Page 54 of Cruel Redemption

“Don’t say that.” I knew she was right, but we had to make the changes in the organizations so that the girls born into the families were as powerful as I was. Or at least, working for me.

“They don’t know. Andrey doesn’t know. Just add it to the secrets I keep.”

I raised my martini to my lips. “We all have secrets in this world. You aren’t alone in that.”

“What names do you like?” she asked, getting us back on track.

“Katya, that’s for you and Enzo to decide.”

She laughed. “No. I’m talking about you. When you and my brother decide to start the next empire.”

I blushed. Kids? Us having kids? “I don’t know that Luka wants children.”

She rolled her eyes. “With you he does.”

“How are you so sure of that?” It wasn’t something we’d discussed. He hadn’t proposed. We didn’t have a contract for the merger. A baby seemed like a fantasy. Besides, our parents were horrible role models. We were trained, not nurtured. Why would we be any better than they were at raising the next generation?

“Can you imagine you two not having a baby together?”

I sat back in the chaise lounge. Holy shit. Did I want that? Were Luka and I capable of raising kids that weren’t going to turn out the way we did? A baby. With him. I bit my lip.

Katya giggled. “See? It’s written all over your face. You want a baby with Luka,” she teased.

I laughed. “Shut up. That’s far, far away.”

If I could have held on to that laughter a little longer, I would have. I didn’t know that it would be so long before either of us would laugh again.

Katya’s mouth dropped. I looked at the rustle of the palm trees near the end of the courtyard and Luka walked on to the patio. I ran to him. He was stained with blood, but I didn’t care. He was here.

“Oh my God.” I threw myself in his arms. I didn’t care that I was wearing a pastel coverup. I didn’t care about anything. “Are you hurt?” Was it his blood? Where was he cut?

“Hey.” He buried his face in my neck. I wrapped my hands around him.

He pulled away. His eyes were filled with sadness.

“Enzo?”

He shook his head.

“No,” I whispered. I lightly touched the stains on his shirt. The horror spread through me as I realized it was likely Enzo’s blood on my fingertips.

Before he could even get to Katya, she screamed. She heard our whispers. She saw our pain and grief. And I knew her instincts had been strong this entire time.

She picked up the tray of drinks and smashed it on the patio. The glass shards scattered in hundreds of tiny pieces. She lifted the end table the drinks had been resting on and threw it in the pool. We watched. All of us motionless as she moved from chair to chair. She threw anything she could get her hands on. A potted plant. An ottoman. Her phone. She screamed, hurling her anger and grief into the deep end of the water. When there was nothing else she could physically grasp, she took a step toward the diving board.

Luka ran, almost shoving me out of the way to get to his sister.

“Katya, Katya.” Luka pulled her away from the steps. She crumpled against him. “I’ve got you,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”

Our eyes met. I’d never felt so much pain.

* * *

There was a decision to make.

Katya, Ciro, Nikoli, Luka, and I sat in my office. Katya had stopped crying. The tears were replaced by a vacant stare. She had stopped throwing things once everything was at the bottom of the pool. She was out of energy. Out of tears.

Ciro’s arm was wrapped and the bandage he had placed over the bullet wound was starting to seep. I tried not to look at it. Things were different between him and Luka. I didn’t want an explanation. I didn’t need it. I wasn’t going to ask them what happened in the tunnels.

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