Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1)(94)

“Love you,” he repeated.

Violet let more tears fall.

She knew he did.

But they were still a little lost.

And that blackness was seeping back in.





Kaz couldn’t sleep, not when Violet had finally relaxed enough to go under tucked into his side, or the three hours he had lain there awake after, struggling to find peace in his thoughts.

They were out of time.

He knew that the moment she called him, nearly too afraid to put into words that Vasily had given her father more than enough ammunition to send him gunning down for Kaz. But he wasn’t concerned with what Alberto had planned for him, but rather his plans for Violet.

He didn’t doubt that her father was going to punish her for being with him. And considering the way the man treated her when she was in his good graces, he couldn’t imagine how he was going to react now.

As he knew, Vasily didn’t make idle threats. When he gave a warning, it was up to the person to understand that that would be the only one they got.

Hubris. Kaz had thought he would be able to maintain the relationship, as well as keeping it a secret from both their families. Even as careful as they had been, they still weren’t careful enough, and now … they were out of time.

Lost in his thoughts, he gently stroked Violet’s hair, finding peace within the movements. How many times had he done this very action, but took it for granted?

She, every part of her, was worth committing to memory, so in his darkest hours, he could have something that brought him calm.

After some time, however, Kaz must have fallen asleep as the next thing he knew, Vera was swinging the door open, startling them both awake as the wood hit the wall.

“You need to get dressed and leave. Now. I just got a call from a friend, letting me know he’s seen some of the Gallucci family in cars heading my way.”

This wasn’t very surprising. Even if Vera didn’t agree with the life they were brought up in, she still learned quite a few things, and one of those was having friends everywhere.

Kaz was on his feet in seconds, grabbing the clothes he’d worn the day before off the floor, and pulled them on. “Where’s—”

“Here. Have her put these on,” Vera said, shoving Violet’s clothes in his arms before turning on her heel and hurrying back down the hallway.

Violet was already sitting up, the sheet clutched to her chest as she turned terrified eyes on him. He didn’t know who of the Gallucci family would be showing up, ready to cause mayhem if it meant dragging her away from him, but he knew that whoever did show up, it wasn’t going to be good for either of them.

But even as the situation was dire, Kaz forced a smile for her. “Don’t worry about it. No one is going to die today.”

At least not where she could see …

“Let’s go.”

She was out of the bed, pulling on her own clothes as he grabbed his wallet and his gun, leaving his cell phone for last. There were a couple dozen messages, most from Ruslan asking what the f*ck was going on, but as he was running low on time—and he was sure Vera had explained all or some of what was going on—he left them unanswered.

He grabbed hold of her hand, leading the way down the stairs, but as he was passing the windows, he paused at what he saw outside of them. There were cars already waiting, one blocking the driveway. The tinted windows hid the passengers, but if Kaz had to guess, there were at least two in each car, and if that was the case, they were outnumbered by at least six.

“Shit.”

Kaz’s gaze shot to Violet, recognizing the terror in her eyes as she stared down at the fleet of cars. They were an ominous sight, a reminder of their reality.

“It’s fine,” he said drawing her to the side, forcing her to face him and not what awaited them. “I’ve got it under control.”

“How do you want to handle this, Kaz?” Vera asked from her position at the base of the stairs, her arms folded across her chest.

She didn’t look the slightest bit afraid that her house was practically surrounded by the very same men she was brought up to fear. But while Vera minded the lines, she didn’t cower when she walked the streets of Brooklyn—if there was one thing she’d inherited from their father, it was her bravado.

“I haven’t thought that far,” Kaz responded as he and Violet walked down the last few steps. “But she’s—” He pointed to Violet, “—staying in here.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Vera said, already reaching to pull the door open.

“No. You can stay in here with Violet. And call Rus.”

Kaz didn’t know where Vasily was, or whether he was planning a surprise visit, too, but he didn’t want to know. After all, he was the only one that could have possibly told the Italians where to find them—which was saying a lot, considering he usually went out of his way to keep their business away from Vera’s doorstep.

“I should be with you,” Violet argued. “They won’t shoot me to get to you.”

“Right now,” Kaz said. “I don’t know what they’re capable of. I’m not putting you at risk for—”

“This isn’t up for discussion, Kaz.”

Though he was tempted to argue this point with her, he just didn’t have the time. The last thing he needed was one of Violet’s overzealous relatives to step out of line and hurt Vera while trying to get to him—his reaction would probably have him apologizing to Violet later—but Vera had a mind of her own, and more, she could handle herself if the need arose.