Page 149 of Love Without Control

The agent looked unimpressed and shot back with an immediate question. “Who is Eden Osbourne?”

My wife lifted her chin. “That’s the name I decided to go by.”

Saunders was quiet for a long moment before asking, “Did you have your first name changed legally?”

“I did not.”

“So, your driver's license and passport were forged?”Shit shit shit.

But Evie leaned forward a little and met the agent’s eye with an unyielding stare. “Do you have a daughter, Agent Saunders?”

He seemed taken aback by the question, and it took him a second to answer. “I have two, actually.”

“And if one of them found themselves in a…situation, what would you tell them to do so that one day they could find their way back to you?”

His face morphed into a grimace, and he reluctantly said, “Anything they had to do.”

Evie nodded. “Good. Can we move on from this topic then?”

The two agents looked at each other incredulously before Saunders heaved out an exhausted breath and faced us again. “Why didn’t you contact law enforcement?”

Again, I fielded the question. “The simple answer is Luca Cappitani. It was well known that anyone who tried to testify against him ended up missing or dead. There’s a lot of stuff on the internet about it, as well as documentaries. You can look it up.”

“But we could have protected you through the WITSEC program.”

Kassie let out an indelicate snort. “And how well has that worked out for you in the past, Agent?”

His teeth clenched in anger at the program’s abject failure when it came to witnesses against Luca. “Mrs. Osbourne, why did you bring a criminal defense attorney with you today?”

Kass reached for Evie’s hand in a show of solidarity. “Evie brought hersister-in-lawwith her. As I’m sure you’re aware, I’m married to her brother, Monty. However, if someone were to want to harass this poor woman about minor indiscretionsthat hurt no one, I’m certainly able to switch to my attorney hat at a moment’s notice.”

I could tell the man was completely exasperated, and I had to fight to keep my smile contained. But that urge quickly faded when he focused on me but spoke to Evie.

“Mrs. Osbourne, have you ever heard of Damiano Cappitani?”

To our credit, neither of us flinched.

“Is he related to Luca?” she asked.

He was still looking at me. “Yes, he’s Luca’s younger son.”

She tilted her head in the picture of innocence. “Is he a criminal too?”

Jesus, I fucking love my wife.

Saunders floundered a bit. “Well, he… uhhh. We don’t have any direct evidence that Damiano’s a criminal, but he was on our radar because he’s Luca’s son.” Then the agent built up a head of steam, his tone filled with more confidence. “Suddenly though, he disappeared. No one saw or heard from him. If I’m not mistaken, it was some time during the same year you went missing. Rumor had it he’d moved to Italy, but Peters checked that out, and there’s no record of his passport leaving the United States.”

Well. Fuck. He knows.

Kassie—the motherfucking queen of calm—stood and said, “Wow, Agent Saunders. That is a fascinating story. Really, it is, and I do appreciate a good tale, but I believe the Osbournes would like to get back home. They have a baby boy that’s probably getting up from his nap about right now.”

Saunders stood too. “It’s my job to determine whether these two are involved in any illegal activity.”

“Oh, good grief!” Kassie cried, throwing her arms up and letting them fall. “These are not the people you should be focusing on. I’m sure you can look on that little screen of yours and see that the Osbournes have had nothing more serious than a speeding ticket in seventeen years. In fact, they have been model citizens. Dane runs a bakery. Evie got a college degree and is the head of marketing at a hospital that rehabilitates sea turtles. She also goes into schools and talks to children about turtles and conservation. They rescued two pets and donate to charities supporting victims of human trafficking. Not to mention, seven months out of the year, they get up at the ass crack of dawn and patrol the beach to help preserve turtle nests. If you find any criminal activity in all that, then arrest them.”

At some point during all that, she’d flattened her palms on the table and leaned over it. Peters and Saunders were both arching backward in their chairs with eyes as round as beach balls.

Kassie straightened and reached behind her, pulling Evie to her feet. “I have a good idea,” she went on because the damn agents were rendered mute. Grasping Evie by the arms, she held her wrists out toward the agents, almost like an offering. “Why don’t you put the cuffs on Evie really tight. So tight you leave bruises and make her have flashbacks to something no human being should ever go through.”

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