Page 53 of Cruel Longing

He pulled over on the side of the road. We were somewhere where sugar cane grew. He shifted the SUV to park and twisted in the seat.

“Mr. Amato, your father, he passed away last week. When you were taken. I’m sorry.”

I felt a lump in my throat. I nodded. “Thank you for letting me know.” I looked out the window. The sugar cane rustled in the breeze. “Was he alone?” I asked. “Did they take him too?”

“The night nurse was with him,” he answered. “She’s gone. Fled the city.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. I was angry at myself for feeling sadness and pain. He didn’t deserve my grief. He’d done nothing but resent me my entire life. I’d barely made the cut to be his protégé. His own daughter, ineligible. I’d fought so hard for a place next to him and now he was gone. That place didn’t exist anymore.

I cleared my throat. “Did he know I was missing?”

Ciro shook his head. “I don’t know that he did. But when I returned I started searching for you. The tracker is what led me here immediately. There are a lot of questions I still need the answers to. No one called Amara when he died. I would have been here sooner. Joey was taken out too.”

I swore it was because the adrenaline had worn off. It was because I’d been locked in a tomb, preparing to be raped or killed for a week. It was because I’d only faced death one other time, when my mother died. I made up excuses for the reason I broke. For the tears and sobs that followed. For the five minutes I allowed Ciro to crawl in the backseat and put his arms around me while I cried, until there were no more tears.

Twenty-Five

LUKA

We had picked over the rest of our dinner. There was a chocolate pie we hadn’t touched. The candles had melted in giant pools. The bottle of wine was empty.

“So now you know what happened.” Her green eyes seemed steadier than mine. “That’s the story. The mystery, I guess you could call it.”

“And now I should forget it?” I couldn’t help the way the cold seeped into my voice.

“I didn’t say forget it, but you aren’t going out on a vengeance tirade. I will find out who kidnapped me. I deserve that.”

“You deserve more than that.” I strolled across the room. I had been restless while she recounted the story. I crouched in front of her chair. “I’ll make sure you have the names.”

She shook her head. “Not your job.”

I huffed. “If I can use my resources, why wouldn’t you want them?” I had found a way to save us both. A common enemy would be the culprit. I would call Nik tomorrow and have him work up some names who were in New Orleans during the Amato assignment.

“Because I don’t know if it was your father. Your resources are going to be tainted by anything or anyone under the Novikov roof. I can’t trust them.”

My eyes widened. “What? My father is on your list?” Fuck. I needed his name off that list immediately.

She glanced away. “It could have been him. Your mother. Anyone. Everyone.”

“My father was a bastard for what he did to us, but why would he take it that far? I was already in France. He kept us apart. He won.”

Amara shrugged. “I don’t know why he would have done it, other than the motives would all be the same. It wasn’t about you and me. It was about taking the power my father had established so quickly.”

“My father wasn’t threatened by you.” I knew the statement was a mistake and not close to the full truth. In all this time, she hadn’t uncovered that Lorenzo had Ivan murdered. Because if she had the pieces would have fallen into place for her and there would be only one person she would have suspected of such a dark crime.

Her eyebrows rose. “Oh, really? He was pleased that I bought the Vieux Carre? The most prized asset in New Orleans wasn’t his any longer the day I showed up at the bank.”

I scowled. “Fuck. I don’t know what he was thinking while I was gone.” He was underhanded and ruthless. Vengeful. Vindictive.

“Then you have to assume he is as much of a suspect as anyone else.”

I didn’t like the truth in her statement. I’d hated my father for plenty of his sins. I didn’t need to pile another heinous one on top. Did it matter now that he was dead?

I shoved off the floor. “You’re out of wine. Can I get some more for you?” I offered.

“I’ll just call Bella,” she answered. “There’s no reason you have to leave the room.”

“No. It’s late. Let her sleep. I’ll go to the cellar. I’d like to see your collection anyway.” I needed a second to breathe. Clear my head. Make sure I could make this plan work, or else I would lose her.

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