“Not without Katherine.”
“She’s Kate now, and she’s staying here.”
“Like hell …”
“Listen, old man. You need to leave before I do something I’ll regret.”
Augustine flexed his fist by his side and Benedetto hoped he would raise it. Then, and only then, might he return the gesture.
“This is not over,” Augustine promised, sending Kate a warning look before stepping out of the house. He slammed the door behind himself and Kate jumped.
The silence hung in the hallway like a thick blanket. As if in slow-motion, Benedetto turned to look at her.
He didn’t recognize the woman. She was terrified. She was shaking. She was either about to pass out or vomit; possibly both. “God, Kate,” he instinctively knew not to touch her. “Come and sit down.” He nodded to the lounge. She shook her head and sunk down to the floor, keeping her back pressed against the wall.
The tiled floor was cold under her bottom; she didn’t notice.
He crouched down opposite her, still not touching her, just looking. Staring. Wondering. Not daring to hope. The silence continued to stretch between them like elastic
“How do you know him?”
His Adam’s Apple bobbed in his chest. She looked back at the floor. Her head was stinging with the kind of pain that she knew would stick around for days.
“My father …”
“I don’t want to talk about your father right now,” she cut across him.
“He’s the reason I know your father,” he promised heavily. “My father was a wonderful man. There is nothing I wouldn’t have done for him.” He grimaced. “But there was a time, in his youth, when he was caught up with the wrong crowd.” He grimaced. “That is not completely accurate. My father was … a long time ago …”
“God, Benedetto,” she snapped, her body still quivering like a feather in a storm. “Get it out.”
He winced. “He was a runner for the mob. Just a small-time part. He took money and delivered it. Nothing impressive. He was just a kid who got caught up in the glamour and wealth.”
“So?” She rubbed her temples.
“He got out when he met my mother. He went underground. He chose a life that was good and pure. He chose a life that he could be proud of.”
She didn’t react. She couldn’t.
“But you don’t leave those guys. You can’t. Eventually, they caught up with him.”
“This is nothing to do with me. Nothing to do with …him.”
“It is, Kate.”
She shivered at his use of her name. “Don’t.”
Don’t what? Don’t address her? Don’t speak to her?
“You sent him that picture of me.” Bile flavoured her lips.
Benedetto was too proud a man to deny it. Besides, what would be the point. “Si.”
She flinched. “Why?”
His voice was gravelly. “Your father is a terrible man.” And now, his fingers tingled with a burning ache to touch her. “He is the worst of humanity. I hate him, Kate. I hate him in a way that terrifies me, for what I could do to him.”
And despite her shock, fear, panic and despair, she gasped at his words. Her eyes beseeched him to continue.
