AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you have a name?”
“Sir, please.”
She lifts her eyes to mine and whispers, “I have been here with several guests and the women don’t get the chance to chat. You know how it works. I’m sorry but I can’t tell you a name. It’s the guarantee of my silence that gets me so much work. It’s written in every contract I sign and will result in my prosecution if I give any details of what I hear.”
“I don’t give a fuck about your contracts. They mean shit to me. You will talk, or you will never leave this island and that’s a promise. So, this woman. Would you recognise her?”
She nods. “I think so.”
I reach inside my jacket pocket and remove the printout of the photograph I found in my father’s papers.
“Is this her?”
She peers at the photograph and squints a little.
“It is the same face, but her hair color is different.”
“Age?”
“She is older now. Perhaps it’s been a few years since this photograph was taken.”
My intuition was right I knew this woman meant something to my father. He wouldn’t carry her photograph if she wasn’t important to him and he must have been seeing her for years if she has aged since this photograph was taken.
Candice appears thoughtful and then glances around the room as if checking we are alone and whispers, “I came here last year with Carter Lamont. He met your father at the welcome drinks, and she was with him then. He appeared to know her too because they greeted one another like old friends. I wasn’t introduced but they spoke about people I didn’t know about.”
I make a mental note to investigate this man before I tell my brothers of my suspicions.
I know we don’t have long and I only have one question left.
“Why are you afraid of me?”
“Because of your reputation.”
“From?”
I fix her with a hard glare and she shrugs. “I heard a few whispers that Andrei’s sons were powerful men but the one to fear was Mikhail. That if he crossed your path, it spelled danger and when you chose me, I knew from your expression that you weren’t here to party.”
“I’m not.”
I stand and flick a derisory glance in her direction.
“I’m here to find out who my father was seeing while his wife waited at home.”
She shakes her head. “The men who come here wouldn’t dare bring their wives. They think too much of them to put them through this ordeal. If anything, it shows how much they love them. How much he loved your mom.”
I appreciate her attempt to make me feel better but if anything, our conversation has only exacerbated my temper.
Knowing my father came here many times with the same woman wasn’t done out of love for my mother. It tells me he had another side to him I have suspected for some time, and he lived a life outside the family home that was completely opposite to the family man with morals he portrayed.
I turn to Candice and say with a grim expression.
“I have an offer for you.”
She says nothing and I drop down before her and stare at her hard and whisper darkly, “Your life for your silence.”
I watch resignation turn to fear in a nanosecond as she nods vigorously.
“I won’t say a thing. You can trust me.”
