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“How could I not know?” I wonder aloud before taking a sip of the tea. “All of these years, I never knew the cause of my mother’s death. He just came home one day and said she was dead and wasn’t coming back.”
I shake my head and wipe at a tear.
“I knew he was bad. I guess I didn’t want to see that he was pure evil. He must have had that drive and wanted me to take it to someone to decrypt it for him. I don’t know how he got it.”
“But you never delivered it where he wanted it to go?”
“No.” I shake my head and sip the tea. “I was so over it at that point, I hid it instead. I don’t know why he would even have that. Basically, his resume of all the killing he did. Why would he have that?”
“I don’t know how it came to be in his possession,” Shane says, thinking it over. “Maybe they used it to blackmail him. If it got into the wrong hands, he could have been arrested and prosecuted. Maybe even deported to Bulgaria and executed.”
“Oh my God,” I gasp and stare at Shane in horror. “I should have called the police. All I did was run away. I should have called the police. It didn’t even occur to me. How could I be so stupid?”
“Stop.” Shane stands and joins me on the couch, pulling me to him. “You were a child.”
“I was never really a child.”
“Yes, you were. Despite what he made you do, you were still young, Ivie. You were just trying to survive. And I’d say you did a damn good job of that.”
“He killed my mama.” I feel the tears falling again and lean my head on his shoulder. “She was a good person. So funny. And she made the best breads and desserts. She would let me help her in the kitchen. Because he was gone so much, it was mostly just the two of us, hanging out together. We were already in the US when she died. She told me once that she was afraid of New York. It was so big, so noisy, and she didn’t know the language very well.”
“Do you speak Bulgarian?” he asks as he kisses my forehead.
“Not anymore. I did when I was very small but I don’t remember it. I did everything I could to forget that life and to make this new one—one that doesn’t embarrass me. I shouldn’t just sit here and babble about my mother. She’s been gone for a really long time.”
“Yes, but for you, the wound is new again,” he says. His voice is gentle and sexy at the same time. “You can talk about her. It’s not like we have anywhere to be. I’d like to hear anything you want to say.”
I kiss his cheek and smile up at him. “Thank you for always being so kind to me.”
He wipes a tear from my cheek, and I think of my mother again.
“She was tall. Taller than my father. I must get my height from him, given how short I am.” I smile a little as I think of her. “And she loved to dance.”
For a long while, I just sit by the fire with this man I’ve come to care for, telling him the few stories I remember of my mother.
“I wish I knew more, but he never wanted to speak of her after she died.”
I swallow and then something occurs to me.
“If those people want the drive, let’s just give it to them, Shane. They’ll have what they want. Although, at this point, I’m not sure it matters because he’s dead and gone. I can just get on with my life.”
He shifts and then shakes his head. “It’s really not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“After you came inside, Cameron and I had a minute to talk. He finished the story.”
My stomach fills with dread. “What is it?”
“Well, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to tell you. There’s a bounty on your head, Ivie. One million dollars for your capture—dead or alive.”
“The police want me dead?”
“No, baby, not the police. Those bad guys Cameron told us about. They’re still pissed at your father. And it’s not just one group. Apparently, this goes deep. The man who took you the other day has likely been looking for you for a very long time. He was going to kill you and collect the money. Just as any of them would.”
“Why?” And then that man’s words come back to me. “To pay for the sins of my father.”
“These guys have a long memory,” Shane says quietly. “They’re worse than the mafia, and that’s saying a lot given what my family is capable of. I’d like to know what your father did to them to make them this angry.”
