The Rainmaker : Cole : A Von Larsen Crime Family Novel

by Piper Page

  I drove there right away. I parked my car on the overlook and easily spotted her sitting in the middle of the stretch of sand, nothing around her, looking out into the ocean like a trinket washed up to shore.

  As I drew closer, she didn’t spot me, the sand deadening the sound of my bare feet. Seagulls squawked nearby, and finally she turned. It was quiet, peaceful here when they buzzed off.

  She looked unhappily at me over her shoulder. Color drained from her face. And now that I stood above her, I saw her hands bunched at her thighs in a rigid posture.

  “Why did you leave me?”

  I should’ve known, though. Her shock wore off. Then the fact of waking up in a criminal’s bed overwhelmed her.

  But I didn’t regret keeping her safe last night.

  “I just wanted to be near someone familiar. I was weak. It was a moment of weakness.”

  I crossed my arms. “Bullshit.”

  This serene scene now looked ominous like the calm before the storm. I knew that this wouldn’t end well.

  Krista pushed off the sand. “It’s not bullshit, Diego. And it would help if you listened while I tried to tell you the truth instead of fighting me all the time.”

  “Fine.” I thrust my hands down in defeat.

  “I need to go back home,” she said, without flinching.

  “Back home? What do you have there?”

  “I don’t have anything.” She looked exasperated. “But I’m trying to start a life. This isn’t a place where I can do that.”

  “You love me. I know it. And if you try to say you don’t, I’m calling bullshit. Your place is right here with me.” God, I sounded like a child! I didn’t know when to shut up and listen, but I couldn’t help it.

  “It’s not, Diego. As much as I love doing things with you, you’re not the man I need right now.”

  That stung. Indignation started to rise in my chest, but I stamped it down.

  “So you go back home and what? Bartend and try to make ends meet, and try to avoid that prick? He’s going to be even more dangerous once he gets out of the hospital.” I shook my head. “I won’t let you go.”

  “Yes, you will,” she challenged, glaring at me.

  “If it means that you’ll be in danger again, then you’re staying with me.”

  “Oh, staying with the guy who just got out of the hospital for being shot three times? I’m sure that’s the safest place.” She rolled her eyes.

  “No, staying with the guy who saved you from being murdered.”

  “I’ll move away from him. I’ll do anything I need to do, but I can’t stay with you. It’s not a safe place—”

  “What?”

  She wasn’t telling me something. I knew it. She looked pensive, like how she’d been during the plane ride, like she needed to tell me something but it pained her.

  I knew when people hid information from me. My brother Santiago would be the one to extract any information, but I picked it up too, living on the streets.

  “I’ve got something to tell you, and I’m not sure how you’ll take it.”

  “I can’t promise anything,” I said.

  A dull pain throbbed between my brows. I strained to remain cool and collected. What did she have to tell me? I had no idea how it could be bigger than my secret…

  “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.

  That was definitely bigger. The words hit me like I’d been punched in the gut.

  “How?”

  A stupid question, but I’d been dazed by this confession.

  “Diego,” she started, but I shook my head.

  “Sorry, that was dumb. I mean, how long did you know?”

  “For a few weeks. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

  My temples pounded. I clenched my fists. I tried to focus on the soft crashing of the waves, but my head buzzed.

  “Were you even going to tell me?”

  Krista didn’t respond quickly enough.

  “You weren’t.”

  She turned away.

  “Look at me…” I seethed.

  “I don’t want to look at you right now, you’re too angry.”

  “And you know why? It’s because you tried hiding my baby from me.”

  I circled Krista, stopping in front of her. “You had no right,” I growled, like a wounded animal.

  “I had no right?” Her voice began to rise. Her brows furrowed and heat rushed to her cheeks. It seemed like I’d awoken a sleeping dragon.

  Krista met me head on and looked up at me, not scared at all, forcing me to take a step back.

  “I had no right? You’re a criminal. A murderer. Of course I had the right to keep the baby from you.”

  I puffed up my chest, my nostrils flaring. “You’re going to stay with me. And so is the baby. This is going to be a family. Whether you like it at first or not. You’ll come to understand that this is the only option.”

  It shocked even me that I’d said family. I guessed I’d always wanted one, and in that short amount of time we’d been together, I saw Krista as a potential wife and mother of my child. Now it had all come true.

  Unless she tried to take it away from me.

  I wouldn’t let it happen. No fucking way would this family be torn apart like mine had.

  “We’re going back to my place. I’m going to throw you down on the bed, and thrust my tongue all over that fucking hot body of yours. I’ll have you screaming my name again as I lick up your hot cunt.”

  She grimaced. What? Did I say the wrong thing? I knew she wanted it—her body still craved me. So did her heart, no matter what reason might be telling her now.

  “Stop it, Diego. The baby won’t be going with you, and neither will I. End of discussion.”

  “Not end of discussion.”

  Krista put a hand on her hip. She bit her lip as she peered out into the ocean, but it didn’t calm her now. The beautiful blue waves didn’t calm me, either.

  “Do you think a court will side with you?” she asked. “If I told them that you’re a drug dealer, the biggest in all of Puerto Rico, would they take my side or yours?”

  In the mainland or Puerto Rico? Because I could definitely pull some strings at home, but in the States…

  I got her point, though, and I didn’t like it. I sneered, but tried to hide it from her. I didn’t want to scare her, but she had just threatened me.

  “The court will side with me,” she repeated again.

  “Do you know what happens to people who threaten me?”

  Krista turned her hips away from me. She tilted her head, as if she didn’t hear me.

  “Excuse me? Did you just threaten me?” When I didn’t answer, she added, “So what, are you going to have me and the baby killed? Is that what your plan is?”

  “Of course not. It’s fucking infuriating that you would think that about me.”

  “Well, you are a murderer, aren’t you? And I doubt that the people who threaten you are given a stern warning. Am I right?”

  “That’s not what I meant. I would never hurt you. Or the baby.” I tried everything to get her to stay, but anything I said only dug my hole deeper.

  Perhaps I should just shut up.

  My heart dropped when I thought about her flying back to the States. This time it would be even crazier for me to follow her there, and she’d only shut me down again, block me out of her life. What options did I have?

  She was right. I was a murderer. A monster. Just like Santiago had told me. I should’ve listened to him before I got in too deep.

  In this business, we didn’t have families or loved ones. That made us weak and vulnerable.

  At least Krista had been able to see it when I couldn’t.

  I still tried to fight. “I’m here for you, and I want to have a family. You’re making the wrong choice in going back. It’s not safe there with that prick prowling around.” I should’ve killed him, put a bullet in him. “I saw you back there and you weren’t happy. You smiled every day when you were with
me here.”

  She huffed. “I’m doing this for the child.”

  Krista took a few steps away.

  “You’re going back today? Right now? At least stay a few days and we’ll talk about this.”

  That magnetic pull I usually felt when she got close weakened until I thought it would soon break under pressure. This seemed irreparable.

  “I’m going today.” She drifted away from me and there was no way of pulling her back.

  She must’ve seen the look of determination still on my face.

  “I’ll be in touch. You shouldn’t contact me. I’ll contact you,” she said.

  “This shit isn’t right,” I growled at her as she turned and then headed away from me.

  Krista didn’t look back. She slowly shuffled back in her sandals up the dune to the overlook.

  “I have a right to see my child. Even if I am a murderer or a drug dealer,” was what I wanted to scream back at her.

  “You’re making a mistake. We can have a family together. I fucking love you, Krista,” I yelled instead.

  That stopped her in her tracks. She gave me one look over her shoulder. Then, shaking her head, she continued walking away.

  Fuck. I felt the pain rushing in, but then numbness. Empty, I dropped down onto the sand. For once in my life, my path seemed utterly unfixable. Even back when we were poor, we had options. They might have been terrible options, like stealing, but we had options.

  Krista wanted me to change who I was, but I could never do that. I couldn’t change my past. What was done was done.

  I heard a car pull away in the distance. When I looked up toward the overlook, there was no sign of Krista. She’d been taken away from me again.

  This time, I doubted she would be coming back.

  Hands in my pockets, I slowly walked back to where I parked.

  I dropped down onto the seat, started the engine, and then gripped the wheel, but I didn’t go anywhere. My mind churned for a way to fix this. There had to be a way.

  If Krista didn’t love me, I wouldn’t have tried, wouldn’t have pushed so hard. But I knew she loved me, and I knew she wanted me. Someone had convinced her to leave. Someone had convinced her to make the biggest mistake of her life.

  Revving the engine, I swerved out of the parking space and onto the open road. There might not be a lot of time before she left, so I needed to act quickly.

  Chapter 11

  Krista

  * * *

  The walls might be bland, but the view from Andrea’s B&B was spectacular. The Torez family living downstairs gave me a cheap rate due to the size of my room. It had some chipped white paint, but it had a balcony that looked out onto a sunny scene of palm trees too—the perfect place to think. I’d sit out on a plastic lawn chair for hours.

  I sat back on my bed, shifting to get myself comfortable due to some broken springs. This place could use some new furnishings, but I wouldn’t be complaining about the food. Each day, they invited me to breakfast, lunch, and dinner for free, all because they had such a big family and they made huge portions.

  I’d gotten home cooked food from a new culture. All for free. Staying here was kind of nice, and it got me wishing that maybe I could never leave and somehow avoid Diego.

  Right…

  Footsteps would creak from the hall outside my door. Each time I heard a footstep, I expected Diego to knock.

  And each time those footsteps traveled away, a mixture of sadness and relief surged inside me.

  I still didn’t know what to say to him. Diego had a right to see his baby. True. As long as the baby stayed with me, under my supervision, it should be fine. Yet, he might have given up that right when he didn’t tell me about the dark, criminal side of him.

  Before I took a plane, my mind would need to be made up. Flying back and forth between New York and Puerto Rico would get expensive quickly, and I certainly didn’t have cash like that lying around.

  I nodded to myself. One more day. That was all I gave myself to come up with a plan.

  Someone banged on my door, and I jumped back, almost falling off the bed. Rattled, it took me a second to regain my composure.

  A sweet voice called from outside. “Krista, someone is here to see you.”

  I wonder who that could be? There would be only one person who wanted to see me.

  Diego again.

  He never gave up…

  Grumbling, I headed to the door. I opened it a sliver and peeked out. Andrea waited there, a worried look on her face, no one behind her. Awesome. She was the best. She’d known better than to invite someone inside the house without asking my permission first.

  “There’s someone here to see you. He looks… tough. Should I tell him you’re not here?”

  My lip curled. I stammered, trying to find an answer.

  She put a hand on her hip.

  I would’ve loved for her to be my grandmother when I grew up. She was so loving and strong and didn’t put up with bullshit. When I had come to her, asking to pay for a room, she took me in like a lost member of her family.

  “No, don’t tell him anything. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll go meet him.”

  Breathing carefully, I passed Andrea to go downstairs. The rest of the Torez family were huddled in the kitchen. There were five members of the Torez clan, all of them well-fed from Mom’s cooking, staring back at me. It occurred to me after I left that they might’ve known who Diego was.

  I shut the door behind me. No one else needed to hear this.

  Diego loomed near the white archway that led to the yard. As he stepped into the light, the resistance I’d prepared shattered. I began to pick up the pieces, brick by brick, and assemble it back together as I stood before him, guarding myself from his devilish good looks, our connection thick in the air.

  “Krista.”

  He wore a button down black shirt that clung to his impressive frame. The buttons were popped at the top to show his bronzed skin with just the right amount of hair. His jeans were dark and clung to his powerful thighs. Everything about him screamed power. I felt like I was standing beneath a giant as I waited for him to speak.

  “I know you’re mad at me,” he said. “And you don’t think I’d be good for the child.” He nodded, my pulse speeding up. “I want to tell you that I understand.”

  When he smiled at me, all my prepared lines fell apart. I crumbled.

  “Okay,” I said. So? Diego would never have come unprepared.

  “So I want you to come with me. I’ve got something to show you.”

  “Another sightseeing tour?” I winked. Immediately after, I grabbed my elbow and leaned back, as if to distance myself.

  “Something like that.”

  He held his hand out. I paused.

  “Do you trust me?”

  That was the crux of it, wasn’t it?

  He might as well have come back here to return my heart. He’d been holding it the whole time.

  Try as I might, I fought it. “Yes,” I admitted. I placed my hand in his huge palm and he took me away, into his car.

  My suspicions were high as we pulled away from Andrea’s B&B. Like my new protective mother, she waved goodbye to me as we left. If she knew who Diego really was, like I guessed she did, she really did have the biggest balls I’d ever met on a lady. I waved back and smiled.

  Everything was good.

  Nervous, I twirled my hair and peered out of the window. My chest was tight and my instinct was to grab onto the side of the car whenever we took a turn. I was on alert...all because I’d betrayed my better judgement. Back in my room, I decided I wouldn’t listen to Diego, that I would settle this by myself.

  “You’re not going to jump out, are you?”

  I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said with a smirk. “I’m a bit jumpy right now.”

  “We’ll be there in a few minutes. Anytime you want me to take you back, I’ll take you back. Just say the word.”

  “Thanks.” Except I didn’t want t
o go back. “I’m fine.” I brushed my hair back and placed my hand on my thighs. No more winding my hair nervously. I was probably freaking him out as much as he was freaking me out.

  I snuck glances at Diego, admiring the protective air he gave off, how I felt safe next to him. He might have made mistakes in his life, and he might be a little broken, but I was too. And that didn’t mean I wouldn’t love my kid.

  “We’re here,” he said as he cut into a private development with a gated entrance. The guard must’ve known him already because it swung open as soon as we approached.

  My face was contorted into one of confusion as the car rolled slowly up to an ocean-view estate.

  “Millionaires from around the world live here,” he said. He parked the car in front of a two-story villa surrounded by lush palm trees.

  Diego got out and opened my door. My eyes watered as I thought about what he might be doing.

  “Take my hand,” he urged.

  I let him help me out. Gawking, I stood by the house on the pebbled drive.

  “It’s yours.”

  I twisted toward him, emotion springing free from me as I shook my head slowly. I reached for him and caught his shirt, dragging him closer. “No. Don’t say that.”

  He nodded.

  “You’re going to make me cry.”

  I kept shaking my head. “I can’t accept it,” I said. I meant it. It might be a gorgeous home, one that would keep me happy. That didn’t mean I should live there. It only made my decision that much more painful.

  He slid his hand across my hips.

  So much for the winter blues of New York. If I lived here, the sun would always be shining through the many windows. Anytime I wanted, I could walk down to the beach

  “I bought the home already. It’s for you and our child. Yes, our child. Because I need to be a part of both of your lives.”

  Diego raised a finger, as if reading my mind. “I know. You don’t want what happened to me to happen ever again. And you don’t want anything to ever happen to the baby. So I bought this place so you would be far away from where we do business.”