Page 108 of The Devil's Deal

A tremor runs down my spine.

I scan photo after photo, still not having many answers about who this man I’ve let into my heart is. Closing the file, I start to slip it back, but it won’t go in all the way.

“What the hell?” I pull it out, reaching inside to see what’s blocking it.

That’s when I feel it: something hard and rectangular. And as I take it out, I find a small tape recorder.

A sinking feeling hits my stomach, and I swallow against the thread of anxiety rushing up my throat. I know there’s something bad on that tape. I know it has something to do with me. Brian put it all the way on the bottom for a reason. He didn’t want anyone to find it.

Clenching it tightly within my palm, I give my furious heartbeats a few moments to calm, but it’s no use. The nerves have completely taken over and they won’t be going anywhere.

I shut my eyes, pulling in a long, weighty inhale, and press play.

“My, my how far you’ve come.” My father’s voice rips through the silence. “I admire that you made yourself into what you are now. A real made man.”

“Why the fuck are you calling me, Faro?” Brian asks, his anger evident in the sharp tone.

“You and your brothers have done one hell of a job hiding from me all those years. I couldn’t even find you. I gave up looking after three years, and I’m not the type to give up easily. Bravo.”

Brian remains silent. If it weren’t for the recording, I’d think he hung up.

“I’ve called to discuss a business proposition,” my father continues. “We’re both businessmen now, are we not?”

He waits seconds for an answer that never comes.

“I get it. You’re still angry over the past, but I think we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement to end all this bloodshed.”

“Get to the point, Faro.”

“You’ve destroyed two of my places of business. Killed men I needed. But I’m willing to let it all go, and even throw in something I know you’ll want.”

My skin crawls. My breathing turns erratic, my heart beating so fast, it may rip through my chest. I don’t want to listen anymore. But I do anyway, needing to know everything I can.

“What’s that?” Brian asks with complete disinterest.

It takes him only a second to answer. “My daughter. Take her. I know you want to.”

My mouth falls open and I stop the recording, tears slamming behind my eyes, some slipping past my defenses.

My father did this to me?

The man who should protect me had me taken by his enemy?

Bile curls in my stomach. I’m going to be sick. A palm falls across my mouth as I continue to listen, tears dripping down my cheeks like a steady rainfall.

“Do whatever you want with her.” My father digs my wound in deeper.

“Anything I want?”

“Yes, why not? She’ll be your property, but only if you agree to end this battle before it turns into a full-blown war. I don’t want you to lose any more of your brothers, Dominic.”

“What?” I gasp, the recorder slipping from my fingers, rattling onto the floor with a loud bang.

I hold on to my chest with trembling hands. My lungs explode with my heavy breathing, disbelief clouding my teary vision.

It can’t be. I don’t believe it.

It must be a coincidence. The eye color isn’t Dom’s.

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