Page 114 of Where the Wind Whispers

It was supposed to be one last step.

Tamping down the anxiety he felt, Kaz asked the one question he hoped to never have to. “What do you want?”

“She’s a beautiful girl, you know. Looks just like her mother, and like you, unfortunately. Babies, such precious gifts. It hurts when they grow up.”

Kaz was losing his patience. “Just tell me what the fuck you want.”

“A life for a life seems fitting.”

Kaz didn’t have a single clue what he was going to do, or even how he was going to win this one, but there was still no hesitation as he said, “Done.” There was nothing he wouldn’t give to have his daughter back.

His own life be damned.

“Time and a place, Gallucci.”

Alberto’s response was immediate. “I’ll see you where we first met all those years ago.”

Three beeps in his ear told him the Italian had hung up, leaving him standing there with his phone in hand as he resisted the urge to break it, the weight of his decision bearing down on him. It was easy, at the moment, to agree. It wasn’t about him, he reasoned.

It was about his daughter.

His wife.

Kaz had vowed to protect them—to do everything in his power to make sure they stayed that way. The good life was what he had promised them, and he still planned to deliver.

Violet wasn’t going to be happy with what he would say, but it had to be done.

For her and Anastasya.

It had to be done.

Violet’s hands hit Kaz’s chest hard, and while she was sure her strength compared to his was very little, he still stepped back a few inches. It was the pain in his eyes that she saw—the regret there was obvious and weighing on him.

A day—and a night—and her child was still gone.

She felt entirely out of control, and because Kaz was the closest one to her, he was suffering the consequences of her lashing out.

Violet didn't know how else to deal.

But her husband let her fight. He let her shout and scream and rage.

“I told you!” she shouted at him. “I told you not to send us away and now—”

“Stop.”

Violet didn’t. “This is your fault! He wouldn’t have her at all if you hadn’t done this!”

There were people in the next room, just a short walk away, likely listening to their fight and waiting it out before appearing. The house was full of people—had been since the baby was taken. It was terrible of her to be fighting with Kaz like this, but she was so angry.

And God …

Worried.

Where was her baby?

Was she even alive?

“Violet,” Kaz started to say, taking a step toward her.