Prologue
Eighteen Months Ago
Los Angeles, CA.
“So, how was my funeral?” I suppress a yawn as I look at my godson on the tiny phone screen.
“Lots of tears. Plenty of regrets,” I snort out a chuckle.
“Regrets that they didn’t kill me themselves, you mean.” Lucas shrugs as he sits back, ripping open the buttons of his expensive suit with one hand so he doesn’t spill the bourbon in his other.
“How are the Alps?” I groan as I look out the sliding door directly behind my laptop that he can’t see, showing me the sandy beach, and shake my head.
“Not there yet.” He curses as he slams his drink down.
“Bruno, if anyone finds you here,” I sigh and hold up my hand.
“My flight is in a few hours. No one will see me. I swear it. I just needed to make sure everyone bought it. I couldn’t leavewithout being sure. Asking me not to contact you for the next five years is a lot, kid.” I don’t think I’ve gone more than a few weeks without seeing him since he was born.
He really is the closest thing to my own child I’ll ever have.
I’m gonna miss this fucker.
Great, now I’m sniffling instead of yawning. I keep my face turned away from the camera so he doesn’t see the distress on my face. I’m not scared of being in the mountains alone. I’m afraid I won’t be here for him when he needs me the most.
Like when he becomes a father.
“Listen to me. It’s not forever, just long enough for people to hopefully forget you. A little age, a new haircut, and contacts will do the rest to hide you in plain sight. You’re no good to me dead.” I finally turn back the camera and frown.
“I’m no good to you in Sweden.” He sighs and hangs his head.
“But I know you’ll be breathing. Don’t make me bury you, too.” Ouch, I didn’t need the reminder of Sebastian’s funeral.
“Fine.” I clear my throat and wipe my face like I’m trying to rip my skin off. ,“But I want pictures of my grand nephew and twice-yearly updates. I’ll set up a post box in a fake name. I can’t not know you’re all okay.” It’s too much to ask, and he fucking knows it.
“Fair, now do me a favor.” I hesitate before nodding.
He knows I’d do anything for him, including die, which I guess I have.
“Get out of my city.”
Chapter One
Bruno
Present Day
Swish Alps
Emergency Weather Alert: Hazardous road conditions. Avalanche warnings are in effect. Stay off the road.
Itoss my phone on the passenger seat of the Land Rover and use my gloved hand to wipe away the new layer of snow that has accumulated on the windshield, but it does little good. There’s got to be another four inches out here since I arrived.
Shit.
Twenty minutes in the local mart to get some essentials I was out of, and the world has gone ice age on me. I start the vehicle and grab the scraper from the back seat, ready to clear off the whole car. Again. By the time I’m done on one side, the other is covered once more, and at this rate, I’ll never make it back up that mountain to my cabin before the roads close for good.
Almost two years into my five-year sentence, and I still can’t manage to keep my fridge and generator stocked for when these storms hit. My western mentality of it’s not so bad, always being told wrong by the locals, since the word “exaggeration” doesn’t really exist in this part of Europe.
