The sitting room, because that’s what it must have been, was spacious, and it opened out into a view unparalleled by any Josh had ever seen.Lit by spotlights, a giant window that must have been made of pressurized glass overlooked a veil of water, the falls that had permeated the house with sound.They weren’t crashing on the house, but rather, the house was recessed in the rocks underneath.The garage entry was behind the mountain, and then the house itself burrowed through, coming out here.
It was glorious, but Josh, who had never experienced a moment of vertigo in his life, wanted to cling to something with fear that the whole thing would hammer down on his head and they’d go sliding down the mountain at any time.
There were five people in the room: the chauffeur, the muscle, and a man who must have been the butler.Those three were obviously trying to make themselves invisible.They stood in various positions, subservient and expressionless, ranged around the other two people, who were obviously the stars of the show.
Danny was leaning insouciantly against that spectacular bay window overlooking the waterfall.The window was up on a rise of about six inches, surrounded by a platform, the better to give the people sitting on the chairs and couches ranged around the room a chance to appreciate the view.
Kadjic was pacing this platform, swearing at Danny, raging at him, trying to wipe that all-knowing, unpleasant smirk off his face.
He’d obviously done so with his fists more than once, and Josh’s chest ached as he saw the bruises, the bloody nose, and the careful, injured way Danny was cradling his ribs with one arm while using the other arm behind him to brace against the window.
Oh God, Danny.So many people who loved him enough to keep this from happening, and still, he’d loved them too much to let them try.
“Look at it, Daniel!”Kadjic was frothing.“Look at this!All of it!It could have beenyours.The art alone, do you not crave it?”
“It’s lovely,” Danny said, his words muffled from a rapidly swelling nose and probably some loose teeth.“You should give your decorator a raise.”
“Ilovedyou!Why would you forfeit all of this for thatchild!”Kadjic demanded.“Answer me!Answer me!”
He advanced forward, and Danny simply stood there, and as his eyes landed on Josh and Grace and then flickered away before Kadjic could be tipped off, his smirk changed into an expression of true serenity.
“Because,” he said, his shoulders twitching in a shrug, “he reminded me of somebody I love.”
Kadjic’s blow never landed.His hand fell limply to his side.
“You have a child?”he asked, sounding as though this thought—the thought that Danny had anybody else in his life besides Kadjic himself—had never occurred to him.
“I do,” Danny said.His mouth twitched.“More than one, in fact, although not related by blood.But they’re mine.That boy in the alley?He’s one now.”
“The other one?The thief?”
“Yes,” Danny said.“Oh, that one—he’s more myself than I ever was.”
Next to him, Josh heard Grace gasp, and he wanted to hug his friend, who had needed so badly to know this.
“Others?”Kadjic asked.
“You would not believe if I told you,” Danny said softly, “how many.How very much I love them.How very much these riches donotmean, when you have that sort of love in your life.”
As Danny spoke, Josh sensed movement around him, but he knew without looking whose footfalls those were.All of them—all of them—had spilled through the house, probably coming from other entrances, clearing out the few occupants taking care of the house as they did so.
Hunter emerged next to Grace, wrapped an arm around him, and held him tight as Grace steadied Josh, and Josh looked wildly around.
Liam?Felix?
His mother came to stand next to him, her wig of earlier that evening pulled off, her face wiped clean of makeup.She offered her arm and whispered, “We’re the misdirection, darling.Are you ready to play your part?”
Plan, Josh thought somewhat desperately.There was a plan.
In front of him, Chuck and Carl both quietly disarmed and restrained the chauffeur, enforcer, and butler—with some help from Michael and Lucius, who started a pile of the various knives, guns, brass knuckles, and saps that Chuck and Carl kept producing as they patted them down.
Julia spoke up.“He has a sister, for one,” she said, “who would be very disappointed to see him further harmed.”
“And a son,” Josh said.“One who has loved him since birth and would be very, very unhappy if he’s not returned safely.”
Their voices made Kadjic whip around, and they could all hear his gasp as he took in the situation.“You…,” he whispered wildly, eyes on Josh.“From the very beginning—you?”
“Me,” Josh said, nodding in acknowledgment.“And my mother.”
