Carlyle
“Natasha, a moment, please.” Quickening my stride to catch up with her, I smiled politely when she turned, and Natasha nodded as confusion knit her slender brows. “It’s not about Valerie, actually. Come outside with me.”
“Uh . . . okay?” Opening the door for her, I gestured Natasha to follow me towards the elevator, but we took a sharp right to the stairs instead. “If it’s not about Valerie, what’s it about?”
“What do you know about your father’s death?” She paused on the stairs to turn to me, lips thinning and pupils tightening, and I couldn’t help but frown. I had a feeling she suspected, at the least, that someone along the line had lied to her. She was very perceptive. Slowly turning around to continue down the stairs, she pushed open the side door and took a huge breath before turning to me fully.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but you can’t bring him here, Carlyle. Whatever you think you know about it, you’re wrong.” Arching a brow curiously, I pulled my cigarettes out of my jacket, and she stuffed her hands in her jeans to rock back and exhale a blustering sigh. “I found him when Mom went to jail the first time. It’s surprising what a girl can do with an internet connection and Facebook. Anyway, yeah, he was in Witness Protection, but only for a year until the trial was over, and it was determined he wasn’t in danger.”
“So, he abandoned you.” Mine wasn’t a question, but Natasha nodded, a sour disgust dragging down the corners of her mouth. Sparking my cigarette, surprise tingled my fingertips when she held out a hand, but I didn’t ask about it. “Why did you keep telling Valerie he’s dead?”
“Because he never came back. Like I said, I only looked this up in my teens, years later. I only did that in the first place because I went on a college tour and saw him alive. He didn’t come back when he had the chance because he met someone else and fell in love while he was in protection. Essentially, he’s lying in two lives instead of just one. His wife is super nice, judging by her Facebook profile. Number one, Valerie doesn’t need to go through more shit, and number two, it’d ruin more lives than I care to be responsible for. To find out all that would ruin his marriage, and, frankly, he’s not all that.” Her little diatribe came to an end, and I nodded firmly as I pulled my cell phone out to text Jerry to leave it be. “So, did you think she’d stop being mad at you if you did a little family reunion?”
“What? Oh, no, it had nothing to do with that. That’s not the reunion I’m interested in, but I wanted the option once I figured out exactly how much you two knew.” Checking the time, I took a deep drag of my smoke, and Natasha frowned around the butt of hers. “Your mother will be landing in about twenty-five minutes. Finding her was pretty difficult. Also, I have the people who took you when you were thirteen.”
“Oh.” I expected surprise, abhorrence, something other than just ‘oh,’ and Natasha held her breath for a long moment before exhaling out of her nose. “What are you going to do with them?”
“That’s up to you. It won’t change what happened to you, of course.” Scanning her, I cocked my head and leaned against the brick to cross my arms. “What about you, Natasha? How are you doing?”
“I’m pretty okay. It’s only been a day and a half, so . . . and it’s not like any of this has anything to do with me, either. This is your crusade, Carlyle.” Flicking her barely smoked cigarette onto the ground, Natasha snuffed it with her booted heel before shrugging. “When my mom gets here, let me know so I can punch her in the face.”
“Will do.” Breezing past me, Natasha left me alone to contemplate all that she’d revealed, and I cupped my chin to tap my cheek thoughtfully. Taking a drag of my cigarette, I held the toxic smoke in my lungs before sighing thickly. “I guess that ends that.”
She was right, of course. This wasmycrusade on Valerie’s behalf. I took it upon myself to go after these people because I was angry . . . beyond angry. Natasha and Valerie had over a decade and intense help to overcome what happened to them.
I wasn’t going to stop it, and I wasn’t going to take any less pleasure in it, but . . .
“Are you gonna keep that all to yourself or share?” Blinking hard, I glanced over as Illya stepped out onto the asphalt, and I held out my smoke for her. “What’s up?”
“Nothing immediately important. How’s your foot?” She bopped her head side to side with a hum, and the sizzle of tobacco filled my ears. “It’s been a week. Has the swelling died down?”
“It doesn’t hurt. Theo may be mad at you, but I’ve been through worse. Plus, it was kinda worth it seeing the absolute horror on Mateo’s face.” Mateo— that was a name I hadn’t heard in a while, and my brows furrowed when Illya chuckled lightly. “He’s such a squeamish bitch. It’s a shock you’re related.”
“Did you come out here for a reason, Illya?” Handing me back my smoke, she ran her hand through her long, brown hair to exhale her lungful as my own filled. Illya was quiet as smoke slowly curled up the flare of her nostrils, and her bright, green eyes watched me steadily.
“I heard the maids talking about how you didn’t sleep last night. I just wanted to make sure you’re not delirious or anything.” Affection eased the tension in my cheeks, and I nodded firmly as Illya frowned. “You’re not gonna sleep, are you?”
“No, probably not. They should be arriving in the next hour, and then I have to deal with Valerie’s mother. Sooner rather than later, I want to get to Oran and his issue before Esmarissa drives me insane.” For just a second, I whined like a teenager about school, and Illya smiled a little even as her expression became grave. “I don’t want whichever slut it is to get spooked, so I told him to bring it up gradually. Chances are, they won’t get here until next week. That’s when I’ll sleep.”
“He’s having a rough time with it?”
“They’re his pets. It’s like if someone just decided to tell you he was going to make you kill your own dog for shitting on his lawn. One of the four, he’s had for years. As much as it sucks for Oran, I can’t take chances, so it doesn’t matter if he figured out which one was the spy. These girls are together all the time— literally, they eat, sleep, and breathe the same air constantly. Even if one was the culprit, the others would’ve known and not told Oran, which means he obviously failed to break them as hard as he thought.” I didn’t want to bring this issue up with Valerie, and Illya ducked her head in a nod as I rested my head against the wall to stare at the sky. “He thinks so highly of himself that he let this happen. Chances are, the bitch who the Italians sent is pretty smart about it. Either way, it'll be hard for him, regardless.”
“Hopefully, he’ll have a little humility after this.”
“I’m hoping to force him out, actually.” The confession earned me a hum, and Illya scrunched up her face as I watched a huge, fluffy cloud drift above the quad. “My father might’ve tolerated him, but I won’t. I don’t need him or want him around. If this doesn’t break him, it’ll get him close enough.”
“You can’t just kick him out?” Illya’s bland question drew my gaze, and she shrugged as she sat down against the wall to take off her sandal and rub her foot. “It’d be easier than giving him a reason to hate you.”
“He did this to himself by allowing this to happen. If he’d hate anyone, it’d be himself. I’m used to fixing my little brothers’ mistakes, but it’s usually Mateo’s.”Speaking of. . . “I’m waiting on this to calm down before I send Mateo to New York City. I had considered sending Oran to oversee him, but I don’t want Oran overtaking the operation.”
“So, what? You’re just going to do the same thing you tried to do in California?”
“Yes. This time, though, if Mateo doesn’t pull through and makes another stupid mistake, he won’t get a third chance. I’m going to make it very clear exactly what I expect, and I’ll be sending Vanessa with him to make sure he gets it done. She’s a slave master even though she doesn’t seem it. Llane will be her replacement.” Illya tapped my leg, and I held down my cigarette for her to rub my hands up my face. “I’m not used to doing so much damn work.”
“Good thing you’re really good at it, otherwise someone might think you’re actually stressing out.” Chuffing a humorless laugh, I only shook my head, and Illya banged her head gently against my thigh. “I’m gonna stay out here and wait for Theo. Go get a blowjob or something.”
