Page 160 of Fall into Savagery

I sometimes wondered how different my life would have been had he gotten my mom and me out from under Agnello’s thumb in time.

But that change would have meant I would never get to meet Damien Vasiliev, Mikhail Volkov, and Nikolay Sokolov.

Would have never known what it was like to love and be loved by them, and …

How could I possibly resent him—resent that—with the way my life had turned out?

I shook my head.

He sniffled, and I frowned.

It was hard to put in the image of Francisco Bianchi crying, but he was … wasn’t he?

“Anyway, I’m just so glad you called. It’s probably getting late, so I’ll let you go to rest, but perhaps ….”

He hesitated, and I held my breath.

“Perhaps the next time you call, I can tell you a little more about my life. I can tell you more about your mother, Catalina. I can tell you all about what a kind and generous and beautiful woman she was.” He swallowed loudly over the line. “She was the love of my life. She still is.”

I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from making any noise. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel should I lose any of my men.

Anyone who could live without their soulmate was much braver than me, because that was what those men were to me.

My soulmates.

“Anyway,” he continued, his voice thick with emotion. “I love you, my baby.”

I hiccupped when he was about to hang up.

He stayed on the line. I thought he was waiting for me to hang up first.

I opened my mouth and tried again.

I closed my eyes.

I could do this.

I could.

I imagined Damien’s eyes as they softened for me—only me, to Mikhail’s laughter that I couldn’t get enough of, to Nikolay’s mischievous and playful nature, bringing so much out of me that I never thought could be possible. I thought about the two little boys who had looked at me with so much trust.

I thought about my growing family.

“Dad?”

My voice cracked, but I knew he heard me.

A muffled noise came through, and it took me a moment to realize it was him crying.

More tears fell from my eyes, and I wiped them away, trying to keep in control.

“Catalina,” he said. “Can you … can you say that again?”

“Dad.”

My voice came out stronger the second time, and I listened as one of the powerful men I knew broke down in tears, all because I had talked to him.

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