Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1)(55)

Amelia sucked in a sharp breath, saying again, “I’m sorry.”

Vito said nothing, and neither did his wife beside him.

Violet wasn’t surprised at their lack of a response. They were la famiglia, and a blood relation didn’t have to factor into that at all. Alberto was the head of the family, a family they were a part of, and like he always had done, he made the calls and doled out the punishments.

This was just another one of those times where he had to step in.

“Get out of my face,” Alberto said, far quieter than before.

Violet was up out of her seat before anyone else.

The others sat there, looking stupid, as she made a beeline for the exit.

Alberto Gallucci was a lot of things, but a quiet man was not one of them. And when he was quiet, when he spoke softly through thinned lips and clenched teeth, it was a very bad thing.

“Now,” Violet heard her father say behind her. “But do not leave the property.”

She was already heading toward the back door.

The further she could get from her father in that moment, the better she thought it would all be.





Standing beneath the spray of water, Kaz ducked his head, letting the shower wash away the night before. He hadn’t minded the scent of Violet clinging to his skin, reminding him of just how long he had spent learning every inch of her, but business was calling, and he had to get a move on.

He had only been upstairs for little more than thirty minutes before he was heading back down. With his phone in hand, he looked over the messages he had ignored earlier, but came up short when he caught sight of Raj, one of Vasily’s soldiers, standing next to his car, his hands in his pockets.

This wouldn’t be the first time that Vasily had sent a man around to see him, especially when he was indisposed, but he saved Raj for special occasions. Kaz knew all too well what the man was capable of, especially when he was feeling inspired. And while Kaz feared no man, he still gave him a wide berth whenever they were in the same room together.

Catching sight of Kaz, Raj’s expression didn’t change, that permanent scowl he usually sported still etched firmly onto his grisly mug. “The Pakhan wants to see you.”

Kaz tapped his thumb against his phone, then said, “He couldn’t call me himself?” It wasn’t like the man was incapable of using a phone—he had just seen him the day before. And if Vasily was going underground for any reason, Kaz would have been one of the first to know.

But despite his inquiry, Raj didn’t offer a response—not that Kaz was expecting one. Raj didn’t question orders, just did what he was told and nothing more. He was a good soldier in that way.

And maybe if he hadn’t spent the night between the legs of someone he knew was off-limits, Kaz might have been a little less suspicious as to why Vasily was calling him in.

He was careful to keep his expression neutral as he slid into his car, watching Raj through the windshield as the man jogged the short distance back to his own vehicle. The moment Kaz was sure he couldn’t see him anymore, he dialed someone he thought might have answers. While he and their father might not have been the closest, Ruslan still heard things, sometimes even before Kaz did.

“It’s early for you, no?” Ruslan said the moment the call connected, sounding like he was still in bed.

“Vasily wants a meet,” Kaz explained, driving far more cautiously than he had some hours before.

There was a sound of movement, and his brother’s muffled voice as he spoke with whoever he was with before Ruslan was back on the line. “What the f*ck did you do this time?”

Ruslan wasn’t far off. The last time Vasily had called him in this early was because of a shipment Kaz had f*cked up and needed to fix. “Nothing that I’m aware of.” The last thing he was going to mention was Violet.

“I haven’t heard anything, if that’s why you’re calling—can’t help you this time.”

Kaz only had a few minutes before he would be outside of Vasily’s residence, so there was no point in him asking for information anywhere else. He would just have to go in and pray to whoever the f*ck was listening that he wasn’t walking to his death.

“How’s the face?” he asked changing the subject.

Ruslan made a disgruntled noise, sounding almost annoyed as he said, “Looks worse than it feels. I’ll probably need to avoid Mama for a while. You know how she feels when she sees that shit.”

Irina wasn’t clueless. She knew all too well what the men in her life were doing, even without the specifics, but she never liked when it was staring back at her. That just made the reality of it all sink in a little more. If they could help it, they didn’t show her that side.

“Do that.”

“Right. Well, call me after your meet.”

Yeah, if he lived to see the end of it … “Will do.”

With a quick farewell, Kaz was off the phone, tossing the device in his passenger seat as he pulled up to the gate, punched in the code, and waited for the metal doors to swing open before he pulled in and parked. At first glance, he could already see that Irina wasn’t at home, nor were the twins. One of the two matching BMWs that Vasily had bought them for their birthdays was missing.

He might have been inclined to think of this as a good thing. Kaz didn’t want to believe that Vasily would kill him under the roof where Irina and the girls slept, but knowing his father the way he did, he would have him cleaned up long before any of them got home.