by Penelope Sky
Siena
I sat on the balcony and cried.
Sobbed.
Now that the dust had settled, reality hit me hard.
My father was gone.
Both of my parents were gone.
The last thing I said to my father was harsh, so harsh it would haunt me for the rest of my life. He had been too stubborn to talk to me in five years, and I had far too much pride to go back on my word, so those were the final words that we would ever say to each other.
It’s your fault she’s dead. You didn’t love her, and you don’t love me. All you care about is money and power. You can’t love things that won’t love you back. You can’t take those superficial things to the grave. All you can take is your soul—and you don’t have one.
I’d left his house and never looked back.
Now I regretted how ferocious I was. He didn’t come after me once in five years, so he obviously didn’t care, but he’s still my father.
He was my father.
In the back of my mind, I always thought we would find our way back to each other. I always imagined we would have Christmas together again. I thought my father would realize he was wrong and beg for my forgiveness.
But now that wasn’t possible.
I didn’t even have my brother anymore. I would be dead in less than a year, and Landon would be the last of my bloodline.
Unless someone hunted him down.
My family had been destroyed by money. Had been destroyed by greed.
My hand moved over my stomach, and I feared for my child. They would be born into a wealthy family, having a father more powerful than any other man. But they would also be vulnerable to the same sickness.
Greed.
I’d always imagined raising my family differently, in a small house with a little money. We would have family dinners, game nights, and we would set up the Christmas tree on the first of December. Our lives would be simple and peaceful.
But now they would be born into a world of crime, violence, and greed.
I didn’t want that for my baby.
The only way I could save them and myself was if I ran away. If I somehow found the perfect opportunity to disappear. I would run off to a new country, change my identity, and hide until Cato stopped looking for me.
That seemed just as impossible as turning him over to Damien.
But I had to try. It wasn’t like he could kill me if he caught me—at least not while I was pregnant.
The door to the balcony opened, and Cato stood there. Wearing his gray sweatpants that hung low on his hips and no shirt, he spotted the redness in my eyes and the shower of tears on my cheeks.
I didn’t even have a chance to fix my makeup. He barged in without notice. “You really should knock.”
“It’s my house.”
“My room.”
“I own this room and I own you.” He shut the door behind him and sat in the lounge chair beside me.
I wiped the makeup from under my eyes and steadied my breathing. I wouldn’t cry in front of him. Like I hadn’t just sobbed my heart out, I pretended nothing had happened at all. I looked out into the darkness across his property, seeing the few landscape lights illuminating the plants and trees. “Is there something you needed, Cato?” He never visited me unless he had a reason. We didn’t have chitchats, and we didn’t have sex anymore. I wasn’t required to do anything with him now that my plan had failed, but I did miss it.
He rested his arms on his knees and rubbed his hands together. “Giovanni said you skipped dinner.”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“I don’t care. You need to eat.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been pregnant for a few weeks. Skipping a meal won’t make a difference.”
“I’m sorry if I gave you the impression this was a dialogue.” He turned to me with a cold gaze. “This is me telling you what to do. You will eat all your meals—including this one. Defy me, and I’ll shove it down your throat.”
So he clearly didn’t give a damn I was crying. “I’m fine, by the way.”
“I couldn’t care less if you’re fine. Giovanni is gonna bring your dinner. If you don’t eat it, there will be consequences. And I will know if you ate it or not.” He rose from the chair and headed back into my room.
A life of obedience wasn’t interesting to me. “You’re more likely to get stuff done when you treat people like human beings.”
He turned around, his sculpted body so perfect it was ridiculous. “Like the way you treated me? When you stalked me, fucked me, and lied to me? Is that how you define humane?”
I looked away, tired of repeating myself. “I already explained why I did what I did. I wanted to save my father…” The mention of his name made my bottom lip quiver and my eyes water. Regret and pain washed over me. I was losing every family member, one by one. Crying in front of Cato was too humiliating, so I turned my face the opposite way and pretended to admire the landscape again. I cried quietly to myself, waiting for the sound of the closing door.
It never came.
He lowered himself back into the chair beside me. “Is that why you’re crying?” His voice was deep and soothing, not aggressive like it’d been a second ago. He sounded like the man I used to know, the lover in my bed. “Because of your father?”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. “Yes…”
He turned silent, but he continued to sit there.
“The last thing I said to him was pretty horrible. I always thought we would have a chance to make amends, to put our family back together. I thought he would see reason, see how money tore everyone apart. But now I’ll never get that chance…” I took a deep breath as more hot tears emerged. “I hate to imagine how he died. I hate to imagine what they did to him before they took his life. It keeps haunting me. I know he loved my mother despite what happened, and I hate that he’ll never be buried with her, that I won’t be able to visit them both. I hate that I can’t lay him to rest…to say goodbye.” I closed my eyes and wondered why I was telling him all of this. Under this new regime, I felt alone. The only person I talked to was Giovanni, and he was always about business. Cato was my only friend…even though he despised me.
“I’m sorry.” It was the most unexpected phrase to come from his mouth. “I wish I could tell you that they made it quick, but I can’t. When it comes to these wars, men are never merciful. But he’s not in pain anymore…and hopefully that gives you comfort.”
I hadn’t expected any softness from him, not ever again. “Your father left you?” When I read about him, I only found information about his mother. It didn’t seem like a father had ever been in the picture.
“I was five. Bates was three.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. My mother did just fine on her own.” There was pride in his voice, obvious respect for the woman who raised him. “My hatred stems from my loyalty to my mother. I hate him for abandoning her when she needed him most. That was a pussy thing to do.”
“And you don’t want to be like that.” I wiped my tears away and turned back to him. His arms were on the armrests as he looked out over his property. Handsome as ever, he sat on the chair like it was a throne.
“No,” he whispered. “I’m not a coward.”
The door opened, and Giovanni appeared with the dinner he’d tried to give me earlier. “I hope your appetite has returned, Miss Siena?”
Cato stared straight ahead.
I had no appetite at all, but Cato had just given me kindness—and I would reciprocate. “It has. Thank you.”
Giovanni placed the tray in my lap before he left.
I took small bites of my food to make Cato happy.
He didn’t look at me. “Thank you.”
“See?” I teased. “You can treat people like human beings.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes.”
Tears were still hot behind my eyes, but they slowly retreated the longer I sat with him. “I know you don’t believe me, but
I really did turn around for you, Cato. I wanted to save my father, but in the end, I knew I couldn’t do that to you.”
“It doesn’t change everything prior to that.” He brought his hands together again. “It doesn’t change the fact that nothing about us was ever real. It was all a setup. You were in the right place at the right time on purpose. Your job was to gain my trust just enough to put me in harm’s way. I know nothing about you, Siena.” He turned to me, defeat in his eyes. “I knew you were his daughter weeks ago. But I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you really did just want to start over. Maybe you really were harmless. I don’t know what it is about you…but it makes me so soft. I hate it.”
“Everything I said about myself was true. The only part that was a lie…was meeting you. Yes, my goal was to make you remember me. My goal was to get into your bed and gain your confidence. But everything in between that…all me. I couldn’t make you have a connection with me. I couldn’t make you forget about other women…that just happened on its own. That was real—that was us.”
He faced forward again, his expression masked by indifference. “It’s strange. I don’t trust anyone. I trust women least of all…but I trusted you.”
“Because I was honest with you. When I said I wanted a simple life, I meant it. My father is dead because all he cared about was money. My mother is dead because of it too. It’s only a matter of time before my brother follows suit. I really enjoy artwork. I enjoy wine. And I enjoy you…”
He wouldn’t look at me again.
“I miss you.”
His jaw started to clench, like I’d said the wrong thing. “I don’t miss you. How can I miss something I never had?”
“You did have me. You could still have me.”
“Really? Or is that another ploy? Will you fuck me to save your life?” His eyes landed on mine, and they burned me from the inside out.
“I’ll fuck you because you’re the man I want to fuck. You’re the best I’ve ever had, the only man who’s ever really made me feel like a woman. I’ll fuck you because your smile makes me melt and your body keeps me warm. You’ve already made your decision, and I’m sure you’ll see it through. Doesn’t mean I don’t want you in the meantime.”
His gaze hardened just like his jaw. “I don’t trust you, Siena. I will never trust you again.”
“I’m not asking you to trust me.”
“And I’ll never want you again.”
His words shouldn’t hurt me since I planned to escape, but they did. They hurt me more than I expected. “Then why are you sitting with me right now? Why are you comforting me?”
He faced forward again and didn’t give an answer.
I knew it was because he didn’t have an answer. “I turned around, Cato. I turned around because I didn’t want to hurt you. Maybe my intentions were wrong in the beginning, but they were right at the end. You can’t judge me for wanting to save the only parent I had left. You can’t judge me for trying to save my family. It’s not right—and you’re being stubborn.”
“I’m being stubborn?” he asked coldly. “You tried to feed me to my enemies—on a silver fucking platter.”
“But then I didn’t—”
“You were going to kill me. You took this mission knowing you were going to kill me.”
“Yes…but then I got to know you and couldn’t go through with it. Stop acting like that means nothing. It means everything.”
“Not to me,” he hissed. “A loyal person is always loyal.”
“And I was loyal to my father. How could I be loyal to a man I didn’t even know?”
“I don’t judge your actions,” he said. “But don’t expect me to pardon them. You did what you had to do. I don’t take it personally. But don’t expect me to ever want to be personal ever again. Whatever we had…is over.”
“And yet…you’re still sitting with me.”
His blue eyes turned sinister as he rubbed his hands together. A deep sigh came from between his lips, full of frustration and violence.
I put the tray on the table then walked to his chair. My knee touched his, and I looked down at him, seeing a man deeply conflicted. When he didn’t get up to push me away, I pulled up my dress to my waist then straddled his hips.
He gripped each armrest and released a quiet groan, like he hated my actions but felt powerless to stop them.
When my pussy rested against his lap, I could feel the enormous cock that used to pound me every single night. Fully erect and desperate, it pressed against his sweatpants like it wanted to slide right into my cunt.
My fingers moved into his hair, and I pressed my face close to his, our lips almost touching. I breathed with him, matching the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. I could feel his desire ooze from his pores, the invisible restraints keeping his passion at bay. But he wanted me…wanted me as much as I wanted him.
I pulled the dress over my head entirely and let it fall to the ground. Then I placed his large hand against my stomach, right where I imagined the baby was.
He closed his eyes and moaned, like that turned him on even more.
“Forgive me.” I leaned in and pressed my mouth to his, kissing the man I’d been separated from an entire week. My body craved his after the long drought, and I could honestly say there was no other man I wanted. Only Cato could please me. Only Cato knew how to please a woman.
He didn’t kiss me back. His lips were immobile, and then they turned ice-cold. He pulled his mouth away then rose to his feet, taking me with him.
I hoped he would carry me to the bed and take me inside.
Instead, he threw me onto the bed and walked out.
I waited for the sound of his footsteps to return, but I knew they weren’t coming.
Because he would never forgive me.
4
Cato
I hated that woman.
I’d thought I was the devil. No. It was her.
She could cast a spell on me like a witch. One moment, I hated her, and then the next, I was under her trance. I listened to her cry with pity in my heart. Instead of walking away and leaving her in solitude, I stayed so she wouldn’t feel alone. Then I consoled her…and lingered. Every time she asked why I stayed, I didn’t have an answer.
Because I knew I shouldn’t be there.
She was a traitor and a liar.
Why did I give a damn about her?
When she crawled on top of me, I had to use all my restraint to pull away. As far as I was concerned, she was just a surrogate. She would give birth to my son or daughter, and then she would be dead. There was no other way.
And I shouldn’t fuck her anymore. I could fuck anyone I wanted now—and as many women as I wanted. Monogamy was over. She was the first woman I’d given it to, and it’d all been a waste.
A part of me still wanted her, but if I caved, it would be a terrible idea. That woman fooled me once, and I couldn’t let it happen again. She was a snake that shouldn’t be in the garden—or my bed.
But something inside my chest ached when I thought of her father. My sources told me how he died. They hung him from a noose, and as he suffocated, they stabbed him to death. It was the cruelest execution I’d ever heard of.
No matter how much I wanted to hurt her, I would never tell her that.
The truth would die with me.
I didn’t know what they did with his body, but I was certain it was in an oil drum somewhere. When my father left us, I always wondered where he went. As I aged, I wondered what he was doing on Christmas as I waited for my mother to come home from work. I wondered what his life was like, if he had another family. It haunted me for a long time. When he showed up and harassed my mother, I was furious, but it also gave me closure. Now I knew he had nothing. He was so pathetic that he returned to the woman he’d abandoned for a payout. Then I never had to wonder again.
Maybe he only regretted his actions because I became a billionaire. I could be taking care of him right now, buying him a yacht so he could
sail the Mediterranean with my mother. Or maybe he genuinely regretted his decision, that it haunted him every day until he couldn’t take it anymore.
Either way, it was the closure I’d always wanted.
Maybe Siena was entitled to the same thing.
The meeting had been set.
I walked into their lair with my men in tow. When my men were asked to drop their weapons, we refused.
I didn’t drop my weapons for anyone.
My stubbornness wasn’t challenged, and I was led inside. In the center of the room sat Micah. About Giovanni’s age, he was several decades older than me, and all the smoking had turned his skin to shit. Damien lingered behind him like the little bitch that he was.
Micah stood up but didn’t come closer. There were ten feet separating us. “Nice to see you’re in one piece.”
“I was hoping you’d be in several.” Siena and I had left the shootout before it turned ugly. There were a few causalities and blown-up tanks, but the important players survived—unfortunately. But once a war had been ignited, it never ended.
Micah shrugged. “Not all wishes come true—even when you blow out the candles. So, what can I do for you?”
My eyes moved to Damien, and I remembered what Siena had said several times, that the guy threatened to rape her and kill her. That he wanted her to fail just so he could have her. I wanted to snap his neck then and there. I turned back to Micah. “I’m here for a truce.”
Micah cocked an eyebrow instead of keeping a straight face. I wasn’t the kind of man to call a truce. I destroyed my enemies until there was nothing left—at all costs. “A truce?” he asked, like he didn’t understand the word.
“Yes. We can forget this whole thing.”
Micah crossed his arms over his chest, trying to understand my angle. “In exchange for what? Money?”
“We both know I already have all the money.”
His nostrils flared.
“Give me Stefano Russo’s body. That’s it.”
Micah cocked his head to the side. “You’re calling a truce over a corpse? That’s all you want?”