Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1)(62)

Violet’s jaw fell slack.

Oddly, as she watched Nicole pack up the rest of her things and sling her bag around her shoulder, Violet just knew … this was the end of something. Or maybe it was just the beginning of an end.

A friendship that had started when they were just kids was running its course. And for what?

Because no one really understood.

Violet watched her friend leave the cafe without a backward glance; she felt more alone than ever.

She didn’t want to feel this way at all.





Placing a bundled stack of twenty-dollar bills on the corner of his desk, Kaz stuck his hand back in the duffel bag at his side, pulling out more and laying them out to count. He had been at it for little more than an hour, but counting money was almost like therapy for him—it helped clear his mind, even as he concentrated on the numbers in his head.

This was his happy place, at least it usually was until Abram had walked into his office, dropping down on his couch like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He didn’t usually mind when it was Abram—but at the moment, he would have rather been alone.

“Can I help you with something?” Kaz asked, not taking his gaze from the money in his hands.

“I think I f*cked up, Cap.”

It wouldn’t be the first time someone in the Bratva did—they all did shit that wouldn’t necessarily be considered good. But they normally kept it to themselves. Abram had always been the sharing type though.

“What’d you do this time? Lost a shipment? Cut off the wrong thumb? What?” Kaz finally looked up when Abram didn’t immediately answer, then he noticed the legitimate fear in the man’s eyes. “What the f*ck did you do?”

“Do you remember Stacey?”

Kaz turned the name over in his head. “The bird over in Hell’s Kitchen? I thought you stopped seeing her when she tried to set your f*cking car on fire the first time …”

Abram waved those words away as though they meant nothing. “She was just mad. You know how it is?”

No, Kaz didn’t, and he really didn’t want to find out either. “That still doesn’t answer my question.”

Like he had to force the words out or he wouldn’t be able to say them, Abram answered, “She’s pregnant.”

Setting the money he’d been counting on his desk, Kaz sat back. “Yeah, you f*cked up.”

There were rules in place for a reason. In most cases, no one gave a shit where you stuck your dick, unless you were forcing it on someone, but with sukas like Stacey, who would happily f*ck shit up just because they were in a mood, it mattered.

Kaz’s phone chimed with a new message, but he ignored it for the moment, his attention on Abram. “What are you going to do?”

Abram shrugged, scrubbing a hand down his face. “I don’t know.”

“You need to figure that shit out,” Kaz said, plucking his phone off the desk when it chimed again. He read the name, a beat of confusion hitting him as he tried to figure out why he would have saved someone’s number under “Converse”.

Then he remembered, and all thoughts of Abram and his newest problem were out of his mind.

How long had it been? A week? Maybe longer? He had kept himself from reaching out to her, fighting the urge, wanting her to come to him this time. He had made his interest in her clear, even if he hadn’t outright said it, and while he knew she felt the connection, felt the spark that ignited between them when they were together, that was no guarantee that she would have been willing to risk it.

Apparently, he had underestimated the Gallucci girl.

Abram was still talking, rambling on about what he planned to do, but Kaz was too busy opening up the message to actually hear what the man was saying.

I’m at the border.

No one else could have known what that message meant, but Kaz did, and before he even realized he was doing it, he was texting her back to let her know he was on the way.

“Finish up in here,” Kaz said gesturing around them to the money on the desk and the rest in the bag. “Have it done by morning.”

He was heading for the door when Abram called back, “But what about my problem?”

Kaz paused. “Marry the girl. Take care of the kid, if that’s what she wants. Just hope the suka doesn’t get you killed.”

Leaving the warehouse parking lot, Kaz tapped his thumb against the steering wheel as he drove toward the bridge that led out of Coney Island. He was nearly there, his headlights cutting through the darkness of the night when he saw her. She looked up in his direction the moment he got close, then grabbed the messenger bag that was sitting on the ground next to her feet, and hurried over, sliding into his car with ease, like they had done this a dozen times over.

Turning his body in her direction, he looked her over, taking in her appearance, and the almost sad expression on her face. There was a reason she had sought him out, Kaz knew, he just wondered if she was going to share.

“Where to?”

There was no hesitation as she said, “Your place.”





Violet watched familiar streets pass her window by. Strange, she thought, how only one trip to Little Odessa before this one could make the drive to Kaz’s place familiar.

“Why so quiet?”

She didn’t turn away from the window. “Tired, maybe.”