Page 75 of Where the Wind Whispers

Most laughed as Violet rolled her eyes at him, though even she had to admit that he was right. Smiling, Kaz reached for the present on top—the box with the bow.

It took all of a few seconds to get the ribbon undone and tossed on the table, the top quickly following, but to his surprise, there was nothing inside but a small card, barely bigger than a business card.

It was blank, or so he thought before turning it over in his hands and reading the one word written there.

“Auguri?” He tried pronouncing it, not recognizing the word.

No one else seemed to understand what he was trying to say, either—all except one.

Violet was no longer smiling.

Violet couldn’t breathe.

She was well aware she needed to do something—speak, move, or damn, anything.

Instead, all she could do was stare at that white box with its blood-red ribbon tied in an intricate, beautiful bow. The card in Kaz’s hand dropped to the floor, its congratulatory word already forgotten in his mind as he stepped toward her, probably with one of his reassurances that all was well and fine … or it would be.

But the Italian phrase that had been written in familiar, broad script was not lost on her.

Auguri.

Best wishes, it had read.

Kaz’s Russian accent had, of course, obliterated the word. He had zero interest in pronouncing Italian correctly, or for that matter, learning how to when it came right down to it.

And maybe that all would have been a little funny had Violet not looked at the white box with the red ribbon and saw a man’s heart being cut out all over again. Perhaps it would have been amusing had the innocuous, seemingly innocent note inside not been written in writing by a hand she would recognize anywhere.

Her father.

Their calm before the storm was over, Violet knew.

She’d known it the moment Kaz had pulled out the card.

The peace of their daughter’s birth, welcoming her into their happy, loved world, was shattered just like that.

And now … now, Violet couldn’t breathe.

“Take it away,” she heard Kaz demand.

No one moved at first.

They were still staring at her.

Sometimes, Violet wondered if these people blamed her for the terror that always seemed to be a constant in their life. Her presence caused it, after all.

Now, it wasn’t just her but her child, too.

Her father’s innocent gift was nothing of the sort.

It was his declaration.

A reminder.

He was not done with her just yet. He’d not finished what he started where she was concerned.

Her heart. Her soul.

Those words still rang heavily in the back of Violet’s mind whenever she thought about her father.