“Jason . . .”
But he was already gone. I stared at the phone for the longest time. Maybe he’d finally had the wake-up call I’d been hoping for. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d heard him be almost humble.
Valentina topped off my tea. “Do you want Donato to find him?”
“I-I don’t know.” I slumped down in the chair. Was I supposed to say yes? “He sounded okay. I think somehow that was his way of apologizing,” I said, still shell-shocked from the whole bizarre conversation. “It’s the first time he hasn’t demanded anything from me in a long time.”
She touched my knee. “Sometimes we don’t give ourselves permission, but I’m going to do it for you. It’s okay to put your son and your own happiness first.”
It was as if the woman had been living inside my head. Since Jason had been born, I’d felt responsible for him. Over the years, I’d toughened up, learned to stand up to him and say no, but it wasn’t easy. Hearing Valentina say that made something click into place.
My shoulders dropped. Jason had seemed clear-headed and grateful. I’d never be able to stop worrying about him and wishing he’d be an active part of our lives, but I’d done the best I could. He seemed to finally recognize that. Now I had peace.
“I am.”
And I would. Carlos was my priority too. I thought I’d be able to feel what was happening with him because of our connection, like I’d always heard twins had. But all I felt was fear I was about to lose the happiness I’d only just found.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Carlos
“Sandoval isn’t here.”
I’d made it to the rendezvous point with one of Donato’s men outside a nearby warehouse. The briefing wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but nonetheless irritating.
I checked the time. Five minutes until we were supposed to meet.
“Signs of anyone else?” I asked in a low voice.
“A man and a child are inside. Six stationed around the perimeter.”
My heart lurched. A child? Had they found Holly and Gabriel?
“Identity?” I sounded unsteady but couldn’t find it in me to care. If Gabriel was in that building, I was going in now.
“Child unknown. Other subject, Nicanor Rosca.”
Fuck.
Two enemies united in force. My odds just turned worse.
And there was a child involved. My conscience wouldn’t allow for that. This was no place for the innocent.
“Clear the path. I’m going in.”
“Sir.”
I ignored the protest and slid farther into the shadows with one mission. To remove the child from the situation. A part of me, the young boy from long ago, was desperate to save another from the same fate.
All I could think about was if it were Gabriel as I moved closer to the target. I stepped over a body clad in all black fifty yards from the warehouse. One of Rosca’s guards that I couldn’t say I was all that sorry to see gone.
I hesitated when I reached the entrance Daniel had suggested I use. When had life stopped being precious to me?
That wasn’t the real question. When had it started?
The answer was easy. On New Year’s Day when I’d met the two angels who had saved me.
I crept inside undetected. Rosca was a tactical genius. Given the things I’d done for him, a child should be of no consequence. He had gambled I couldn't destroy a boy’s life for my own gain, and he’d been correct. If he was any relation to Rosca, he was destined for a life of blood and crime. He wouldn't have a choice. I determined to give him one.
“Grandpa, can we get ice cream after this?” He was around Gabriel’s age with the halo of innocence surrounding him.
“We'll get two scoops of chocolate.” Rosca smiled, a sight I’d never seen.
He cared about the boy, and I was temporarily derailed.
Rosca checked his watch. I did the same. Eduardo was late. Somehow, I doubted he’d show at all, considering Nicanor Rosca hadn’t been invited to the party in the first place.
I couldn't shoot Rosca now, but if I came out of the shadows, I'd sign my own death certificate. My fury grew. He might be a grandpa, but no loving man would ever bring his grandson into this situation. Ever. If Rosca gave more than one shit about the child, he wouldn't be here.
It was the classic move of my father, and I realized why I'd been so intent on taking out Rosca. He was my father personified. I wanted to rid this earth of anyone like him for the sake of kids like the one only steps away, who just wanted ice cream with his grandfather.
Save him.
It was my mother's voice, as clear as if she were beside me. Vadim, Rosca's son, emerged from the shadows. This was his boy. He'd allowed his son to be used. Without revealing myself, I said, “Send the boy away.”
The child's head snapped in the direction of my voice, and his grandfather's lips curled into a victorious sneer. “You don't call the shots, Calderón. You should know that by now.”
“Send. The boy. Away.”
I moved along the back wall so the next time they heard my voice, it was from another place. “He doesn't belong here.”
“That's up to me,” Rosca responded. I seethed on behalf of that child. I'd been him. At least my own father had kept me oblivious to the business going on around me at a young age. Rosca was a psycho.
“Actually, it's not.” I walked confidently forward, stepping into the light, deciding to take the risk. “Is this your son?” I asked Vadim. We'd known one another for as long as I'd been associated with his father, but I'd never met his children. Vadim wasn't as ruthless as his father. That much I'd picked up on when he'd had to leave the room when I'd brutally killed the man who had betrayed them. Vadim didn't have a taste for violence, like his father. I regretted not having forged a bond over that with him.
Vadim picked up his son.
“What's happening, Daddy?” Gabriel had taught me how intuitive kids were, and this one was no different. It was impossible not to pick up on the tension.
“Just a little business.” Vadim turned to his father. “He doesn't belong here.” And with that, he took his son out the front door. My respect for Vadim grew exponentially, though he wasn't to be trusted. I had no way of knowing how he would retaliate when I ended his father's life.
“Only a coward would use a child as a shield,” I said as soon as the metal door slammed shut.
Rosca laughed long and hard. “Only a fool would make himself known with a bounty so high on his head.”
I put a hand in my pocket and clutched the rosary. “I didn’t realize you were hard up for money. Killing for sport is much less desperate than killing for cash.”
His nostrils flared. “Who said that’s why we’re here?”
“You did. This is a meeting you weren’t invited to.” It seemed as if he might not be here to kill me. He certainly wouldn’t do it himself. I’d never seen him do anything other than spectate when it came to extinguishing a life.
“Sandoval thinks he’s smarter than he is.” Rosca flicked an imaginary piece of lint off his sleeve. “His quest for whatever he holds against you”—he waved his hand in the air with indifference—”is meaningless. You are worth more to me alive than dead.”
I forced a neutral expression on my face. This wasn’t news. I made this man loads of money, but I hadn’t expected him to admit that.
“Where is he?”
A sinister smile formed. “He won’t be joining us. He’s otherwise engaged.” I narrowed my gaze. “What is your interest in him? Other than he double-crossed you?”
“We have unfinished business.”
“I’m afraid it will remain so,” he said regretfully. His gold tooth gleamed in the light.
It seemed too good to be true that Rosca had taken care of my problem. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted the chance to confront Eduardo, though now that I knew who he really was, I understood his motivation. His family had murdered my mother. Mine had slaughtered his. There was
enough hate between us to last a thousand lifetimes.
That I wouldn’t have a chance to finish avenging Mama’s death bothered me more than I cared to admit. I’d spent years believing it was done, though it brought no satisfaction. The chance to end it all felt as if it had been stolen.
“I want to see him.”
Rosca lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “If you must.” He snapped his fingers then frowned when no one came. “Your thirst for blood is exquisite.”
He seemed almost gleeful at the thought I’d single-handedly taken out his best men. I wouldn’t correct him that I’d had help.
“I misjudged you,” he continued. “You are”—he tapped his lips with his index finger as if searching for the right word—“unique. I certainly didn’t see you eliminating your father. I didn’t think you had it in you, and I’m rarely surprised.”
I stood stoically. If he didn’t want me dead, what was he up to?
“I face a problem. I don’t know your intentions. Offing your old man is ballsy. Even I didn’t do that.” He paused, and I didn’t want to know where his sick mind had gone. “Are you a threat? Or can we continue as we’ve been?”
“Where is Eduardo?”
He paced a circle around me. “Eduardo. Eduardo. Eduardo. What is your obsession with each other?” The cap on his irritation appeared to be fragile. “He was quite eager to inform me of your whereabouts, bragged about the tracking device he’d planted in your phone. And you were careless.” So that was how he’d found me the day Gabriel and I had our outing. Even though by that point I had a different phone, Rosca had undoubtedly been watching the apartment building. I’d made it easy for him by coming and going as if I were invisible. “I’ve taken care of your problem. The bounty on your head will be lifted as soon as news spreads. Looks like you owe me.”
There it was. The heart of his desires. He wanted me to be in his debt. I’d been a prisoner all my life. My cage was open, and I wouldn’t return.
“You’ve given me no proof.”
“Fine.” He motioned to a dark corner of the warehouse. “Go have a look.”
“Bring him to me.”
He stared at me as if I’d just asked him to wipe my ass. When I didn’t budge, he stalked off with a sigh.
I scanned the space for any indication of another’s presence and found none. While I trusted Donato’s men had taken care of any potential threats, there was always the unforeseen.
Rosca struggled to drag Eduardo by the foot across the concrete floor. When he was close enough for me to have a look, he dropped him. “Satisfied? Problem eliminated.”
Eduardo’s lifeless body lay in an awkward position. A twinge of remorse irked me. While we’d never been what I’d consider friends, we had worked closely together. The illusion of the man I knew, I’d grown to care for was hard to forget. Whether any piece of that person truly existed, I wasn’t sure, but it was difficult not to hold on to what he’d shown me.
“What a waste of space,” Rosca said with disgust. “Although he did fool you, so there is that.”
“We can’t go on as before.” I ignored the jab. We’d done this song and dance for long enough.
“I was afraid you’d say that. I have no doubt you’ll attempt to assassinate me—”
A sharp crack ricocheted through the vast space. I pulled the gun from my waistband as a stunned look froze on Rosca’s face. He dropped to the concrete, a river of blood flowing from his body.
“Waste of space, my ass.” Eduardo sounded as if he’d been beaten senseless. “Now who’s the fool?”
It took me a moment to come to my senses. Seconds ago, he’d appeared dead, but he was very much alive . . . and had a gun trained on me.
His finger twitched on the trigger. “You killed my whole family, including my half-brother.”
“Your father raped, tortured, and murdered my mother,” I roared.
“I wish you could be here when I kill your sister, your pretty little girlfriend, and that boy. What’s his name again? Gabriel? Yes. Gabriel.”
My blood went cold. He knew about everyone I cared for.
Eduardo sat up as the metal door burst open. I flicked my gaze toward it, only willing to take my eyes off him for a second. Vadim.
I eased the other gun from my back. I’d need one for each of them.
“You stole the empire that should’ve been mine. I’m taking it back.” Eduardo aimed for my chest.
I fired off a shot that went straight through his skull and swung around to take aim at Vadim.
“You killed him?” he asked in his thick Russian accent.
“No.”
“Then who do I owe my thanks?”
My brows shot up. “He can’t hear you.” I flicked my chin toward Eduardo.
Four of Donato’s team members filed in through open metal door.
Vadim held up his hands in surrender. “The only chance I had was you. I called off the interior security, certain if you got him alone, you would eliminate him. You have freed my family.”
It had never occurred to me Vadim had suffered the same fate I had. We were cut from the same cloth, with fathers who were insufferable.
“Take your boy and free him from this life.”
“I can now that you’ve rid our lives of that bastard.” He glanced at his father's body with contempt. A small head peeked in through the open door, and I cringed.
“Go to your son. Protect him.”
Vadim's head whipped around. “Outside, Maxim.” The boy ducked out of view, and I prayed he hadn't seen his grandfather’s or Eduardo’s lifeless bodies. “Whatever you need, I am in your debt. He abused my mother and my sister, but I didn't have the courage to kill him.” The conviction behind those words had me believing them.
“Then make certain no one in your regime retaliates against me. I want a peaceful life. Nothing more.”
“We'll protect one another. You have my word.”
We shook hands. “I'll take care of this.”
“Do with him what you will. He should have suffered, but I'm glad he's gone.”
“We're more alike than you know.”
“Meet my son. I want him to know the man who freed him.” Vadim slid his arm around my waist like an old comrade. I walked with him out the front of the building, though my hand never left my weapon. I never let my guard down, but I sensed he was being genuine. Donato’s team was on high alert as well, cataloguing our every move.
The boy ran to his father, wrapping his arms around his father's legs, and it tugged at every sensitive part of me, reminding me of Gabriel. Maxim blinked at me.
“This is Carlos. He is a man you can trust,” Vadim said. “Carlos, this is Maxim. My son.”
I stooped and held out my hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“You too, sir.”
I looked behind me and finally felt . . . free. All the actors from my old life were dead. Their reign, their evilness, had been destroyed. It was finished. The chains tethering me to this world loosened, and I could breathe easier. And I had a future. A life. Love.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Holly
Midnight.
Where is he? I’d asked myself the question a thousand times as I waited in the foyer.
The front door swung open, and I rushed over, disappointed when I saw Donato, who had been helping Carlos with his plans. My worst fears crashed down on me. I looked around him for the man I loved, devastated when he was alone.
“Did he—” I couldn't choke out the rest, my vision like I was underwater. My head shook to and fro, a refusal to believe Carlos wasn't coming home.
“Holly, he's—”
Before Donato could finish the sentence, the black Range Rover skidded to a stop in the driveway. Carlos tore across the bricks toward me, and I ran past Donato until I was in his arms.
“I was so worried about you,” I scolded, pressing kisses all over his face.
“It's over, Beauty.”
“Are you hurt?
” I inspected him as best as I could in the dark.
“No.” Carlos shuddered in my arms, and I held him more tightly.
“What is it?”
“Eduardo and Rosca are dead. A new, safer alliance was made tonight.”
He didn’t have to say how they’d passed, and it didn’t matter. Now that I knew the man I loved was safe, I felt the bone-chilling cold that had set in and burrowed deeper against his strong chest.
“Let's get you inside,” Carlos murmured against my ear.
With our arms around each other, we trekked across the drive back to the house. We said our good nights to Donato and went upstairs to the guest room we'd been given.
“I want to see Gabriel. Just check in on him,” Carlos said.
I led him to where our son—our son—was sleeping deeply. He didn't stir as Carlos kissed him and whispered he loved him. He left his rosary on the pillow. There was a lingering fear of danger in my mind, but it was easier to see a hopeful future.
Carlos steered me across the hall, and his voice was strained. “I need a shower.”
“Let me help you with that.”
He halted and spun me to face him, his eyes filled with wonder and disbelief. I dragged him into the large bathroom, turned on the taps in the shower, and undressed him. I was going to cleanse him of his perceived sins and grant him forgiveness, though in my eyes there was nothing to forgive.
“Hotter,” he said hoarsely once we stepped inside the glass and stone box. It was already scalding, and I only turned up the temperature a fraction.
Carlos ducked his head under the spray, letting the water flow over him for a long time. Eventually, I got on my tiptoes and shampooed his thick, dark hair. He let out a pained whimper when I ran my soapy hands over his chest.
“Am I hurting you?” I asked, stilling.
“I'm so dirty,” he whispered, refusing to open his eyes.
I washed every inch of him. He’d done what he had to do, and even if I didn't like it, I understood.
“Not to me. You are the beautiful one.”
Dangerous Redemption: A Single Parent Forbidden Romance Novel (Paths To Love Book 4) Page 24
