“Achilles I…” I trailed off again, forcing myself to push out the words. “I did what I always do. I bartered with them. Sex for food. For extra clothes. For whatever I could get my hands on.”
The look on his face tore my gut like a hungry beast devouring it whole. Guilt dripped from his expression. After all, he, too, had benefitted from my barters not too long ago.
“Tier,” he croaked, his voice snapping like a thin twig. “It wasn’t your fault. Not with them. Not with me. It wasneveryour fault.Fuck.” He kicked the earth, gripping the back of his neck and pulling in anguish. “You should never be put in a position to bargain your freedom and the food in your stomach.Theywere to blame.Iam to blame. I’m sorry. I’m so, completely fucking sorry. You didn’t ask for any of this. You were just a kid, trying to survive in a work camp, doing what you had to do to see tomorrow. They were the predators. And there was nothing,nothing, that you did wrong.”
“That little girl in the camp didn’t know that,” I whispered, staring down at my shoes. For the first time, I felt like she and I merged into something whole, not two different entities. Her vulnerabilities hit roots somewhere inside me, and I gave her some of my fieriness.
“That girl is still going to be stuck there.” He pointed sideways. “Unless you give me their names.”
I owed it to that girl I turned my back on.
And I owed it to myself.
“Write it down.”
He took his phone down and started typing, then, without further ado, swiveled and stalked toward the main house.
“Wait.” I shot to my feet, almost enraged by the anticlimactic goodbye. “Aren’t you going to kiss me?”
He shook his head. “I’m going to give you a little time to digest. Besides, when I kiss you again, you’re going to be willing andbeggingfor it, Piccola Fiamma.”
I grabbed his wrist on his way out, looking up at him. “Now that you got all the answers from me, tell me one thing: Why is my father in your basement?”
“Tiernan didn’t tell you?” His eyebrows shot up.
I shook my head. “He and Lila refuse to.”
“He ratted you out to Vello.”
I was surprised but not shocked. I’d never trusted Tyrone, just as I’d never trusted Fintan. Fintan ended up paying for his sins, and Tyrone would follow eventually. The only reason they’d accepted Tiernan and me into their family was because they realized we’d be beneficial to them.Webuilt their empire. They watched from the sidelines and got rich while we hustled.
Achilles slipped his hand from my hold nonchalantly. “I’ve been keeping him alive for one reason.”
“And what reason is that?”
“Breaking his body, then his spirit, so you could watch him die for what he did to you.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Achilles
My first stop was Luca.
I was already pissed Tristan Hale had slipped out of my fingers when I tended to Tierney in Prague, but I would deal with him later.
Meanwhile, I was waiting for my jet to fuel before I took it to Russia.
I had a list of motherfuckers who were going to pay for hurting her, and currently, my older brother was the closest to me geographically, so that was where I started.
Luca and Sofia lived in a swanky penthouse in Manhattan. I was sure Sofia would prefer a nice house in the suburbs like Lila did, just as I was sure Luca gave minus three shits what Sofia wanted.
I rapped on the door forcefully enough to break it down. Sofia answered it, Ciro in her arms.
She was pretty in the same way many Italian girls were—fresh faced, tan, with raven hair and soft features. Nothing wrong with her, so I couldn’t understand why Luca was so goddamn opposed to trying to like her. Unless, of course, he wasn’t capable of such feeling.
“Where’s your husband?” I snarled.
She tightened Ciro to her chest protectively. A humorless laugh left her. “How should I know?”
