Page 9 of Torched

“$2.3 million.”

We’ve all had enough expensive jewelry in our hands to not let out a gasp of shock, but still, $2.3 million is a lot of money.

“Why do you want it?” Callie nudges her chin with narrowed eyes.

“Because with Junior gone, and you being a Carrillo now, she won’t get a cut of your inheritance if you die.” Liam answers for her with a look that says he sees right through the vicious black-haired women behind me. “She needs the money.”

“So what do you need us for? Go get that damn diamond,” Callie grunts.

“I doubt she knows where it is,” Kane says.

I feel Cristina shift, a dreamy sigh of delight flying through the strands of my hair.

“Who knew you also had a brain? Ding, ding, ding!” She jolts with enthusiasm. “You’re on to the next round. Story time! Once upon a time, there was a king—”

“Save the theatrics, Cris.” Callie’s eyes are spitting dangers as she cuts her off, and I can imagine all the things she’d like to do to Cristina right now. She’s just about ready to raise hell like a fucking fire dragon.

“Oh, boo, Callie. You are no fun. Fine,” she concedes, probably rolling her eyes behind me. “Frank Reyes had the diamond.”

“What?” I blurt at the same time we all show our confusion.

“It’s been missing for a century. And here you are, telling me that it was in Reyes’s possession the entire time?” Kane rebukes. The look on his face tells me he doesn’t believe a word she’s saying, his eyes showing nothing more than boredom.

“Actually, it was never missing,” Cristina clarifies. “Frank’s grandfather, Emilio Reyes, fought in the second war. Hisamigo, Benjamin Walker, was a US soldier who had the diamond with him as insurance. Apparently, his brother brought him to the States in the 1930s and when he died in a car accident, Walker found the diamond. After the war started, he figured he could use the diamond to trade his life if he ever got captured by the Germans.”

“So how did Emilio get it?” Callie frowns.

“Emilio found out Ben had a very valuable diamond, so he killed him and took it.” Cristina’s tone lacks any emotion. “Flash forward a few decades later, fifteen years ago, Frank Reyes allegedly gave it to his mistress as a promise he would leave your mama someday and they would be together.” Callie’s brows knit together at this new piece of information about her mother’s marriage to Frank. “What? You thought Jacky was the love of his life because he stole her from your real daddy? Think again,Callie girl. The only reason he was with your mama was to get a foot in with the IRA. He never loved your mother, nor did he actuallylikeher.”

“Well, I guess it was a marriage of mutual hate after all,” Callie defends.

“Maybe,” Cris snickers. “But still, your mama couldn’t stand the fact that dear old Frank was seeing someone else on the side. She could handle the whores he was fucking, but she hated that he basically had a second wife.”

“What’s her name?” Callie grits out.

“Loranne Almos. They met in Miami when he had a meeting with her daddy, who was a big shot at the Miami airport, a perfect location forhim to set up shop for histraffickingbusiness.” She emphasizes the word as if we don’t already know the dirty business they are in and she needs to spell it out in code. “She was only seventeen at the time, but Frank didn’t care. He started seducing her the minute he laid eyes on her, and soon he was flying multiple times a year back to the States to go and see her. Her daddy didn’t really like him fucking his teenage daughter, but obviously, dear old Franco didn’t care. He made it clear he wasn’t afraid to end the man if he kept him from his daughter. Called her the love of his life. Her dad died of a heart attack a few months later, though the circumstances might be a bit shady. Something with food and some wine.” I catch her looking up at the sky, as if she’s counting the stars. “Or maybe it was pills? Oh, who knows.” She laughs enthusiastically, even though no one bothers to join in. “After that, Frank got free range to do to sweet Loranne whatever he wanted.” The mocking tone of her voice brings me goosebumps, wanting nothing more than to punch her teeth from her snarky mouth.

“Why haven’t I heard about her?” Callie questions.

“Ah, yes.” Cristina continues, not a care in the world. “Like every good love story, a tragedy happened. When you were about eight years old, Frank was gone for two months. Your mother couldn’t find him, and my mother refused to tell her where he was.”

“I still remember that,” Callie whispers, more to herself than to anyone else. “My mother went nuts.”

“Turns out, Loranne was in a car crash. She was paralyzed from the neck down and they put her in a coma for six weeks before they woke her up. She has been a vegetable ever since. Such a shame, experiencing your twenties like a puppet.”

“What does any of this have to do with the diamond?” I’m sick of listening to this bitch.

“Patience,Gen.” She presses the barrel roughly against my scalp again, pushing my head a little forward. Her lighthearted tone quickly switches to a growl that makes it more than clear she hates me just as much as I hate her. “As I was saying,” she keeps going, her calm voice back in place.Lunatic.“Loranne is no help because, well, the woman is probably happy when she can eat without drooling all over herself. But I heard a conversation between my mother and Frank that he gave the diamond to Loranne right before the accident.”

“So, go to Loranne,” I scoff.

“Will you shut the fuck up?” I can feel her glare burning through my side.

“I will if you get that gun out of my face and get to the fucking point!”

“Don’t make me shoot you!” she seethes while I see Liam and Callie tense in front of me. They both shoot me a pleading look, knowing the unpredictability that Cristina possesses, and I press my lips to a flat line, silently conceding.

“Anyway,” she proceeds. “I can’t go to Loranne, because she doesn’t even know where the diamond is. When Frank realized she was a sitting duck, he told my mother he took the diamond back to Spain and hid it somewhere only a Reyes can find it.” A knowing look is coming from Callie, and she briefly closes her eyes.

---