Chapter 32 – Revelations

Outside Deborah's apartment, she was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk trying to gain some of her composure back. Never had she had such an overwhelming desire to step on him and crush him. Holding her forehead, she turned around and started to walk down the street, but was stopped by a portly man. “Sorry lady, I have my orders, you have to go back inside.”

“I know who send you, but I have to go for a walk.” she told him.

“I can't.” he said shaking his head, standing in front of her. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I just have a lot on my mind.” she told him. “This thing you have going on here with your buddies, it's not necessary.”

“I have my orders.” he told her.

“You going to jump off a bridge if you're told to?” she asked him.

“You want to talk about it?” he asked.

“About what?” she snarled.

“About what's bothering you.” he asked.

“It's a long story.” she replied.

“I got time. Not like I'm going anywhere.” he said. “Sit down.” he told her pointing to the stairs.

His partner walked up and asked “Rocco, you want I should call Vito?”

“No..” he told him. “Just give us a minute, okay Jimmy.”

“Yeah sure.” he said, looking at Deborah who had her head down. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Sure Jimmy.” Rocco said. “Thanks.”

“So, like he said, I'm Rocco.” he told her.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked shaking her head. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can.” he replied. “Probably better that either of us.”

“So you know all about me do you?” she asked.

“I've heard things.” he said.

“From who?” she asked.

“I been around this for a long time. I know things.” he told her.

“Like what?” Deborah asked, getting a little impatient.

“I got a daughter, probably not too far from your age. I would do whatever I had to, to protect her.” he said.

Deborah looked up at the black sky and shook her head. “Let me guess, you know Claire.”

“We go back a long time.” he said. “First time I saw you – you were maybe two or three. Even back then you were tough as nails.”

“I don't remember you.” Deborah told him. “What did you have to do with Claire?”

“I was kind of watching over her for a few years.” he said.

“What?” she asked. “Why?”

“Lets just say there were some people that wanted to protect their interests.” he replied, looking into the street.

“You mean Vito.” Deborah stated, clenching her fist.

Rocco held her hand and said “No, Vito senior.”

She looked at him and said “Tell me what's going on here. I can't take all this secrecy any more.”

“I might have told you too much already.” he said, looking over to make sure Jimmy was still out of ear shot. He looked at her eyes and shook his head.

“Okay.” he said, nodding. “Okay.”

He rubbed his forehead and sighed before saying “Vito's dad always had the hots for your mom. Even when she met your dad, he still kept after her.”

“Kept after her how?” Deborah asked her tone getting stronger.

He hesitated before saying “Your mom was basically raped a few times by that son of a bitch. When your dad found out….Geeze….”

“Geeze what?” she asked. “I can't believe what I'm hearing.”

“Vito senior ended up in the east river.” he said. “They knew your dad was CIA, so they assumed he was behind it.”

Deborah just stared into the street, shaking her head slightly. Her father was military, but now it was confirmed that he had been in much deeper that she realized.

“Was he?” she asked. “Was he behind it?”

“I don't know.” Rocco said with a shrug. “He never said, but it didn't matter. He was a dead man. But, they made a deal were he was going to help out in certain matters.”

“This is insane.” Deborah said. “Why did she keep this from me?”

“She was protecting you.” he told her. “She's been protecting you three her whole life.”

“Three.” she said sharply. “You mean two.”

“Awww Christ!” he said as he stood up.

“You better sit back down and tell me what that hell you mean by three, or so help me….” she said.

Rocco sat back down and rubbed his graying beard. Looking off in the distance, he said “When your mom got pregnant, the Senior was sure it was from the raping. They wanted the baby dead.”

Deborah listened quietly, trying to hold back the tears.

“When she was born, your dad did what he had to do to keep her alive.” he continued.

“I have a sister.” Deborah said with a slight whimper. “She couldn't even come clean about that.”

“Listen.” he said as he put his hand on her arm. “Claire has never gotten over any of this. If it wasn't for your dad's connections and position, that little baby would have been dead.”

“She is still alive?” Deborah asked.

“Yeah, she is.” he said.

“How the fuck do you know all this?” Deborah asked. “Holy shit! Vito's junior has known me practically my entire life adult life. I knew what kind of business he was involved in, but my dad said they were in the service together and he was a family friend. I'll kill that cock sucker, I swear!”

“Not so fast.” Rocco said. “It's not what you think. He hated his dad and what he stood for. That's why he has been watching out for you all these years.”

“It still doesn't explain how you know all this.” she told him.

“Like I said, I go way back with your mom and dad.” he told her.

“No.” Deborah said. “This has agency written all over it.”

Rocco sat motionless. Deborah shook he head, knowing that his silence was her answer. “Who are you?” she asked him.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Don't give me that shit.” she said. “You're not some guy named Rocco, that's for damn sure.”

“Just take it easy.” he told her looking over at Jimmy, who was playing with his phone. “I have been undercover for a long, long time.”

He grabbed her arm and said “I shouldn't have even told you any of this.”

“So why did you?” she asked, almost in tears.

“I don't think it's right that you go your life with not knowing the truth. Your mom will be pissed with me, but so be it. Sometimes we need to keep the people we care about close, not matter what.”

“Is that it?” she asked. “Are there any other bombs you want to drop?”

“My real name is Vladimir Muskova” he said.

The closed her eyes and lowered her head into her hand. She was picturing Claire in the lab telling Paige her real name. Lifting her head, she looked at him and said “That crazy fucking bitch is my sister. I can't believe it.”

“She is a product of the agency Deborah.” he said. “I took her in and raised her.”

“You trained her, you mean.” she shot back.

“Listen to me.” he told her. “We can't change the past, but we can shape our future. Don't dwell on what you were not even part of.”

Deborah stood up and started to pace back and forth as she connected all the dots in he mind. She leaned down and said quietly “Thank you for telling me.”

He nodded at her, squeezed her hand before she turned and headed back to her apartment. She looked back at him again, knowing full well that he was risking his life telling her.

Walking up the stairs, she mumbled to herself “Carlos is never going to believe this.” Stopping for a second, she slumped her shoulders and said “Oh shit. Carlos.”

For a few minutes, she stood at her door, trying to get her head around all she had just heard. Finally, she opened the door and walked in. She took off her jacket, then slipped off her shoes. About to take a step, she saw Carlos on the floor looking up at her.

“I can't take it any more!” he shouted. “Just do it!!!”

“Carlos.” she said with a loud whisper.

“Step on me!!!” he continued to shout. “You know you want crush me! So just do it and get it over with!!!”

Kneeling down, she looked at him with tears in her eyes and said “We need to talk sweetie. We really need to talk.”

“You're not going to step on me?” he yelled up at her.

“No, I'm not going to step on you.” she said. “You have to trust me.”

He backed up few steps, wondering if he should trust her or not. After a few more seconds, he said “Okay. So talk.”