Page 95 of Captured Innocence

The only thing that concerned me was that the tattoo I’d remembered seeing meant nothing. I’d put it through every system I had access to, finding no information. I tapped my finger on the drawing I’d done, trying to remember any additional details.

Then I checked one of the traps I’d set, laughing softly. “Take that, asshole.”

“Look at that. A laughing skull. How so not original,” Joy chortled as she looked over my shoulder. Every time the Ghost believed he’d accomplished a goal, he’d left a brand spanking new calling card.

A laughing skull. At least we weren’t subjected to hearing a dark, crackling laugh on audio at the same time. If the person thought they were being clever, they were sorely wrong.

“At least the asshole is going down my trail,” I told her as I sat back in the seat. Still, the uneasy feeling remained as if I was missing something. I’d tried not to get too cocky, but the fact the person had followed almost every trail I’d laid like golden bricks left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

“That’s good,” Lucia said. “How close are you to determining his location?”

“Maybe an hour. Maybe a day. It’s hard to know but I’ve narrowed it down to somewhere on this side of the world. The hacker is very good. Almost too good.”

“Shit. I can’t stand by and do nothing.”

“That’s all we can do, sis,” I told her. “So, how is Michelangelo?” I asked absently.

“Happy as can be staying in a resort with his grammy. The funny thing is that Mama is better than I’ve seen her in a long time. However, I don’t want to be without my baby for long,” Lucia said. Her little boy was everything to her. I remembered the day of the gender release party as if it had been yesterday instead of almost three years before. So much had changed, including the fact Joy was also pregnant.

I was the odd girl out, uncertain if my Prince Charming would follow through with asking me to marry him.

“Did you know Mama was in love with Mattia’s father?”

Lucia coughed, spitting up the juice she was drinking. “Wha… What?”

I nodded, unable to keep from chuckling as Joy handed her some napkins. “Yep. Sven knew but Mattia and I suspected something.”

Lucia stared at me then shook her head. “That makes sense then.”

“What does?”

“When you were so little and our father had started to become so damn brutal, she told me once that she’d married the wrong man. But if she had, she wouldn’t have had her amazing children. I never asked any questions. That’s crazy.”

“That makes us even more of a family,” Joy told us. She was always the one who tried to bring sunshine to the world. Lucia had told me that.

“True. Mama has no clue we know. I’m not certain I want to burst her bubble.”

I glanced at my sister and sighed, still hating there were secrets. What would our families have been like if there hadn’t been?

“What’s wrong?” Joy asked me coyly.

“Just thinking,” I said absently, shoving the damn picture aside. No one thought the tattoo meant anything. Besides, it was missing a portion and for some crazy reason, I couldn’t remember what it was. The upside-down skull had only been a part of it. That hadn’t made it appear ominous to me. I’d drawn several versions, but nothing had stuck.

A full twenty-four hours had passed with no additional issues. Everyone was antsy, me included. We left the compound, and I paced the floor of the office in the house where I’d grown up. The memories were painful, more so than I cared to admit.

“You’re thinking about all the lost time,” Lucia said from where she remained across the room. She’d apologized several times in the last few hours. I wasn’t angry with her. How could I be? She’d had my best interest at heart, worried that I’d fall head over heels for the wrong guy.

Maybe I had, but it wasn’t planning on letting him go.

Unless the cavalier man got himself killed. The thought continued to churn in my stomach, enough so my chest hurt.

“When did you know you were in love with Dar?” I asked, although I knew the answer.

Lucia laughed. “You know the story, my baby sister. I’ll just say from almost the first time he sang to me so many years ago. He had the voice of an angel.”

“Does he still do that?” Joy asked.

“Every night. He serenades the baby,” Lucia cooed. “It’s the only thing that calms her down.”

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