Page 68 of All for her Forgiveness

"Odin is . . .”

"One of my cousins."

"And what will your brothers say about this? You've completely turned the game around and are defending the woman you considered your enemy."

"They have nothing to do with this. It's my life. King is my son and . . .”

"And what?" he asks, but I'm not willing to reveal my plan to him. As much as Ernest has proved that he loves Kennedy like a daughter, the future I want with her concerns only the two of us.

"It doesn't matter. My brothers will accept what I decide, but mainly, with King being my son and Kennedy his mother, they will protect both even if something happens to me."

"So you're finally convinced that Kennedy is innocent."

"Yes, and I'll prove that she was the victim, not the guilty one in this story."

"What led you to that certainty?"

I'm not going to tell him about the drug Pam put in the whiskey. It's too intimate and only concerns me and Kennedy because it culminated in our night of sex. "A series of clues."

"Clues that you didn't bother to investigate before."

I shake my head. "I accepted the evidence because I was sure that Kennedy had run away with Ryan, or at least met him afterward."

"I was the one who picked her up that night," he says, confirming what I already suspected.

"I thought it was you indeed, but only after I found out that Kennedy had you as a protector."

"Who did you think it was if not me?"

"In the footage the police obtained from the street, although the image was grainy, you could see Ryan running away long before Kennedy was 'rescued.' I thought he had left and then returned to get her."

"My God, what a misunderstanding."

"It wasn't a simple misunderstanding. I admit my mistake and guilt. I became obsessed with the possibility that not only had she helped him torture and murder Pam but also fled with him without any remorse. I was so obsessed that I bought the house where the crime happened."

"What?"

"As soon as Kennedy returned and then fell into a coma, the Prosecutor's Office said they no longer needed the property, that the owner of the house had been asking for it back, claiming losses for not being able to use it while he had to continue paying taxes. The defense agreed, which, I confess, I didn't understand. How could they release a house where a crime still to be judged had happened?”

"That makes no sense!"

"I know, and that's why I bought it. I didn't let them touch anything. The crime scene was preserved. Maybe that can now help Kennedy's defense. The lawyers I hired will bring us the best forensic scientists in the world. There's one expert in particular that I've already contacted, Remo Pellosi. He's the best in his field."

"Why was that girl so important to you? Don't get me wrong: although I'm sure now that Pam wasn't worth the air she breathed, based on what Kennedy remembered, no one deserves to die like that. But I don't consider you a stupid man, easily deceived, Hades Kostanidis. Just as I think you investigated me, I returned the favor."

"Who are you in Kennedy's life?"

"We'll get there, but first, I need to understand what made you defend Pam so fiercely when it was clear she wasn't worth it. You come from a good family, and when I say good, I'm not referring to money. That worm Ryan Corey III is rich too, and yet he represents human scum. I mean that you and your brothers were well brought up, you’re honorable and intelligent men, so how did Pam manage to deceive you?"

"Pam came to us when she was six years old. She was the granddaughter of my grandfather's housekeeper."

"I know."

"Her life story..." I shake my head because it's still hard to relate the little girl I loved, the teenager I protected, to the diabolical woman she became. "She was violated practically since birth. Molested, at first, and then . . .”

"Jesus Christ!"

"Yes. At first, she didn't speak. Her mutism was such that we hired specialists. It took over a year for her to say her first word, and after that, little by little, she opened up. For some inexplicable reason—because I’d never dealt with children, since I'm the youngest of my brothers and cousins—she instantly adored me, and her persistent love ended up winning me over. I saw her as a little sister. She saw me as her hero. I promised that she would never be hurt again. I wanted to prove to her that the world wasn't just a place full of monsters."

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