Even as furious as he was with her, he knew his priorities. Knew what needed to be done. Once this was over, once his son was safe, he’d worry about the rest.
“I’m ready.”
Fragile, scared, sick with worry. All those things were reflected in her eyes. Calling himself seven kinds of a fool didn’t stop him from opening his arms. “Come here.”
Surprising him, the vulnerable Giselle disappeared, and in her place was a coolly composed woman. A mother determined to get her son back, no matter what. “I don’t need to be coddled or consoled, Raphael. I’ll do everything LCR asks of me to get Gio back.”
“Very well. Let’s go.”
They didn’t talk as he drove them back to the city. What he wanted to say would only hurt her more. Coming in like the asshole from hell had only made things worse. Telling her how he felt had done nothing but shut her down.
Pulling into the parking lot of a diner not far from LCR headquarters, he parked and sat, staring at the restaurant without really seeing it. In his mind’s eye, he saw a vulnerable young woman who had been slammed left and right by circumstances beyond her control. And he had been just one more to slam her.
“I’m sorry for what I said.”
“Did you mean it?”
He wasn’t going to lie. “Yeah, but I could’ve said it better.”
“The truth is better. Even when it hurts, it’s better.”
Maybe, but it didn’t keep him from feeling like shit. “Stay there. I’ll come around for you. Stay in front of me at all times.”
She didn’t question the caution. She did as he asked, and they walked into the diner and were seated in a corner booth, far away from the windows.
In seconds, a server arrived to give them menus. Raphael declined the menus and, circumventing what he knew would be Giselle’s order of toast and coffee, said, “Bring us both the number three special. Eggs, over easy. Orange juice and coffee, too.”
Though the waitress sent Giselle a little frown of concern, she wrote the order down and walked away.
A half smile twitched at her mouth. “She thinks you’re bossy.”
“I am.”
“You’ve changed, Raphael.”
“I grew up.”
“No. You were already grown up. When we first met, I recognized that. But you are tougher.”
He couldn’t argue with that. He’d seen things that would haunt him forever, but he’d also had experiences he never wanted to forget.
“Before we get to the meeting, before Noah begins his questions, I’d like for you to do one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You started this the other night, and I interrupted you. I won’t today. Tell me about my son.”
The quiet way he said those words brought a lump to Giselle’s throat. Refusing to give in to the emotions as she had last night, she said, “He’s bright, articulate, funny. Has a delightful sense of humor. Loves silly jokes and Saturday-morning cartoons. He’s already reading books well above his age level.”
She swallowed hard, damning the lump. Opening her purse, she took out an envelope and slid it across the table. “I have some photographs.”
He held the envelope in his hand but didn’t open it. His jaw clenched, and for the first time ever, she saw he was nervous. Introducing his son to him this way was a mockery of what it should have been. No man wanted the first glimpse of his child to be in a photograph. An honorable man like Raphael Sanchez, with the integrity and goodness of ten men combined, deserved so much more.
The photos slid from the envelope, and Raphael saw his son for the first time. The look in his eyes when he raised his head sent a spear through her heart. There was both wonder and agony in them.
“He’s beautiful.”
She laughed through her tears. “Just like I told you. He’s a miniature version of his father.”
Their breakfast arrived, and Raphael grabbed the photos, holding them out of the way so the waitress could set the plates down. “What a cute kid.”
Giselle sent her a grateful smile. “Thank you. He’s my…” Her eyes met Raphael’s. “He’s our son.”
***
LCR Headquarters
Noah had seen some miserable people. In his line of work, that was a given. The couple who sat in front of him today had despair written all over their faces. Well, he amended, Raphael actually just looked stone-cold furious.
Hoping to diffuse the volatile emotions somewhat, he said, “Giselle, Samara and I both want to thank you again for your help yesterday. Without you being there, I’m not sure Reddington would have believed we’d brought his family.”
“It was my honor to help. How are they doing?”
“Better than I hoped. They weren’t physically harmed, which was a blessing.”
“That’s a relief. Thank you for allowing me to be involved. Odd as it seems, seeing Reddington again gave me closure I didn’t know I needed.”
“Your mother was a victim of the bastard. Letting him see how you and your family have thrived without him was a good thing.”
“And he’s definitely back in prison?”
“Yes. A different prison this time. Maximum security. No matter who tries to arrange his release, he will never be free again.”
There was no need to tell her about the face-to-face meeting he’d had with Reddington. Bitterness had spewed like lava from the bastard’s mouth, and every other sentence had included invectives about his oldest daughter. Though he refused to reveal that he had been working with the Fletchers, he didn’t mind admitting that he’d set up his daughter. Said she’d made one too many enemies.
“He has no idea that he didn’t really see my mother, Amelia, and Eric?”
“There was no need to tell him. Seeing them happy and healthy will be torture for him. Besides, having others know that we have this ability wouldn’t be a good idea.”
Noah had to admit that it had been difficult not to throw the truth in Reddington’s face. Telling the bastard how badly he had been fooled would have been an enjoyable moment but completely selfish on his part. That the man actually believed his family had all drawn weapons on him was enough.
Raphael broke his stony silence. “Did Reddington admit to working with Fletcher?”
“No. I didn’t expect that he would.”
“Why can’t we just go there and demand Giovanni’s return?” Raphael asked. “They’re not even related to him.”
“With any other family, I’d say that’s exactly what we should do. The Fletchers aren’t like any other family. They’ve got influence in every sector of society.”
“No one’s above the law. They still have no right to—”
“I agree, Raphael, but going in blind is not our way. We’ll learn as much as we can, and then we’ll make our move.” He turned to Giselle. “You said you don’t believe he’s in any kind of danger. Correct?”
“No. They won’t hurt him physically. Clarissa wouldn’t allow it. Neither would his nanny, Mavis.”
“I’m going to find a way to get one of our people inside the mansion, just to give you both some proof that he’s really okay. In the meantime, Giselle, you are going to have to disappear. They proved yesterday that they’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of you.”
“Raphael is a target, too.”
“How’s that?”
Taking the envelope Giselle had given him, he slid it across Noah’s desk. “Take a look.”
The smile of delight that spread over Noah’s face would have surprised most of his enemies, but no one who knew him well. “He looks just like you.”
“Yeah. I’m sure the instant Fletcher saw me, he knew exactly who I am.”
“Then I agree. You’re both targets.”
“I’m so sorry, Raphael. I never wanted you involved in this,” Giselle said.
“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.”
Shooting Raphael a hard look, Noah turned the focus back to their earlier discussion. “Let’s move
forward. Let’s find out what we can about them so we can not only get the bullseye off both your heads but get your son back, too.”
“Where do you want me to start?” Giselle asked.
He started the interview as he would for any victim, and whether Giselle knew it or the hardheaded Raphael wanted to admit it, that’s exactly what she was. She had made some bad choices, but who the hell hadn’t?
Giselle straightened in her chair and took a deep breath. Noah was right. She had to think about how to move forward. Apologizing to Raphael when it was obvious he had no plans to forgive her would get them nowhere. She would do anything necessary to get her son out of the Fletchers’ clutches.
She told Noah what she had told Raphael. How she’d met Danny in college. She hadn’t known who he was and had also assumed he hadn’t known about her background.
She sent a cautious look toward Raphael when she talked about introducing Danny to Gio for the first time. Both of them had been charmed with each other. In many ways, Danny had been a child in a man’s body. He had made her son laugh, and she had realized too late that Gio had been one of the biggest reasons she had been attracted to Danny.
“When did you meet his parents?”
“It was after we married. He took me to their apartment in New York.”
Danny hadn’t seen fit to call them. He said they already knew because of the tabloids. News of the wealthy and respected Fletchers being associated with the daughter of a convicted murderer and human trafficker had enthralled tabloid readers for days. If there had been one thing she had been thankful for, it was that Gio was never mentioned. Only the Fletchers knew that the woman their son had married had a child.
“And how did they treat you?” Noah asked.
Though she wasn’t sure how this related, she answered truthfully, “They were incredibly polite and kind.” She almost cringed as she said it, but that was the truth. They had treated her like family from the moment she met them. And it had all been a lie.
“When did things begin to change?”
“With Daniel, it started right after he found out I overheard his conversation with Hugh Rawlings. It wasn’t until after Danny’s death that Clarissa began treating me with disdain. Nothing overt, mind you. At least not at first. Just subtle criticisms. I attributed it to grief. I know his death hit her hard.”
“And how did they treat Gio?”
“The same…maybe a little more possessive than before. Especially Clarissa. Again, I thought it was due to losing their son. I had no idea they were looking at Gio as theirs.”
“When did you realize it?”
“When they wanted to take him on a trip without me. I told them I appreciated how good they were to him, but I preferred that Gio stay with me. Losing Danny was hard on him, too. I offered to go with them, but they made it clear, not so subtly this time, that I wasn’t invited.”
“Where did they want to take him?”
“To their villa off the coast of Italy. I knew they were angry with me, but they acquiesced and didn’t take him. I hoped they’d go by themselves, but they decided to stay home, too.
“I knew I needed to leave. It wasn’t a healthy environment for Gio. I told them I thought it best that Gio and I live somewhere else. It wasn’t long after that that I began to feel ill. Nausea, severe headaches. They insisted that Gio shouldn’t see me in case I was contagious. I didn’t want him to get sick, so I agreed.”
“And you believe they were drugging you?”
“I do now. I didn’t then. I just assumed I had a virus of some sort. It was a week, maybe more, before I started feeling better. I was finally able to get out of bed and dress. I went in to see Gio and—”
She had to stop and take a deep breath. Remembering that day was still one of the most frightening moments of her life. Little had she known that the horror had just begun.
“What happened?”
The question came from Raphael, and his gentle tone surprised her.
“He wasn’t there. Some of his clothes were gone, along with his favorite toys and stuffed animals. I knew immediately that they’d taken him away. Gio’s nanny was gone, too. I called Clarissa immediately. When she answered, I demanded to know where Gio was. She accused me of being hysterical. Said I was being ridiculous.”
She shrugged. “I can’t deny that claim. I was hysterical. I demanded they return him immediately. Threatened to call the police.”
“I take it that didn’t go over well,” Noah said.
“An understatement. They were livid. But they came back.” She swallowed back the tears as she remembered. Gio had raced up the stairs and thrown his arms around her. She had held him, kissed his cheeks, delighting in his little-boy scent, his laughter. He’d had no idea of the drama unfolding around him.
“They asked to speak with me alone. Because I didn’t want to make a scene in front of Gio, I agreed. Mavis took him to his room.
“I followed them to their private den. I wanted to give them a piece of my mind. They, of course, took me off guard by apologizing. I thought then that they were going to be very civilized about us leaving. I told them how much I appreciated their support, but I thought it was time for Gio and me to go off on our own. Begin a new life.”
Wrapping her arms around herself, Giselle cursed herself again for her sheer stupidity. Some might have called it naïveté, but she refused to soften the terminology. Once she became a mother, being naïve was no excuse. She had failed her son in the worst possible way.
“Clarissa handed me a glass of lemonade.” Her laugh was painful to her own ears. “I thought we were being so adult, so mature. I drank some and passed out. When I woke, I was in a bedroom. Not my regular one. I didn’t realize I was in a hospital until a doctor and nurse came in.”
She looked down, surprised to see a glass of water in her hand. Raphael had apparently given her one, and she’d been so lost in the past she hadn’t noticed. She sent him a grateful look and took several sips.
“The rest is mostly a blur.”
“Have you seen either of them since then?”
“Yes, but only from a distance. When I finally got away from the asylum, and after I recovered somewhat, I went to their compound in the Hamptons. I knew I couldn’t just walk in. They’d have me arrested, or worse.”
She grimaced as she remembered. “I climbed a tree and watched the house for hours. I saw them both. Clarissa got into a car and drove away. And Daniel stood out front, talking on his cell, and then went back inside. I was afraid someone would see me, so I left.”
That had been a hard moment for her. Knowing her son was behind those walls and not being able to get to him. She had brought her gun with her that day, and it had taken every bit of her willpower not to use it to break into the mansion. Finally, reason had won, and she had walked away, her heart breaking.
She took another swallow of water. “What can we do, Noah, to get Gio back home? I’ll do anything.”
“I’m sending you and Raphael to another safe house, out of state. I know you want to be involved, but for right now, information is our most powerful tool. You lived with them for almost three years. You may not know it, but you have knowledge that will help us. What you know about them and about this Rawlings guy will help us. While Raphael gathers that information from you, the rest of us will be working from here.”
The thought of not being directly involved or close-by was worrisome. What if Gio needed her and she was too far away to get to him? She opened her mouth to protest, and Noah, anticipating her argument, said, “Keeping both of you alive is just as important as getting Gio out of there.”
Swallowing her protests, she nodded and then glanced over at Raphael. He looked about as excited as she was to be going away together.
Chapter Twenty-two
Manhattan, New York
The Fletchers’ New York apartment, in a high-rise on one of the most exclusive blocks in Manhattan, occupied the entire twelfth floor. The decor was elegant but
unpretentious. At first, Noah was surprised they didn’t live in the penthouse, but the more he studied the family, the more he realized that these people did not flaunt their wealth. They lived a low-key, sedate-looking lifestyle, but from what he had discovered so far, their influence and power went realms beyond what should exist for any one person or family.
His people were in place all over the world, on watch. On his order, they would move. Mara and his kids were safe and out of harm’s way. Raphael and Giselle were already hidden away.
Now it was his play. Depending on how this went down, he’d know how to proceed next. One way or the other, Daniel Fletcher was about to get a comeuppance like never before.
A full minute after he rang the doorbell, a butler with an impressive snobbish air about him opened the door. His nose lifted in the air and wrinkled slightly as if he smelled something not to his liking. This particular attitude was one that Fletcher had likely encouraged. Any other time, Noah would find the experience amusing. There was nothing the least amusing about this meeting.
“I’m here to see Daniel Fletcher.”
“You have an appointment?”
“Nope.”
“Then may I suggest that you—”
Getting in the man’s face, Noah snarled, “I suggest that you go and get your boss before something very nasty happens.”
“Sir, I will call the police.”
“Please do. I will be talking with them soon, so you can save me some time.”
His demeanor slightly less certain, the butler stared for several more seconds. Apparently realizing Noah would not back down, he intoned in his starchy voice, “I’ll check with Mr. Fletcher.”
“You do that.”
Thirty seconds later, the butler reappeared, looking three shades paler. “Mr. Fletcher is in the middle of something important. He suggests that you either make an appointment for another time, or that you wait here until he has the time to see you.”
“Tell him he has two minutes to free his ass up and get out here.”
Running Strong Page 17
