom, Kennedy witnessed it happen,” he replied.

Sniffling, the girl nodded, “It’s no wonder her mind is so screwed up. Poor soul. Do you think she would be okay with us going with her? She shouldn’t have to go alone.”

“Her sister and Uncle Declan will be with her, so she won’t be alone. Then again, I’m sure if we ask her, she won’t turn down the offer.” He replied as he pulled a clean shirt over his head. He turned to look at the girl sitting on his bed and smiled. “She came around pretty quickly, though. I’m glad you two seem to be getting along.”

“Getting along? Nix, she’s your best friend, and there’s absolutely no reason for me to even entertain the idea of being jealous over a relationship that was in place long before I came around.” Andromeda snapped as she got to her feet. “I already promised her that I would never come between you and your friends, and I do not like to break my word.”

Snagging her wrist gently, he grinned at her. “Romie, I like this new attitude you got. I want you to use it more often, babe. Your father might not like it, but I think it’s sexy.”

“Phoenix!” She squealed as she stumbled, landing against his hard chest. “What are you saying?”

Curling his finger under her chin, he shook his head. “That you found the courage to speak up like that was actually hot. I’m used to strong women. I grew up around them, but I also know that women like you and my Aunt Temperance don’t always have the strength to speak up. That’s where guys like me and my Uncle Declan come in. He’s the one that taught me to be the way I am.”

“He’s a good man and a really great teacher.” She replied as she followed him out to the dining room.

A few minutes into the meal, his father kept eyeballing him from across the table. He knew what was coming, and he already had the things he was going to say lined up in his head.

"Phoenix, is something on your mind?" Callum finally asked.

Caught off-guard by his father's sudden interest, he blinked at the older man in silence. "I was just thinking about going to talk to Uncle Ross later. I wanted to ask his opinion of something.”

His mother nodded discreetly, "That's a good idea, baby. Why don't you take Andromeda along to meet him? He’s been hiding from her for some reason."

Callum's face fell, "I'm good with advice. Why not talk to me?"

"Dad, c'mon, I need the advice of someone unbiased. He's a lot wiser than you are, too, having been in the Mafia longer." Phoenix smirked as his father's face twisted into a mask of shock.

Ambrosia laughed, "Well, he's got that right. Ross is wiser than you, Cal."

"Dude, you got my Miss dissing me now? That's cold, Nix. Really cold," Callum said as he shook his head mockingly.

Seth snorted a laugh. "Daddy, you're silly. Watch this, Nix!"

"I’m warning you now, little brother. Do not make mom mad by starting a food fight," his brother hissed.

"Is that bad? Starting a food fight, I mean," Romie asked. She touched her hair, noting that Seth seemed to have trouble saying certain words. "Seth, I’ve noticed how you seem to avoid saying my name. Is it hard to pronounce?"

The boy nodded silently, his cheeks taking on an adorable blush. She smiled softly at him, reaching over to pat his hand. “You may call me Romie, if you wish. I don’t mind.”

Ambrosia raised a brow, impressed by the way the girl handled her second-born son. "That was nice of you, Andromeda. You see, Seth has a stutter, and often finds it difficult to say certain words. By the way, your father told me you tutored children back in Italy as part of a volunteer program. I was wondering if you would like to continue doing so here. It would be a shame to waste such a talent, and you would be pitching in with keeping the littles in line."

Happy her boyfriend's family seemed to like her well enough, she nodded. "I would love to! Papa didn't like to leave me alone in the Children's Home, so I always had a guard with me. Phoenix, you didn't answer me."

Phoenix swallowed a drink of his water and motioned toward his little brother. "You were talking to my mother, and I didn’t want to interrupt. The thing is, Seth, Steven, and Everett have been trying to see what they can get away with. I’ve been telling them not to do certain things to keep them off mom’s bad side.”

"Oh, I see," she said. She toyed with her fork as she watched Emily slowly eat her peas with her Hello Kitty spoon, smiling at the tiny child that looked nothing like her brothers. "I don't think I've met Ross before. What's he like?"

"He's nice, but he can come off as a complete jerk at first. Around six-foot-two, black, and he can hold a grudge like nobody's business. Don't worry about it, though. Just be honest with him, and you’ll be fine," he told her. "Mom, did you need me to babysit tonight?"

She leaned back in her chair and sighed, "No, I don't need you tonight. The early frost has the hospitals across the province on high-alert, so I'm on call. Plenty of idiots on the roads are giving good drivers a bad name this time of year."

"Too many, if you ask me," Callum said darkly. "Maybe the Commissioner needs a reminder of who's really in charge of this province."

His wife scowled, her eyes narrowing into slits that seem to glow with her annoyance. "Callum, the Gala is only a few months away, so lay off. The police force is almost as overworked as our doctors. I would know; I'm one of them. By the way, I'm in line to get that promotion at work. You may just be looking at the next Director of Public Relations at Toronto General. Andromeda, you can start tutoring my younger ones if you want to."

Glancing at each of the kids in turn, she realized that every boy took their looks from a random mix of both parents. “I don’t want to be rude, but why does Emily look so different from her brothers?”

“Curiosity can be dangerous,” Callum commented. “She looks like my mother, while Nix is my carbon copy. Everett looks like his Momma, while Seth and Steven are basically a perfect mix of both Amber and I.”

Smiling, the teen nodded, “I find genetics fascinating, to be honest. Either way, your children are so uniquely beautiful.”

When they were done eating, Andromeda took Emily into the playroom. Phoenix shook his head as he helped his mother with the dishes while his father took the younger boys to the living room to watch cartoons.

Just as he was drying the last of the pots, someone knocked on the apartment door. Not expecting any company, he reached under the table and grabbed the gun that his father kept stashed there.

"Mom, go to the living room with Dad, please? I'll go check it out." He c****d the gun and stealthily made his way to the door. He didn’t see the look of exasperation on the woman’s face as she shook her head at her son’s protective streak.

Looking through the peephole, he laughed under his breath. On the other side was his Uncle Russell’s best friend, Robert Drake. Robert looked like his father while exuding his mother’s calm eloquence. Though several years older, he and Russell often hung out with Nix and his team.

Opening the reinforced door, Phoenix shook his head. "Man. Robert, I damn near shot you in the head. What's up?"

"Uncle Ross isn't feeling well, and I was wondering if Donna Ambrosia could come to take a look at him," the man said.

Hearing her name, Ambrosia walked out of the kitchen with a heavy sigh. "It's probably sleep-dep again. I'll take a peek at him before I head to the hospital."

"Thank you, Donna. I appreciate it," the guard said as he walked back down the hall.