Page 77 of Lord of Punishment

He walked away as I was nodding. Ruling the roost. That’s why getting involved with anyone wasn’t in my best interest.

“Is everything alright?” Georgia asked as I guided her to the vehicle.

“It will be. In time.” The last thing I wanted to do was share with her my deep concerns regarding the situation. She’d been terrorized enough as it was.

Including by me.

However, it could become necessary to send her and Dillon away as well. I had no intentions of losing her. She’d become the light to my darkness and I needed a beacon of hope to keep me from going off the rails.

I guided her into the car, nodding toward Andres.

Why was it that every time I had a bad feeling, terrible things happened?

CHAPTER 23

Sabatino

A toy store.

Not just any toy store. The one I’d avoided for a number of years. I wasn’t certain why I was tempting fate other than I’d heard Miguel. I’d been shut down for a long time. Maybe it was time to live again.

Until Brando had come into my life, the thought of entering another toy store had been too painful to bear, the action even foreign to me. It was something that other people did but I had no time for. I had no wife or child. That had been taken away by a hit and run driver who’d never been found. The ugly memory tried to crowd back in, but I refused to allow it. Too many years had gone by. I’d shed quarts of blood trying to satisfy my need for revenge. Nothing had helped.

Until now.

While Georgia was nothing like Emily, that didn’t mean I hadn’t made comparisons from one phase of my life to another. If this was history repeating itself, I would ensure a different outcome. My mother was a Catholic through and through. However, she wasn’t narrow-minded in any way. She believed in karma and spirits, what goes around comes around and reincarnation. She’d once told me that love was more powerful than any and all evil.

Yes, I was testing her theory. The amnesia had changed me more than I wanted to admit. I only hoped it would bring me answers, the ability to protect the woman I cared for deeply and bring an end to the nightmare that had plagued me for far too long. I also wanted Georgia’s time spent in hell vanquished. There was only one way to do that.

Face my personal demons head on, including the devil named Rico Garcia.

Now my men were parked across the street almost in the spot I’d been parked on that fateful day. Maybe I was pushing karma too hard but I knew no other way.

I could see Emily’s face the day she’d been killed, the myriad emotions similar to what I’d seen in Georgia several times. That was as unnerving as everything else.

Dillon’s giggle brought me back to reality. He was dancing in a circle with a teddy bear in his hand. Jesus God, I wanted to give the kid everything he’d ever dreamed of. Maybe there was a spark of goodness left in me after all.

At least after Brando had been born, I’d spent more than my share of time inside a toy store, although not the one I was standing inside of. The ache was still there, the interior almost exactly the same.

Seeing the surprise on Georgia’s face when Connor had pulled into a parking spot at the curb directly in front of it had at least told me I’d done the right thing. Now I wasn’t so certain, my body remaining tense.

I’d told myself I was healed, at least enough coming here wouldn’t bother me. I’d been wrong. The sick feeling in my stomach from all those years ago had been replicated.

Her laugh dragged me out of the past, the smile on Georgia’s face strangely disheartening. What coming here had done was to remind me that life was precious and being in my world often meant an early death warrant. I didn’t want that for her. No, I couldn’t stand the thought for either Georgia or for Dillon. I cared for them both, which meant I’d place them directly in harm’s way.

Yet here I was, wanting nothing more than to spend time with her.

Even though she stayed right by Dillon’s side, a typical mom concerned for her baby boy’s safety, she constantly threw me glances every few seconds. Maybe that was because while I’d kept my distance, allowing them to enjoy the moment, my eyes had never left her.

Not because I feared we’d been followed or that Rico’s men even had a clue I was alive, but because I hadn’t been able to do so since the night before.

It had been some time since I’d felt as comfortable around anyone who wasn’t immediate family. Even with Andres, a man I considered a friend and someone I’d shared several drinks with over the years, I’d always remained on edge. There was no reason, at least none my jaded mind could determine; I’d accepted it over the years.

But around her, everything seemed different, enough so I felt even more possessive of her than I had before.

I watched as she picked up one stuffed animal and was forced to look away. Shit. She’d grabbed a stuffed lamb. What the hell was I doing? Maybe coming here had been a mistake. Tempting fate like a bull in a china shop wasn’t the best idea.

As Dillon giggled, grabbing one bear then another, I was able to take a deep breath. Maybe the last one for some time to come. In her hand was one of the small baskets in which she’d tossed in a few other toys. She walked toward me slowly, taking her time as if determining what she was going to say.

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