Page 71 of Velvet Deception

Stefan rolled his eyes. “He’s getting too damn sloppy. A wastrel of a drunk.” He shook his head. “I’ll have him taken care of.” And by that, he meant killed.

Fine by me.

“Iwill handle that. It would be my pleasure to kill him for what he’s done.”

Stefan furrowed his brow. “I’m confused. But first, where have you been? I sent my best soldier and spy to handle Rodriguez, and then you vanished without a trace.”

“Rodriguez!” I gaped at him. That was what I’d been doing the night I was knocked out. On a job to end that crooked cop.

“Yes! That was the last I saw of you. What happened?”

“That’s why I was dressed as a doctor and near the hospital.” It was all coming back to me, but not why I’d lost my memory in the first place. “I snuck in there and killed him.” I replayed the memories of searching for the corrupt cop who’d attacked the boss. Seeing the people, that woman with the earrings that I thought of when I saw Sofia’s necklace. All of it came back to me, and I told him.

“Before I could get out of Rodriguez’s room, though, someone hit me from behind. I was knocked out, and the next thing I remembered was waking up on someone’s couch. A nurse found me lying in an alley outside the hospital. She took me home to help me recover. That’s where I’ve been. With her and her son as I struggled with amnesia.”

Stefan gawked at me. “Amnesia.”

“Not anymore.” I looked around. “Coming back here triggered me to remember all of it. For the whole month, I had no clue who I was.”

Stefan paced, rubbing his chin. “Thank God you are all right. That I didn’t lose you.” He indicated for me to follow him through the huge mansion until we came to my room.

Seeing it confirmed my identity. This was where I lived. I didn’t have a family, but I had a crime family. I spotted a small photo ofMaria, one of Stefan’s nieces whom I dated so long ago but didn’t truly love. She was killed years ago, and I didn’t date after her. She was the woman I vaguely thought of before, but she wasn’t a lover I’d left behind.

Stefan watched me pick up the small photo and set it back down. “Since you’ve been gone,” he said as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind us, “I’ve gotten word that Antonio might have been the one who’d killed her.”

“After all this time? Ten years ago?”

The boss nodded. “Antonio has always envied you. Wanting what you have. What he can’t have.”

“That would explain his killing Maria.”

“And it would explain his knocking you out and leaving you for dead on Alboradas, too.”

I growled. “You’re right. He was asking for that job.”

“He wanted the glory of killing Rodriguez. That was why I didn’t want him to handle it. He’d brag about it, and we needed to keep that one a secret for several reasons. I hadn’t wanted to give the job to you, either, because you needed a break, but I didn’t trust him.”

“That motherfucker.” No wonder I disliked him on sight.

“He was the one who spread the word that Rodriguez was dead.” Stefan set his lips in a thin line.

“And he’d know that he was dead because he saw me kill him. Trying to take the honor.” It had never been a matter of getting the glory for me. Just doing my job. Just appeasing the need to kill in the name of justice for my boss.

“But what is this about Sebastian?” He furrowed his brow. “If you’ve been gone all month, what is the matter with him?”

“The nurse who’s been caring for me has a son. Sebastian had her and another nurse kidnapped from the hospital where Sofia worked. And when she was here helping Sebastian with whatever wounds he had, he raped her. She has a son, Ramon, and she’s been terrified of losing him to the Cartel.”

Stefan waved that issue away. “What do I care about one more bastard son being here? It’s not like we don’t have enough recruits. Unless he wants to serve.”

“He’s only six, and I see him asmyson. I love him, both of them. I see my future with Sofia.”

He grinned, pulling me in close to hug me again and pat my back. “Finally, my son. Finally, I can know you are content to start your own family. After a lifetime of saving my life and being my best man, I can finally see you have what you deserve. A family.”

“So if you don’t mind, I’d like the honor of killing him for ever touching her like that. For ever daring to take Ramon away from her.”

He cocked his head to the side. “You’re saying… Sebastian fathered this boy?”

“Yes. He raped her while she was forced to be his private nurse.”

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