Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1)(88)

Violet hesitated, not reaching to take the item. “From who?”

“Vasily Markovic sends his regards. And to your father as well, of course. Have a nice day, Violet.”

She froze in place as the envelope was shoved roughly into her hand, forcing her to take it as the man passed her by without another word being said between them.

Violet could already feel the panic welling in her stomach and leaping into her throat as her hands began to shake. Her gaze flicked between the envelope, and the man disappearing into the crowd of people flooding the sidewalk.

Vasily Markovic.

The name chanted in her ringing ears.

She felt sick all over.

Grabbing the rip tab on the side of the package, Violet pulled, opening the top of the envelope. Tipping it upside down into her waiting hand, pictures fell out. She let the envelope fall to the sidewalk, uncaring of the people walking around her, as she began to slide her hand over the pictures, flipping between them.

All sorts of pictures.

Some could maybe be explained away, like the black and whites of her and Kaz walking side by side toward his car. Or even the ones of them exiting a store together.

Others, the sepia toned shots of them walking near the closed pier might be harder to explain, but possibly doable if she had a good enough excuse.

Ones, full color and close up, of her and Kaz where he was kissing her cheek, or holding her hand might not be so simple.

But the most damaging, the ones that scared her above all the others, were shots of them in his apartment. The ceiling-to-floor windows were almost always covered in the day and evenings, but she had opened them sometimes, just to watch the ocean at night. The apartment was high enough that no one directly below would be able to see inside, but …

The pictures looked like they had come from right out in the ocean.

Like someone had taken a high-grade lens and watched them.

Violet stared at the pictures again.

Four shots in total.

Her in his clothes. Her on his lap, naked then.

The other two were the same.

There was only one where her face was clearly visible, as she had turned her head just enough for the person to catch her like that.

Violet couldn’t breathe.

Sends his regards …

To her father?

Had these photos been sent to her father?

Violet didn’t move as a buzzing began in her hand, under the stack of photos. She pulled her hand free, staring at the number lighting up the screen.

Alberto Gallucci, it read.

There was a brief moment where Violet felt like time just stopped around her. Where there was no New York street, no busy people, and no world moving, and turning. It was just her, a stack of photos, and her father’s call needing to be answered.

She ran through the last three months in her mind, and wondered …

Were there things she should have done differently?

Would she, if given the choice to go back?

Had she done what was always wanted of her?

All her answers were the same.

No.

Her fingers still trembled when she swiped at the screen to answer her father’s call. Putting it up to her ear, Violet said, “Hello, Daddy.”

“You’re just arriving home from school, right?” Alberto asked.

His tone was too gruff, she thought.

Too strained and forced.

Like he didn’t want to frighten her, maybe.

“Yeah,” Violet confirmed. “Just looking at the front door right now.”

“Don’t move. Gee will be there in ten minutes.”

Violet swallowed hard. “Why?”

“I have something I want you to see.”

She knew it then, when he didn’t outright lie but he didn’t tell the truth, that he was looking at the same photos she was.

Violet wasn’t quite sure what she should do at that moment. Call her father out on it, or placate him as much as possible.

Alberto spoke again, forcing her hand in an entirely different manner. “And guessing by the note included in the gift that just arrived at my door, I think you know exactly what I want you to see. I thought you were doing so well, dolcezza. And I can see now that my blind affection has made us both fools, hmm?”

“Daddy—”

“Be in front of that building when Gee arrives. You will not like what happens if you make me come looking for you myself, Violet.”

The call hung up.

Just like that.

Violet blinked down at the phone as she pulled it away from her ear. Panic settled in deep, burrowing into her bones and seeping through her nervous system.

She didn’t know what to do, but her first instinct wasn’t to listen to her father. His voice in her head had lessened—it didn’t hold quite the same quality of law that it used to.

Someone else had told her to look around and listen more.

And so she had.

But it was still a fight for her. An internal war with one side of her brain telling her to stay put and do as she was told because she had done wrong, while her heart screamed for her to move because Kaz was right.

Her heart won.

Violet turned on her heel and bolted toward the street, straight for the crosswalk blinking for people to walk. She weaved in and out of people as she sent off her first text message to Kaz. A second quickly followed, more panicked than the second to the point where it was barely legible. She didn’t stop moving further from her building and where Gee thought he would find her.