Kaisie’s blood ran cold at the flat, dead sound of Amy’s voice, though he struggled not to show his disgust. He had a feeling she’d clam up if he did. And that was the last thing he wanted her to do.
“So you both learned sign language.”
She shrugged, as if there’d been nothing else she could do. “Mara needed me.”
“Was she born Mal, too?”
“No, but her father is. He’s my father’s brother. I guess that makes him my uncle.” She said the word like a curse. “My father brought her to live with us four years ago. Mara said her parents told her they’d done everything they could for her and now she needed to earn her keep. She was sixteen.”
Kaisie had to work hard to keep his teeth from grinding. He just nodded at Amy, knowing she was watching his reactions, looking for any hint of softness so she could dismiss him as unworthy.
“A year ago, Mara fell in love with one of our bodyguards. She thought he loved her. She got pregnant. And found out my father had orchestrated the whole thing. The guy was the son of one of my dad’s business partners. And Mal. Father was so pleased she got knocked up so fast. And when Mara found out she’d been used, she cried for three days straight until he brought in an old hag to cast a spell to take away her hearing and her voice. She’s been like this for the past six months.”
Staring into Amy’s deep-brown eyes, Kaisie sincerely hoped the bastard hadn’t died because he wanted the pleasure of torturing the man for days until he took his last agonized breath. He had the feeling Amy wished she could do the same.
Which just added to his fury. No fifteen-year-old girl should ever have to go through this nightmare.
“If Mara okays it, we’ll have our streghe take a look at the spell. See if they can break it without harming her.”
Amy nodded, a short, sharp motion that was almost military. “And what about me? What are you going to do with me? I’m Mal.”
No hint of any emotion whatsoever in her eyes. The girl had her emotions locked down tight. And who could blame her, the way she’d been reared?
“You were born Mal, yes. But you heard what Nica said before she left. Wanna tell me what she meant about that shadow she senses in you?”
Now fear flared for a brief second before she could hide it. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Yeah, she did, but now probably wasn’t the time to push about that. “What about your powers? Obviously you’ve come into them.”
Usually streghe came into their powers with their first period, which made for a hell of a wicked month. Lucani girls’ first change hit when their bodies reached a certain maturity level, which didn’t always coincide with their cycle. But maybe there was something different about Mal powers.
She didn’t say anything for so long, he thought maybe she wouldn’t open her mouth again. “I have an affinity for stone. And I can make things explode. Apparently I’m quite the trick dog. Daddy had such plans for breeding me.”
The sarcasm was thick enough to cut with a knife but he could smell her fear and her heartache underlying it.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Amy. You won’t be going back.”
“But I can’t stay here either. I’m Mal. I know what that means, what people like you think about people like me. I’m dangerous. I’m deadly. And let’s not forget evil. I have no soul, right? Isn’t that what you and the rest of the Etruscans believe?”
Yeah, it was. Because it was mostly true. Although he didn’t believe they were born without a soul. He believed they had that beaten out of them.
Which totally sucked when you were staring into the face of a fifteen-year-old girl who knew exactly what you were thinking.
“You didn’t ask to be born Mal.”
“Doesn’t matter, does it? Doesn’t change the fact that that’s what I am. What I’ll always be.” She shook her head. “I can’t stay here. You know that.”
Also true. Shit. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Why don’t we table that discussion for another time?”
She shook her head again. “Doesn’t matter when we talk about it, the facts’ll still be the same. I don’t know what my father wanted with Alex. I only know it wasn’t because he wanted to get to know the son he’d thrown away because he wasn’t born Mal. And I know if my father’s still alive, he’ll be coming for us. And he won’t stop until he gets us back.”
“The lucani aren’t afraid of the Mal, little girl. We’re stronger, faster and there are more of us. If he comes after you, he better be prepared for a war.”
Her eye brows lifted. “Didn’t you lose the last war you fought with the Mal?”
He released the smile he’d been holding back until now, the one that scared grown men. “Honey, that was almost two hundred years ago. Trust me, we’ve learned a few tricks since then. Now that we’ve stalled long enough, why don’t you let me introduce you to your mother?”
Chapter Five
The girl standing beside her bed had her face.
Grace tried not to appear dumbstruck. Or allow tears to well in her eyes. Or to jump out of bed to grab the girl, dressed in too-baggy shorts and a t-shirt that practically drowned her delicate frame, who stopped just inside the door to her room and refused to come any closer.
“Grace,” Kaisie’s voice rumbled through the room, “this is Amy. Amy, this is Grace Bellasario.”
Grace knew she looked like crap, with her puffy, bloodshot eyes and her messy hair. Her complexion had to be white because exhaustion was starting to seep through her and she felt sick to her stomach with anxiety.
She forced herself to smile, shifting Alex’s sleeping body closer as she tried to rearrange herself so she was sitting up.
“Hello, Amy. How are you feeling?”
The girl shrugged, hands deep in the pockets of the shorts, her mouth set in uncompromising lines, as if she hadn’t been through a hell of fear in the past twenty-four hours. “I’m fine. How’s Alex?”
“He seems fine. Kaisie told me you took care of him. I want to…to thank you for that.”
Amy’s head tilted back the tiniest bit but her expression didn’t change. “He’s my brother.”
As if that meant more than anything in the world to her. Much more than a mother who’d abandoned her to be reared by a monster.
“Yes, he is.”
An awkward silence fell as Grace tried to find the right words, the words that wouldn’t send her daughter running. But everything she wanted to say, everything she needed to say would sound like excuses. And this girl with her eyes and the same stubborn expression on her face deserved more than excuses.
“Were you injured at all in the escape?”
Amy shook her head, her gaze dropping to Grace’s bandaged arm. “Were you?”
“Just a cut. It’ll be fine.”
“Good.”
“Would you like—”
“Can I go back to my room now?” Amy addressed her question to Kaisie and Grace felt the cut as deeply as she had the one Ettore had made with the knife. “I think I wanna get some sleep now. I’m kinda tired.”
Grace forced a smile, nodding. “Of course. When you wake, I’m sure Alex will be glad to see you.”
“Sure.” She shrugged. “Tell him I’ll check in with him.”
Then Amy looked at Kaisie, as if for permission, before she turned and disappeared through the door.
Two minutes. Had it even been two minutes? She hadn’t even gotten to touch her.
Grace’s vision blurred but she blinked back the tears. She had to be stronger than this. She’d known it was going to take more than a few minutes to undo fifteen years of Ettore’s influence.
And she wasn’t a quitter.
A dark shadow appeared over her. Kaisie, reaching down to take Alex.
“No, don’t—”
“Shh, Grace.” His voice whispered along her senses. “I’m just moving him to the other bed. I’m not taking him out of the room. Hang tight. I’ll be right back.”
That voice made her chest ache. Her good hand clenched into a fist in her lap as Kaisie laid Alex on the bed next to hers, only inches away. Alex was so deeply asleep, he didn’t make a sound or move a muscle when Kaisie drew the covers over him.
Her gaze stayed locked on Alex as Kaisie walked around to the far side of her bed, as if he knew she didn’t want him between her and Alex. Or maybe he just wanted to be closer to the door so he could leave that much faster. Like her daughter.
“She hates me.”
She hadn’t meant to say anything. Definitely hadn’t meant to sound so…despairing.
“Grace.”
She ignored him, ignored the command in his tone. He wanted her to look at him. She kept her eyes glued to the sheet covering her lap.
“I think I’d like to be alone now. Please leave.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”
She held on to the threads of her temper by sheer force of will. She couldn’t afford to blow her cool now. She had to keep it together. The lucani had been good to her. But she couldn’t afford to overstay her welcome. She had to take her children and get the hell away from here.
Before Ettore sent his people to take back his children and laid waste to everything in his path.
She forced herself to lift her gaze and meet his steady, dark eyes. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for my children. We should be out of your hair in a week, maybe less.”
The man’s gorgeous mouth tilted up, his eyes crinkled and he started to laugh. The bastard actually laughed at her.
Her back straightened and the tears dried in her eyes. “What exactly are you laughing at? None of this is funny.”
“You thinking you’re going to be leaving in a week is funny as all hell, woman. Where do you think you’re going to go? Amy won’t leave Mara behind and Mara’s almost ready to give birth so she’s not going anywhere. Alex likes it here. And admit it. So do you. Aren’t you sick of running yet? Besides, you’d miss me if you left.”
Every word was a jackhammer at her bruised heart. Every single word true. Except that last statement. Of course she wouldn’t miss him.
She wouldn’t miss his gorgeous face or those luminous green eyes or his strength. Or the way he’d made love to her that one stolen night that seemed so far away now. But had been less than two days ago.
A night she’d love to repeat.
Hell, right now, she’d settle for a few stolen minutes held in his arms. She felt so safe there.
Gods damn him. Why did he confuse her so badly? Why was he hanging by her bedside as if he cared about her?
She’d expected that one night to be all she’d ever have with him. She hadn’t expected him to declare his undying love. Not for a woman like her.
Yet here he was, telling her she’d miss him.
Which was so true.
And he was right about the other points as well. Where could she take her children and Mara where Ettore or the Mal wouldn’t find them?
Had she merely traded one prison for another? Why had the lucani allowed her to drag them into her battle?
“Why?” She shook her head as she spoke that one simple word.
Kaisie had stopped laughing but he still wore the ghost of a smile. “If you have to ask, you’re not ready for the answer.” He paused, his smile disappearing completely. “And now you need to stop obsessing for a few hours and get some sleep.”
“I don’t thi—”
He leaned forward, captured her chin in his hand and pressed his mouth over hers, cutting off whatever she’d been about to say. He kissed her, lips closed, eyes open. A promise. A threat.
That kiss sapped the strength, the fight, right out of her. When he pulled away, she sank back into the pillow.
Her good hand was halfway to her lips but she forced it back down to her side.
Strangely, now she thought maybe she could sleep.
“Go to sleep. The entire mess will be here when you wake. And so will I.”
*
“Yeah, this is gonna go real well.”
Kaisie didn’t bother to turn toward the door. He knew who stood there so he just gave the guy the bird over his shoulder.
“Still such pleasant manners.” Aule’s voice was barely audible and Grace and Alex didn’t stir. “I hear everything went according to plan.”
“Mostly.”
“So you plan to keep her or what?”
Fucking Aule. “She’s not a pet.”
“No. She’s definitely a woman. Who you seem unable or unwilling to leave alone.”
He thought about his answer for a few seconds before he said what he’d felt since the first moment he’d seen her. “She’s mine.”
Aule had no immediate snappy comeback for that one and Kaisie finally turned to look at his old friend. Who just raised his eyebrows and stared back at him.
“Nothing to say?”
A grin ghosted around Aule’s mouth. “What would you like me to say?”
Kaisie sighed, unfolding himself from the chair he hadn’t left for more than a few minutes since Grace had fallen asleep. Almost eight hours ago.
He’d slept some, but mostly he’d just sat here. Thinking.
Yeah, enough of that.
With a nod at Aule, he pushed through the door and out into the hallway. His leg muscles nearly sang with relief as he stretched out the kinks.
“So,” Aule said when they’d reached the back door at the end of the hall, “you wanna talk about it or do you just wanna go for a run and exhaust yourself so you don’t have to think about it for a while?”
“Think about what?”
“What you’re going to do about her.”
Kaisie looked his friend straight in the eyes. “There’s nothing to think about.”
Aule nodded. “Okay. So you’re just gonna tell her she’s moving in and you and her and the kids will live happily ever after. Barring an attack by the Mal who want to kill you and her and take the kids away to become evil.”
Leaning against the wall, Kaisie shoved his hands in his jeans. “When did you become a fucking cynic?”
“I’m a romantic compared to you. Vaffanculo, Kaisie, next you’re gonna tell me it was love at first sight.”
“I’m forty-four fucking years old, Aule. I’m not some witless kid thinking with his dick.” He paused, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. “I know what the hell I want. And it’s not like we haven’t spent any time together. We spent an entire week together.”
“Fighting. You spent most of the week fighting.”
“We didn’t kill each other. She’s a strong woman. I like that.”
“What about sex? Do you like that too?”
“Sure. It was great.”
Aule’s mouth actually dropped open. “When— Oh hell, never mind. I should’ve known. Tinia’s teat, Kaisie. What do you want me to say?”
“Hell. Fuck if I know. Tell me I’m not being an idiot.”
“That’s the one thing no one can say about you. You’re definitely not an idiot.” Aule shook his head, his mouth finally curving in a smile. “Shit, Kaisie. You sure know how to do things up right.”
“It’s a gift.”
“Just something to think about, but…does the lady return your affections?”
Kaisie thought about flipping Aule off again for trying to yank his chain then figured it would be wasted on the guy. “I believe she could be persuaded to do so, yeah.”
“You mean you’re gonna woo her.”
“What the fuck does that mean, anyway? Shit, we’re not kids anymore. I want her. She wants me. Why the hell can’t we just admit it and move on to spending the rest of our probably short lives together?”
Aule’s incredulous expression made Kaisie want to hunch his shoulders like a disgraced teenager. “Seriously? Have you always been this clueless about women or did you get your head knocked in on the mission? Uni’s ass, Kaisie, please tell me you’re kidding?”
“Why wou
ld I?”
Aule started to laugh again, keeping it low as he shook his head. “Buddy, you are in for a seriously rude awakening.”
Kaisie crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at his best friend, who could barely keep his laughter from braying out all over the fucking place. “Then tell me, Casanova. What should I be doing?”
Throwing his arm around Kaisie’s shoulders, Aule pulled him toward the door. “Let’s go for a walk. This could take a while.”
*
When she woke again, Grace felt much more human than she had when she’d fallen asleep.
No light seeped through the shade at the window, so it had to be after eight p.m. and before seven a.m. On the bed next to hers, Alex continued to sleep.
Looking around, she saw no one else.
And she refused to believe she was upset that he wasn’t here.
He’d told her—
The door opened and her breath caught in her chest as Kaisie walked into the room, a covered tray in his hands.
Damn it. Just…damn it. He looked so tall and strong, dressed in faded jeans and a plain dark t-shirt. He still hadn’t shaved but she had to admit he looked damn good with that dark stubble on his face, she hoped he kept it.
And those green eyes made her heart pound.
She refused to believe she was going to cry just because he’d returned. He’d said he’d be here when she woke and, Gods damn it, here he was.
Damn him.
“Hey, how’re you feeling?”
And damn that voice for making her blood heat. “Much better, thank you.”
His eyes narrowed at her stilted tone but he just kept coming. The aroma of grilled meat from the tray made her stomach growl and sent a flush into her cheeks.
Setting the tray on the table next to her, he surprised the hell out of her by bending to press a kiss to her forehead. Another one of those quick, hard kisses that shouldn’t leave her breathless. And confused. But it did.
“So I hope you like hamburgers.” He pushed the button on the side of the bed to elevate the backrest. “And salad and vegetable soup. I swiped some chocolate cake too but you need to eat the rest before you can have that. I’m pretty handy with the grill but Aule’s wife made the cake. She’s hell on wheels in the kitchen.”
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