Page 247 of Vicious Temptation

I look away.

“Thiago, I know he would.” She rests her hand over my heart. “He would because I’m proud of you. You’re one of the good ones. You put your whole heart into everything you do, and it shows. Somehow, I know he sees it because I do.”

I stare at her.

At the woman who has barely been herself since I picked her up this morning. Something’s bothering her, but she still got on a plane and came here because I asked. And now she’s standing at my father’s grave, telling me I’m a good man.

I pull her against me and hold her as the tears start again. My legs give out beneath me, and I sink to my knees once more, taking her with me until she’s standing between them.

If she knew everything, would she still believe that?

“Look at me, baby,” she says.

I lift my gaze, and her fingers move into my hair.

“I’m here, and I’ll always be.” She brushes the dampness from beneath my eyes. “Thank you for bringing me with you.”

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I rest my forehead against her belly. “I’m sorry,” I whisper against her shirt.

Her fingers keep moving through my hair, and she doesn’t ask what I mean. Maybe she thinks I’m apologizing for falling apart in front of her.

I’m not.

I’m apologizing because she’s standing here, loving me, while I’m still lying to her. Someday, she’ll know exactly what I meant. And when she does, I’m afraid this will be one of the memories that hurts her the most.

Sixty-One

thiago

The burn in my muscles is a welcome distraction.

I finish my last rep on the bench press, rack the bar, and sit up. Sweat runs down my temples as I reach for the water bottle at my feet and take a long drink.

The only sounds in the gym are the steady hum of the air conditioner and the occasional clink of metal. Santino and Athena Leone keep this place overlooking Biscayne Bay for whenever they’re in Miami. When Remi suggested we stay here, I didn’t argue.

After seeing Athena again, I had questions I couldn’t let go of. The biggest was why Helios had never mentioned her.

Every member of the Cain family had a file, as did everyone Helios considered a known associate. They had spent years documenting, yet Athena and Santino Leone didn’t appear anywhere in the intelligence I’d received.

It took some digging before I understood why.

The Cain brothers once had a younger sister who was declared dead decades earlier. According to every official record I could find, Athena Cain died long before Helios began compiling intelligence on the family.

Except she never died. She disappeared for years, then returned as Athena Leone.

There was no paper trail linking one woman to the other, which explained how Helios missed her.

Helios had presented its intelligence as exhaustive. Names, photographs, relationships, businesses, properties, histories. They knew enough about the Cain family to make me believe there wasn’t a corner of their lives they hadn’t uncovered.

But they never found Athena.

Santino was even harder to trace. I found whispers linking the Leone name to the Italian mafia and enough scattered references to suggest his family once held considerable power, but nothing I could verify. Whatever history Santino has, someone made damn sure it stayed off the books.

A few months ago, I would’ve assumed Helios knew something I didn’t know.

I don’t make that assumption anymore.

I catch Remi’s reflection in the wall of mirrors behind me, standing on the opposite side of the gym, tightening wraps around her hands before stepping up to the heavy bag. She throws a sharp right cross, then another, each punch rattling the chains overhead.