Page 35 of Passion and Revenge

“Let’s take him down to the station and question him, then. I know someone at the precinct who can break even the toughest bastards. In less than an hour, he’ll have him singing like a canary.”

Ivan’s brown eyes meet mine. “Sienna will be dead by then.”

“Atta boy,” I say.

“Walk away, son. This is between me and Mancini.”

The younger man, in a show of peacocking, gets close to my face. “If you touch one hair on her head, I swear to you, there’s not a corner of this planet you’ll be able to hide.”

I keep my expression carefully blank, my voice cold as ice. “Get out of my face, or you’ll spend the rest of your life being fed through tubes.”

Terror flashes through his eyes, and with a muttered growl, he storms off.

“What do you want?” Ivan asks. “Anything you want, I’ll give it to you. Please. She’s all I’ve got.”

Pasquale was all I had, too. “I have to admit, you did a good job hiding her. That’s how I knew she was valuable to you. Nobody goes through all that trouble for something or someone they only care a little about.”

“What do you want?” he repeats.

“What lengths will you go to get her back?” I muse. “Will you lose the Hendrix case for her?”

The man jerks, but it’s only a momentary reaction before determination fills his brown gaze. “Yes.”

Reluctant pride and fury war against each other in my mind. Was this how easy it was for him to sign my brother’s freedom and life away?

“If that’s what will get her back, then I’ll do it, no questions asked,” he declares.

My fists tighten at my side. “If only it were that easy, Ivan.” I chuckle humorlessly.

“I don’t understand why you’re doing this. If you have a problem with me, then come for me like a goddamn man,” he bites out. “You’re a goddamn coward. Only cowards go after people’s families.”

I hold myself back from planting a bullet in his head. That would have been the fate of anybody else who dared to call me a coward. Fortunately for the prosecutor, I still need him alive a little longer so he can suffer the full extent of my revenge.

“An eye for an eye. You went after my family, and now I’m going after yours.”

His forehead creases. “Your family? What family?”

I merely grin wryly. “He was just an insignificant life to you, but to me, he was the foundation upon which my humanity was built. You had better remember and remember fast. Only then can you begin to atone for what you’ve done.”

“I’ve done nothing,” he spits. “The only thing I’ve ever done is fight for justice. And I’m not sorry that one of your criminal friends got the justice they deserved.”

I nod calmly. “I know you’re not. But you will be, Ivan. You have enough time to be sorry. Weeks and months where you sit in your empty house and drive yourself crazy with wild imaginations of what your precious daughter is going through.”

“You bastard! You have no morals.”

I throw my head back and laugh, attracting the attention of several people in the gallery. I can’t believe that just a week ago, I had stood here with a gorgeous artist by my side, not having a clue as to who she was.

“Of all the things I’ve been accused of, a lack of morality is by far the tamest,” I reply.

“You’ll never get away with this.” The man suddenly looks tired. Old. But it’s not enough. I won’t stop until he’s nothing but empty eyes and flesh molded to bones.

“I have gotten away with it, Ivan. Once upon a time, you held my fate in your hands, and you crushed it ruthlessly. Now, it’s my turn.” The smile I give him makes him flinch. “I must say you’ve raised a beautiful daughter. So perfect. So pure. Tainting her with these corrupt hands will be my pleasure.”

“No,” Ivan’s voice is a choked-out plea. “Please.”

I turn on my heels and walk away from him.

The smile on my face is for the benefit of the man glaring at me from the door. On the inside, the only thing I feel from that encounter is a crippling frustration.

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