Unholy Intent

by Natasha Knight

  “Not yet.”

  “Aren’t they married with kids?”

  “Wives and kids claim not to know where they are. They’re holed up with the old man.”

  “I want those two fuckers found.”

  After my warning to the Clementi brothers that I do not transport coke, they turned around and arranged for a fucking container of it to be shipped from Latin America to the US. The brothers disappeared when they were found out.

  None of it sits well with me. It’s not even so much that they tried again, but more so about how clumsily it was all done. How obviously.

  I need to get my hands on them because there’s more to this story than meets the eye. All I know for sure is I had the contents of that container destroyed.

  The Clementis are out a lot of money, but they should have known better.

  “Who has the most to gain?” Lucas asks.

  I turn to him. He’s leaning against the wall. I think about what Cristina saw. Could he have been carrying gasoline out to the solarium? Could he have somehow aided those men? Gotten them on the property to begin with? Would he?

  He knows that forest like the back of his hand. We both do. And he can access the bunker as easily as I can.

  The bunker was built by my great-grandfather. It’s set in the rock of the mountain about two miles from the house. I’m pretty sure we’d survive a zombie apocalypse in there for more than a year the way it’s stocked.

  But it also gives us a way off the property.

  Which, of course, leaves a way in.

  I take a deep breath. “What were you doing out in the woods behind the house yesterday?”

  “What?” Lucas asks.

  “Cristina saw you.”

  His eyes narrow and he sucks his cheeks in as he calculates his reply. “Taking a fucking walk.”

  Well, at least he doesn’t deny it. “In the rain?”

  “I needed fresh air. What are you suggesting?”

  “What were you carrying?”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “She said you were carrying something.”

  He pushes off the wall. “Let me ask you again. What are you suggesting, Brother?”

  “If you had something to do with the fire, it won’t matter that you’re my brother.”

  “Business first with you, right?”

  “I won’t tolerate disloyalty.”

  “I’m not disloyal to my family.”

  “What were you carrying?”

  “Gifts for Annabel and Mom.”

  That surprises me. The family plot is on the grounds just behind the chapel. I don’t know why I’m surprised that Lucas would go out there.

  “What kind of gifts?”

  “A doll for Annabel and a tea set. She liked having tea parties. I’m sure you remember that.”

  “And what about Mom?”

  “A plant.”

  “That’s all?”

  “That’s all.”

  “She said they were heavy.”

  “Maybe she saw wrong. I had the things in bags, and I was hunched over against the rain. You can check to be sure I’m not lying. Have someone at the house go out to the plots.”

  “I will.”

  He shakes his head. “You’re fucking unbelievable. You think I’d set a fire to destroy the solarium? The place Mom and Annabel loved so much?”

  “I think you’re too smart to set it yourself.”

  “You’re fucking insane.”

  “Am I?”

  “I’d think you’d have torn it down already, considering.”

  I grit my teeth.

  Tobias’s phone rings. He leaves the room.

  “What happened to Annabel was an accident,” I tell Lucas.

  “A lot of accidents happen around you, Brother.”

  “The railing was loose. We couldn’t have known.”

  “No, yet she’s the one who fell. Not you.”

  “And if you think I don’t wish it were the other way around to this day, then you don’t know me.” I stand.

  “No, I don’t know you, do I? I don’t know what you’re capable of, but I’m learning. Take Michela, for example. I’ve seen her back. You do that to her on our father’s command?”

  I look down, then back at him. “A mistake I will live with forever.”

  “What? You think that makes it okay? That you admit it was a mistake? You think she should forgive you?”

  With a smile, I walk to meet him as he heads toward me. “No, I don’t expect that. I know I don’t deserve her forgiveness. But tell me something. If you’d been in my position, what would you have done? And before you answer, remember that I know what you’re capable of. After all, I was on the receiving end.”

  He grits his teeth, looking away momentarily. “After all those years, you’re going to wave that in my face again? Should I pity you? Beg your forgiveness?”

  “Fuck your pity, and you already have my forgiveness. You always did. You just never wanted it. Is it because it’s harder to live with then? Is it easier to blame me somehow?”

  He snorts at that last thing.

  “And yes, I am going to wave that in your face because you left. You fucking left, Lucas. After everything, after all those fucking years, you walked away.”

  “I had no choice after Annabel died.”

  “You always have a choice just like I always have a choice.”

  When he meets my eyes again, I see another side of him. The one from way back when we were kids. When we were friends.

  “You know I never wanted any of it. That was our father,” he says.

  “You never stood up to help me, though, did you? Not even as I stood there and took it again and again and again. How many times did he beat you? I can count it on one hand. Me? Well, I don’t need to remind you. And then what came after, what he made you do—”

  “I tried—”

  “You failed and I still forgave you!”

  That glimpse of the boy is gone. Angry Lucas is back. “At least you were a fucking adult when I left. And besides, you’ve done well for yourself, haven’t you? Got what you always wanted? So, don’t go fucking blaming me.”

  “Why the hell are you back, anyway, after all these years? Why now?”

  “Would you believe me if I told you I missed you, Brother?”

  “No, I wouldn’t. You’re here to punish me for the accident that left you as you are.”

  “Another accident you walked away from. One in which you were behind the wheel.”

  “I tried to save you.”’

  “Did you? Or was it your revenge for the years you think I stood by and let him beat you. Even when it was me he should have been beating? What about what happened after? What I did to you? You must hate me for that.”

  “That’s your guilt talking, Brother. But hey, at least you admit it. You’re wrong, though. I wouldn’t hurt any of you.”

  “I don’t know, Damian. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and you’ve always had a hard time letting go of a grudge.”

  “I have no grudge against you.”

  “Not anymore, maybe.”

  “That accident was Joseph Valentina’s fault. He was fucking drunk. It was pouring rain. The roads were slippery, and it was dark. You know this as well as I do, for fuck’s sake.”

  “All I know is I need a fucking drink.”

  I block his path. “You cornered Cristina in the kitchen.”

  He smiles. “She was happy for the company. I mean, what had you done for her? Abandon her in her room, not even feeding the poor girl unless she ate with you. Who the fuck do you think you are, anyway?”

  “You scared her.”

  “Did I? I guess anyone would be scared of this, though.” He turns his face a little so I see the damage more clearly.

  I narrow my eyes but don’t reply.

  “Why so protective of her anyway? She’s got a year, isn’t that right? Isn’t she doomed to the same fate as Annabel as s
oon as she turns nineteen? Slightly less than a year then, technically speaking. You have to admit, it will be a poetic end. I’m surprised at Dad for thinking that up. Didn’t know the bastard had any poetry in him.”

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  I turn away when he grins.

  “Or won’t you do it? At the end of the year? Will you betray your family and let the daughter of the man who killed your mother and sister live?”

  “I thought you just said the accident was my fault. Or do the facts change as they suit you?”

  “Tell me, will you betray us? Hell, maybe you’re hoping dad will die so you won’t have to go through with it.”

  “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t I? I mean, why marry her?”

  “So you don’t lay your dirty fingers on her. I’m abiding by Di Santo family rules. No matter how enmeshed our relationships are, no matter how insane, this is the one thing that stands. You don’t touch what’s mine. And as my wife, she’s mine.”

  “So, you did it to protect her from me.”

  “From you, from our father, and from her father’s enemies.”

  “Well, that was very noble of you,” he says sarcastically. “Selfless even.”

  “Fuck you, Brother.”

  “So you bought her a year? Doesn’t make sense. Unless…”

  “I said fuck you.”

  “There’s more. You wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t something in it for you. You’re hiding something, Damian.”

  I don’t reply but shield my eyes as I study my brother because he knows me well. Better than I realized.

  “Tell me something.” He cocks his head to the side. “What happens to The Valentina Foundation if a terrible accident were to befall Cristina, and she should perish before her time?”

  I keep my mouth shut. He’s done his homework. He’s not stupid.

  “It would go to her uncle. To his line,” he fills in.

  “So?”

  “So you’d lose control. You’d have no leverage.”

  “I controlled it through him while Cristina was a minor. It wouldn’t be any different.”

  “But what reason would he have to continue with that sort of arrangement? I mean, I guess he did that in part to keep her alive.”

  “She was a child. There was no risk of not keeping her alive.”

  “But only because her father bought those precious years with his life. So, tell me, are you more devious than I thought?”

  “You’re getting involved in things that aren’t your concern.” Turning away, I pick up the bottle of whiskey on the corner of my desk and pour myself a glass.

  “Just let me talk it out. See if I got it right. She’s your wife. If she were to…say…get pregnant, well, then you’d be sitting pretty, wouldn’t you? With or without her. I mean, after the baby comes and she makes you a daddy.”

  I tighten my grip on the glass.

  “Humor me. Is that it? Is that your plan? To impregnate your unwilling bride?”

  I face him, drink my drink, and study him. My brother. My twin. My enemy.

  “She deserves to know, don’t you think?”

  “You don’t care about her, Lucas. Don’t pretend to.”

  “Oh, I’m not. But you do have me thinking.”

  “That’s a first.”

  “And you know what I’m thinking? Brother?”

  “I don’t give a shit.”

  “You should because I’m thinking maybe that even if that is your plan, there’s still something else. Something that hasn’t quite gone how you expected.”

  “And what’s that? Enlighten me.”

  “You’ve got feelings for her. All your plotting didn’t account for that, did they?”

  I grit my teeth and swallow hard.

  “And you know what that makes her? A weakness. Have I found your weakness, Brother? Because if I have, then so will others.”

  Shooting out my arm, I grip him by the throat and walk him backward to the wall, my face an inch from his.

  “You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me. But I will tell you this. If you touch what’s mine, I will fucking kill you. Are we fucking clear on that?”

  His grin widens even as I choke him. “Does that mean I’m right?”

  “Damian,” Tobias says.

  I don’t know when he entered the room, so I don’t know how much he heard.

  “What?” I snap, not looking away from Lucas.

  “We need to talk.”

  “You watch your back, Brother,” I warn Lucas once more. “You said it yourself. A lot of accidents happen around me.”

  18

  Cristina

  I jump when the study door flies open, and Lucas storms out, rage darkening his features.

  He stops when he sees me.

  I remain frozen where I am in the kitchen, one hand on the tap, the other around a glass. I’d come in here to get some water when they’d started arguing in the study. And I admit that I stood riveted.

  Snooping again, Damian would say. But I don’t care. He married me to protect me. He told me that, didn’t he? Does he truly believe this is for my own good? And is it for my own good or for some personal gain of his?

  Lucas’s eyes zero in on me, and he cocks his head to the side. “Get a good earful?”

  I clear my throat and shake my head, turning on the tap and concentrating on filling my glass.

  “No?” he asks, approaching.

  I wait until the glass is all the way full before I look up at him again, using that time to try to school my features.

  “No,” I lie, sipping some water.

  “Well, I’ll tell you what.” He walks toward me. “Is this your phone?”

  I look at the phone I’d set on the counter. I’d just been texting Liam.

  “Yeah.”

  He takes it, turns it around for me to enter my passcode which I’d set up the other night, then pushes a bunch of buttons before handing it back to me.

  I take it.

  “When you’re ready to hear some truth, you call me, and I’ll tell it to you. I know you may not believe this, but I am not your enemy, Cristina.” He turns and walks to the door, grabbing his coat on his way out.

  I exhale as soon as he’s gone, but it’s not a long reprieve because the door to the study opens again, and Damian and Tobias exit.

  When they see me, they stop.

  “I’ll wait downstairs,” Tobias says.

  “Send Cash up,” Damian says, approaching me. “How long have you been standing there?”

  “I just came to get a glass of water.” I sip from the glass.

  He studies me. I guess he’s trying to gauge how much I heard.

  “I saw Lucas leave,” I say, not wanting him to question me. He sees right through me if I lie. “He seemed upset.”’

  “Upset is an understatement. I need to go. I’ll be back late. Cash will be inside the penthouse. There are soldiers in the lobby and around the building. You’ll be safe.”

  “Is it all right if I run a few errands?” I ask. “With Cash,” I quickly add.

  “What errands do you have to run?”

  “I brought back a library book I should return,” I say, and it’s true. I did bring the library book with me that I’d had in my backpack the night he’d come for me.

  He raises an eyebrow. “I’m sure the library won’t miss your book.”

  “There’s a café a couple of blocks away. I used to go all the time.” I shrug a shoulder. “I miss my life, Damian.” When he doesn’t say no right away, I push on. “Cash can come with me. I don’t mind. I’ll just say hi to some friends.”

  He draws in a deep breath as he considers. “All right. Cash stays with you at all times.”

  “That’s fine.” He can be in the same café. It’s a big place.

  He nods, turns to go but comes back to me. He takes his wallet out of his pocket and hands me a wad of cash. “For coffee and what
ever else you want.”

  Want. Not need.

  I shake my head. I’m reading too much into it.

  He’s giving you money because he took yours, and you depend on him even for a stupid cup of coffee. How embarrassing.

  “Thanks,” I say, taking it.

  His gaze sweeps over me and before I know it, he has one hand at the back of my head pulling me close. I’m not sure if he’s going to kiss me or what but he brings his mouth to my ear and holds me like that for a moment.

  “Be good, Cristina,” he warns.

  I nod, looking up at him as he draws back.

  Cash enters and Damian leaves after giving him instructions to take me to the café. I pick up my phone. I scroll to where Lucas programmed his phone number, but I don’t call it. Instead, I text Liam.

  Me: Hey, you still at Roasters?

  Although Liam had gone to stay with his mom initially, he’s back with his dad until the end of the school year. I’m glad because it means I get to see him.

  Liam: Yep

  Me: Order me a latte. I’ll see you there in a few minutes.

  Liam: Did you finally grow a spine, Cousin?

  He inserts a chicken emoji.

  I send him the middle finger emoji.

  “Ready?” I ask Cash as I put on my coat and slip the money into my pocket. There’s at least several hundred dollars in there. I wonder how much Damian thinks coffee costs.

  “After you,” Cash says, opening the door.

  Cash is exactly one step behind me for the entire walk. When I get to the café, Liam has a table for two near the window.

  “Here,” I tell Cash, handing him some money. “I’ll be with my cousin. You go somewhere else.”

  “Mr. Di Santo said—”

  “That you have to come with me, and you did. Look, that table just opened up. Grab it before someone else does.” I walk toward Liam without waiting for him to answer me and drop into the empty leather armchair from which Liam removes his backpack.

  “You snagged the good seats!”

  “Sure did. It’s good to see you out and about,” Liam says and hands me a large cup.

  I take it, wrapping my hands around the warmth of it. “It’s good to be out and about,” I say, truly smiling and meaning what I say. I didn’t realize how much I missed the city. The busy streets. Even the never-ending sound of horns honking.