Page 76 of Red

“Don’t worry? You won’t even tell me where we’re going.” She caught Bertucci’s glare in the mirror as she swung her gaze back out the window. Revulsion. The only way she could describe the way he looked at her, with complete revulsion.

What could she have done to earn such emotion from him?

The car jerked as it passed over old train tracks and led them into an open lot. The aged sign still hung over the factory. Tony’s Toys. A small banner, torn and ratted from the winds and weather of the winter, flew from the top of the sign.Going out of business.

She took an uneasy breath. Her lungs couldn’t get enough air; her stomach refused to chill the fuck out. She wouldn’t make it through this evening without getting sick. She saw no hope for it.

The car pulled to a stop in the lot, near the front doors of the factory. Two more sedans were parked a hundred or so feet away. She recognized them.

Erik.

Nico’s fixed jaw and pinched lips didn’t offer any comfort to her.

“He’s your brother, Nico,” she whispered. “He’ll forgive you, but you have to help me here.”

Bertucci’s driver got out of the car and went to his side to open the door for him.

“You stay here.” He pointed a sausage-like finger at her and climbed out of the car, making it sway from the redistribution of weight.

“You don’t know him like I do. He won’t ever forget,” Nico said. She could hear the fear, sense his apprehension. He was going up against his oldest brother, and he’d taken Melinda. He’d taken what Erik had claimed as his.

“He will never forgive you if something happens to me,” she said firmly. It was a gamble, playing on Nico’s emotions. Erik may not really give a rat’s ass if she survived the night. It could be his pride, his possessive claim that brought him to the toy factory, but she had few options.

Nico faced her, his brow line wrinkled. He tilted his head one way then the other. The tension in his muscles obvious. “He’d get over it,” he announced and popped open her door. “Get out.”

“Nico.” She tried once more, but he shoved her toward the door. She scrambled to get her feet out of the car to keep from falling to the concrete. The winter wind smacked her in the face when she righted herself, blowing straight through the cotton dress she’d been forced into. Nico hadn’t given her a coat to wear, and the wind blew the flowing skirt up around her legs, sending chills running through her.

She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her arms to ward off some of the chill while searching the lot for Bertucci.

“Let’s go.” Nico grabbed her upper arm and propelled her forward. She kept up with his strides while trying to shield her eyes from the headlights aimed at her. The more steps they took, the clearer the scene became.

Erik stood among three other men. She recognized Ian’s frame, too similar to Erik to be mistaken for someone else, and she also saw Ash Titon from the Annex. Squinting, she tried to make out the third person, recognition dancing on the far edge of her memory.

“Daddy?” she whispered. Her mind had finally snapped. She was seeing what she wanted, what she’d longed for since the night she’d found out her parents had been killed. Her father stood beside Erik.

She tried to yank free of Nico. It had to be him. He was there, right there.

“Daddy!” she yelled out, catching the attention of the men. Erik stiffened.

“Melinda, wait.” Nico yanked her hard back a step. “You stay here.” He intensified his grip, biting into the tender flesh beneath her arm.

“Melinda!” Her father took a step in her direction, but Erik stilled him with an arm across his chest.

“How is this possible?” She asked, stumbling forward when Nico dragged her toward Bertucci’s side.

“Easy to explain,” Bertucci said with a satisfied joviality. “Your precious daddy ran off all those years ago. He went into hiding like the coward he was and left you behind.”

Melinda shook her head.

“Melinda. Are you all right?” Erik asked, but he didn’t look at her. He kept his focus on Bertucci.

“I’m fine—”

“She’s unhurt. Like I promised.” Bertucci splayed out his hands.

“Let her go,” Erik demanded.

Bertucci shook his finger in the air. “Not yet. I want Manaforte first.”

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