by Penelope Sky
“Yeah…you should.” I deserved a punch to the face. “But I had to do it. I’ve bought dozens of women before and got them to safety. I couldn’t just hand over this innocent woman to her tormentor, especially when she had an eight-year-old son. I couldn’t do it.”
“But you could put us at risk?”
“We aren’t a risk. I covered my tracks.”
He shook his head. “Tracks get old, but they never disappear entirely. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder.”
“He doesn’t live here. He’s Russian. I gave him the corpse so he could drop it in the ocean. He obviously did that. Otherwise, he would have a decomposing body on his hands. All the evidence to contradict my story was on the body, so he clearly didn’t notice anything. I even burned my own house to make the story more believable. It’s done—and it’s been taken care of.”
He stopped pacing and leaned against the counter again. “Thank god your mother isn’t here.”
Yes. Her disappointment would be worse.
“You’re always going to be looking over your shoulder, Carter.”
“I know…but he’ll find someone else eventually and forget about Mia.”
“Mia?” he whispered. “She’s got a name, huh?”
“Yes.”
“And what did you do with her?” He turned his hard stare on me, burning me alive with his disappointment.
“I brought her here.”
“In the house?” he asked, dumbfounded.
“Yes…she lives with me.”
He turned away and gave a slight nod, like he understood something that was never said. “Now I get it…you love this woman.” He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, frustrated but no longer angry. He turned back to me, his eyes a little less hostile.
“No, I don’t love her. I just wanted to help her.”
“Then why is she living here?”
“She needed somewhere to go. She cooks, cleans, takes care of the house—”
“And fucks you at your command.” His voice rose, bouncing off the walls of the kitchen and becoming louder.
I held his gaze, unsure how to circumvent the accusation.
“Don’t lie to me again.” The muscles of his body tensed all over again. It seemed like he wanted to grab me by the neck and choke me. “Because I will beat the shit out of you if you do it again. Men don’t lie, and they definitely don’t lie to their fathers. So what kind of man do you want to be, Carter? A liar? Or a piece of shit?”
I didn’t flinch as I held his gaze, feeling the pain in my chest. A son’s worst fear was his father’s disappointment. I wasn’t a child anymore, but I lived for his approval. He told me he was proud of me for everything that I accomplished. I was a self-made man, and when he told me how happy he was, he had tears in his eyes. Now all of that was in the past. I was letting him down in the present.
“That’s why she’s here? You’re her new master?”
I held his gaze because it would be pathetic to look away. I didn’t want to admit the truth to my father. I was hoping to avoid this subject altogether since my father never mentioned my personal life. That was a boundary he respected. “Yes.”
He clenched his jaw and looked away.
“But I did want to help her as well.”
“Sure, Carter.” He dragged his hand down his face, sighing in frustration. “This is a fucking nightmare.”
“There is no nightmare,” I said. “I took care of Egor.”
“Let’s hope so. The things of the past have a way of returning…in the way you least suspect. We thought Bones was long gone, but then he had a son who infiltrated our ranks. Sure, he likes him now, but there was no way any of us could have anticipated that.”
We could argue in circles for weeks. “The decisions have already been made. She lives here now, and that’s the end of the story.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a year or two.”
“And then you’ll let her go?”
“If she ever really wanted to leave, she could walk away. She knows that.”
“Because you’ve told her?” he demanded.
“No…but she knows me. She knows I’m not a monster. She knows I’ll take care of her and her son. She knows she’s comfortable and safe here, hidden away from the real monsters outside these walls. She’s not a prisoner, and I’m not a master. We’re friends. We care about each other. There’s more here than that…”
“But you don’t love her?” he countered.
“Love isn’t something I’m looking for.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
I leaned against the refrigerator so we could face each other.
“Now what?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Is her son here?”
“No. I had a guy get him out of the orphanage. He’ll be here next week.”
“And you’re okay living with a kid?” he asked incredulously. “For a man not looking for love, it seems like you’re trying to settle down.”
I didn’t want to be a father. I didn’t want to be a husband. I just wanted to be Carter, the successful car designer. “I made it clear he needs to stay out of my way. They live on the second floor. I live on the third. He’s not allowed up there.”
“You obviously don’t know shit about kids. They don’t just listen.”
“Mia seems like a pretty authoritative person.”
“Mia…pretty name.” The rage slowly left his eyes, but the disappointment was still there. “You can have any woman you want, Carter. Why bother with this one?”
It was a good question, and I didn’t have a good answer to match it. I’d been with lots of beautiful women who were lovely and interesting. Mia was different in ways I couldn’t explain. She’d been raped and beaten, but I didn’t see her as a victim. I didn’t care that the last guy who fucked her did it by force. I didn’t view her as damaged goods, but as a powerful woman who didn’t give up, no matter the odds. “I don’t know…I really don’t.”
“You know, I would be a lot more supportive of this if you did love her. If you fell in love and this was the one woman you wanted to spend your life with, I could be on board. I could understand. But the fact that you’re doing all of this for a woman who doesn’t mean that much to you…just annoys me.”
I bowed my head, hurt by his harsh words. “I saved an innocent woman. That doesn’t make you proud?”
“You only did it so you could fuck her.”
“That wasn’t the only reason.”
“Say whatever you want, Carter. No matter what you have, you always want more. I don’t get it.”
I raised my head again, feeling sick because of his coldness. “Where do we go from here?”
He shrugged. “I don’t have a fucking clue, Carter.”
I hated it when he called me by my first name. It meant he was angry. Otherwise, he called me son. “I don’t want Mom to know.” She was the strongest woman I knew. She was always vocal about her opinions, and she put my father in his place so easily. She was a fierce disciplinarian, pushing Carmen and me as far as she could to make us good people. Raising me wasn’t easy, and I respected her for doing such a good job.
“Normally, I would make you tell her yourself. But I agree…she shouldn’t know about this. Only Conway knows?”
I nodded.
“Then we’ll keep this between us. No reason to upset her, especially if nothing bad ever happens.”
“Agreed.”
“So, Mia will just be your maid. That’s the story.”
I nodded.
He searched around the kitchen, like she would pop out at any moment. “Can I meet this girl?”
“You want to?”
“Absolutely. Need to have a few words with her.”
I walked into the other room where another staircase was. “Sweetheart, could you come down here?” I never called her by anything else besides sweetheart, so the action was involuntary. If I’d been thinking more c
learly, I would have called her Mia in front of my father. I walked back toward him and heard her footsteps on the stairs.
She emerged a moment later, the apron gone. In a yellow sundress with her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, she was more beautiful than a sunflower. She livened up my new home, bringing the sunlight directly into the house. She smiled as she looked at me and my father. Slowly, she approached and extended her hand to the man who raised me. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Barsetti. I’m Mia.”
My father didn’t take her hand. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a fatherly hug. He patted her on the back, embracing her the way he did with Carmen. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Cane.” He stepped back and dropped his touch, wearing a friendly expression in his eyes that he hadn’t shown me during our conversation. “My son just told me everything, not by choice, but by force. I want you to know that you can come to me if you need anything. If my son doesn’t treat you right, I have no problem beating him into the ground. He won’t fight back, so it’ll be an easy match. He may be a confident man, but when it comes to me, all he knows is fear. So if you ever want to leave, you’re free to do so. Let me know, and I’ll make it happen.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Utterly speechless, she didn’t know what to say. “That’s very kind of you…. Her eyes shifted to me before she looked at him again. “Honestly, your son is very good to me. I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for him. He has a good heart. He makes me feel safe, makes me feel beautiful. I know evil because I’ve seen it with my own eyes…and he’s not it.”
When my father looked at me again, all the hostility was gone. Something about her words softened his resolve. “Good…I’m glad to hear that.” He stepped back from her and slid his hands into his pockets. “We’re going to keep this from his mother since…I don’t think she would take it well. So this will stay between the three of us…and Conway.”
Mia looked at me, the affection and sincerity in her eyes. She wore her heart on her sleeve when it came to me. She obviously respected me, and there wasn’t a hint of fear coming from her. When I’d first captured her, she was constantly timid around me, so I noticed the difference in her behavior. Now she was comfortable and relaxed, knowing she had far more freedoms here than she would have anywhere else. “I understand.”
After a bout of silence, my father spoke again. “Well, I should get going.”
“I’ll walk you to the door.” I escorted him through the kitchen and back to the entryway. I thought he would stay for lunch and I would show him around the house, but he clearly wasn’t interested in that.
We walked outside into the hot sun where his black car was parked.
“Thanks for not telling Mom.”
“If Mia isn’t going to be here forever, I don’t see why we should. If this were the woman you loved…that would be a different story.”
I cared about Mia a lot, would do almost anything for her, but love wasn’t on my radar. She was the longest relationship I’d ever had because most of my flings were just a few weeks. I respected her story, respected her resilience. “I’m sorry I disappointed you, Father. I hate it when that happens…makes me feel like shit.”
He looked into my face, his expression unreadable. His gaze flicked away for a moment, and he sighed quietly. When he looked at me again, there a small sign of affection. “No matter how much you disappoint me, it doesn’t change the way I feel about you. You’re my son, and I love you with everything that I have. I’m still proud of the man you’ve become and everything you’ve accomplished. I’m not perfect, so it’s unrealistic for me to expect you to be perfect…but I want you to be better than me. That’s all a father wants… for his son to be better.” He moved his hand to my shoulder and gave me a squeeze.
I lived for those squeezes, lived for my father’s praise. I looked up to him in many ways, had always wanted to be a strong man like him. Sometimes he was irrational and emotional, but he was still the smartest guy I knew. Everything I learned, I learned from him. “Thanks, Father.”
He gave a slight nod before he dropped his hand and walked away. “Invite us over for dinner. Your mother wants to see you before Sapphire goes into labor.”
“Alright. I will.” I stood in front of the house and watched him leave the property and drive out of the gates. They closed behind him automatically. I heard the engine of his car as he sped away, and when the sounds stopped, I knew he was gone.
Now that he had left, I questioned everything about myself. I’d put everything on the line for a woman I didn’t love. I was having her son live with us when I knew nothing about kids. I didn’t even want kids myself. My whole world was changing to accommodate this woman. I didn’t consider myself to be a hero, so it wasn’t in my nature to help someone like this.
But I wanted to give this woman everything…everything she deserved.
Six
Bones
We stood together in the doorway of the apartment. My black bag was over my shoulder, and Vanessa was staring at me with eyes full of tears. Last time I left, she was stronger. But this time, all of her strength had disappeared. She’d been pushed too far, her heart beaten too severely.
It hurt me so much that I considered calling the whole thing off.
But I couldn’t do that to my boys. I could never betray my family. They had my back, and I had theirs—end of story. I just had to make it through one more time. When this was over, I would never hurt her again.
Vanessa sniffled then wiped her tears away. “Sapphire is going to go into labor at any moment.”
“I know.”
“You can’t miss that.”
“The timing is shitty. But there’s nothing I can do, baby. I have to do my job.”
Fresh tears fell down her face.
I hated it. Fucking hated it. I held up a single finger. “One more time.”
“One time too many,” she whispered. She covered her face with her hands for an instant, giving her a second to control her quivering lip. “Doesn’t matter if it’s the last time. What you’re doing is still dangerous. You could still get killed—”
“Not gonna happen, baby.” Any other man would get fed up with her disapproval, but I was better than that. If I was going to make her cry, then I was going to be the one to listen to it. I would stand there as long as she needed me to, go in this circle as many times as it took before she could let me go. “I promise you.”
“You never know…”
“Ask any Barsetti, and they’ll tell you I’m the strongest man they’ve ever met.”
“Even the strongest regimes fall…”
“Not me, baby. I’m not doing this for the money anymore. I’m doing this job right because I have to get back to you. I have something to live for, not something to die for.”
She tilted her gaze to the floor, her tears glistening in the light. “Griffin, I’m never going to be okay with this… I don’t want you to leave.”
“I have to. The sooner I leave, the sooner I come back.”
“What if you don’t come back at all?”
I dropped the bag on the floor then moved my hands to her hips. “Baby, look at me.”
She kept her chin angled toward the floor, her eyes closed.
“Baby.” I could redirect her gaze with my hand, but I didn’t want to. I wanted her to look at me when she was ready, to obey me when she felt like it.
After thirty seconds, she finally looked into my eyes.
My hand wrapped around the back of her neck, keeping her in place as I spoke to her. “I will come back, baby. You can do this. This is the last time, and it’s over forever. Instead of worrying about me, be happy that you never have to do this again. This will be the last time. I promise you. Even if Max comes to me and asks for a favor, I will say no. I made it clear these would be my last jobs. That was the deal we made. I won’t change my mind. When I return, we’ll be starting a new life together. I have no idea what I’m going to do,
but I will find something. So spend time picking out what house you want. When I get back, we’ll buy it.”
“I want to do that with you…”
“Then pick your favorites, and we’ll visit them together.”
She rested her palms against my chest, her breathing a little less shaky. The tears stopped falling, but her eyes were still wet. “Okay…”
I rested my forehead against hers. “Have faith in me, baby. Remember who I am. Remember what I’m capable of. You shouldn’t be worried about me, but all the men who face me.”
“I don’t care how strong you are, Griffin. My fear comes from love. Love makes me irrational, makes me paranoid. I’m so scared of losing you that even a one percent chance is too high.”
“It’s not even one percent, baby.” I pressed my lips to her forehead. “I want that list of houses when I get back. And hopefully I return before Sapphire goes into labor. But if I don’t…tell them congratulations for me.”
“I will.”
I rubbed my nose against hers. “I love you, baby.”
She started to cry again. “I love you too…”
I kissed her tears away before I turned my back on her and grabbed my bag. I walked out the front door without looking over my shoulder, unable to watch her cry as I left her. The only thing keeping me going was the fact that this was my last mission before permanent retirement. After this, it would be a quiet life of…I wasn’t even sure. I would have to find something to keep me busy. If Vanessa was working in the gallery all the time, I couldn’t hover over her and distract her. And I certainly couldn’t work out all the time. When this mission was complete, I would give it more serious thought.
I got on the way and headed to the airport. I called Max through my headset.
“On the road?” he asked.
“Ten minutes from the airport.”
“Alright. The guy will meet you in Morocco. Before you take the trip to the mountain, he’ll meet you with the artillery.”
“Good to know.”
“Bad mood, huh?” he asked.
“Vanessa…”
“Gives you shit every time you leave?”
