The Wrath of Cain(72)

“It’s right where it belongs,” she murmurs, running her finger over the diamond and then placing her hand on my cheek.

“It’s exquisite. Thank you, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, honey,” she says, pulling me in for a tight hug.

“We hope you love your accommodations,” Lola says as we all take a seat in the living room.

“Love?” I question. “I’m more than in love. Thank you for letting us stay here.”

“Nonsense,” she says with a flick of her hand. “I can’t remember the last time I even stayed here, it’s been that long. It’s yours for as long as you like.”

“Thank you,” Cain and I say at the same time.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Salvatore suggests before turning to me.

“Calla, I’m delighted the two of you decided to move here. It makes what I’m about to ask you a lot easier.”

“The answer is yes,” I say boldly. “I would be honored to work for you. That is, if I’m accepted to NYU.”

He regards me for a moment. They all do. I feel like I’m being dissected by several pairs of eyes. I sit up straight, my shoulders firmly back.

“What?” I finally ask, unable to stand the silence anymore.

“You’re a very bright and observant young woman,” says Lola.

I glance over at her and she looks happy. Her smile is infectious. Her dark hair is pulled up on top of her head. The silver streaks splattered throughout shine from the steady streams of light coming in from all of the windows.

“Thank you,” I say graciously. “However, I’m not feeling very observant at the moment. Something tells me you all know something I don’t.”

“Ah. That’s where you’re wrong, Calla,” says Salvatore, eyeing me shrewdly. “You see, this observance of yours, the way you can read people... it’s a gift. The moment I saw the way you handled that slimeball Monty, I knew you were the right person for this job. You’re loyal and trustworthy. After the challenges of the past month, you have shown yourself to be courageous, independent, and unafraid to speak your mind. This, my dear, makes you a very powerful woman.”

Now that I look at everything that has happened in the past month, he’s right. I’ve taken my husband back after six years. Absorbed the news about my father being a cold-blooded killer and that my mother is also an ex-killer and the sister to Salvatore Diamond. Discovered that Manny, or should I call him Roan now, is my cousin.

I still cannot believe after all this time that his real name is Roan. A man who followed my every move for the past several years. Internally, I laugh at that one. If I was that observant, I would have picked up on the fact I had someone following me most of the time. Either that, or he’s very good. The latter sounds much better.

“By answering yes before I asked also goes to show you trust me. You trust all of us in this family to do right by you. That is why I’m here to tell you, your intuition is correct. We do want you on board with my counsel team. Although, you will not be working for me.”

I open my mouth, not knowing quite what to say. The wheels turn in my head. If he doesn’t want me working for him, then who?

With a nod from the head of the man in charge, Roan steps forward.

“You will be working for me.”





Epilogue


Two and a Half Years Later




“Good lord. I hate this weather,” I say to Stefano, one of my associates, as we take the elevator to the top floor where our offices are. 57th Street, of all places, just a stroll up the road to 5th Avenue and I’m in shoe heaven. Not today, though, in this bitter cold winter air.

I shiver in my boots, not so much from the cold, but because they are the ugliest pair of things ever to grace my feet. If I were to walk out the door of our penthouse with my heels on, Cain would have a fit. Safety first. Not that I blame him, really, with the still-unknown whereabouts of Royal. I know all too well how one can make themselves disappear, although my circumstances were a little different. I thought no one knew where I was, but they all knew all along. Especially the man I was running from.

It all worked out for the best in the long run. I just wish it wouldn’t have taken six damn years away from us.

“Your dad bring you in this morning?” Stephano asks in his Italian accent.

He’s quite a bit older and I’ve been working with him for three months now, but God, his accent gets me every time.

“Yes. You would think I was still a child. He’s the worst of the bunch.”

I take a sip of my coffee. Everyone here knows what happened to Manny and me. Everyone has been on high alert for over two years, waiting for Royal to strike. I’m hoping he’s dead somewhere, either by my father’s hand or from a drug overdose. Either way, I hope he’s rotting in the farthest corner of hell alongside all the rest of them.

My dad has practically devoted the past couple of years to sticking by my side, making sure I get to school and now work safely and returning me home if Cain’s not around to do so. They guard me more now than they did when I was in Canada. I feel like I’m in grade school all over again the way he fusses about me all the time. For a man who pulls a trigger for a damn living, he sure is a softy.

I pull my hat off of my head when I enter the office. The phones are buzzing. All the secretaries with their head pieces at their ears are chatting away.