Page 78 of Corrupted Deception

Wow, you’re hitting new lows now, Char.

Fortunately, my GPS chose that moment to tell me to take the next exit.

I veered off the highway obediently and kept driving, turning this way and that until the GPS told me I’d arrived at my destination.

Nice house,I said, peering up past the open gates to the grand estate at the top of the long driveway. It felt odd. There should have been enormous peach and white hibiscus flowers lining the driveway and tattooed guards discreetly stationed all around.

I turned into the driveway and drove to the top, but while there were no guards with guns, I could almost feel eyes on me, staring at me through the cameras mounted in strategic locations along the roof.

"’Every breath you take... And every move you make...’"I sang quietly as I shut off the engine and got out of my Audi.

I walked up the stone steps and rang the doorbell.

A tall, broad-shouldered man opened the door. He was middle age, perhaps, but all the lines on his face drew downward, giving the impression that boredom would have been a step up from whatever monotonous plane this man existed on.

“Can I help you,Signorina?” he asked.

“Buongiorno, I’m here to see Phoenix… er, Cait.”Wow, that was weird.With all the times I’d changed my name, it should have seemed commonplace for a person to jump from one name to the next, but not Phoenix.

The man’s brow furrowed. “May I say who’s—”

“Char!” an excited voice squealed from inside as my little, dark-haired guy appeared at the top of the stairs and came bounding down at full speed.

My heart squeezed just a little, like it did every time I saw Nic, ever since Nacio, my dad, and I had found him. He’d been taken from Phoenix—his mother—at birth.

The man who’d opened the door stepped fully into the doorway, blocking Nic’s path.

“Hey!” Nic complained, scowling as he came to an abrupt stop. “That’s not nice.”

“It’s okay, Rafael,” a familiar voice called from inside. Phoenix. She was waddling down the stairs, the flame tattoos all the way down her left side catching the glint of the sun and almost shimmering.

The man stepped aside and Nic barreled into my thighs, wrapping his arms around me.

I scooped him up and swung him around. “Damn, you’ve gotten big,chiquito.”

He nodded emphatically. “I’m going to be a big brother, so I gotta be big.”

I smiled and looked over at Phoenix… er, Cait, who’d made it to the bottom of the stairs. “Tell me you’re hiding a beach ball under there,” I teased.

She smiled—really smiled. That wasn’t something I recalled her doing often.

“All right, Nic,” I said, turning back to the wriggling kid in my arms. “I’ve got what I came for. Let’s go.” I made an exaggerated turn, holding him closer like I was about to run off with him. “What do you think? Skydiving? Ziplining?”

He shook his head. “Sharks!”

I laughed. “You like that one, huh?”

He nodded vigorously.

“There will be no sharks, kiddo,” Cait interjected, smiling to lessen the blow.

“Sharks?” a tall, dark-haired man with vivid green eyes asked as he came up behind Cait and wrapped an arm around her swollen belly.

Cait wrapped her hand around his arm and leaned back into him.

I just about did a double-take. She hadn’t just changed her name, it seemed. She’d changed a lot.

“Char shares all of her exploits with Nic,” she explained as the newcomer eyed me suspiciously. “Char, this is my fiancé, Gabe Costa. Gabe, this is Char Santoro, a friend,” she finished softly with a warm smile.

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