Page 23 of Scarred Temptation

“Don’t worry, my little angel. You didn’t share your wish.”

A look of relief fell across her face. “Whew.”

“Is this Izzy?” I pointed to the woman.

“Yes. Isn’t she pretty?”

“Very, but not as beautiful as my daughter.”

“Oh, Papa. You can’t marry me.”

She could easily make me laugh when no one else could. “You are very right. Do you want to talk about what happened today? I know it was very scary.”

Her expression of consternation meant she’d heard every word I’d told her about being careful around people she didn’t know. “There were some bad men in a big white car. They started to run and Izzy told me not to worry. She took care of me, Papa.”

“Well, I’m very glad to hear that. Did Izzy tell you anything about herself?”

“Nope.” This time, she popped the p. “She did tell me she’d like to see my art, so I drew the picture just for her. Is that okay?”

I took a deep breath before answering. “Of course you can draw a picture for anyone you want, but I don’t know if we’ll see her again.”

My daughter was none too pleased to hear the news. She’d yet to make many friends, her teachers skirting around the reason why, but I was well aware other parents were unhappy with my child’s enrollment. My reputation was widely known throughout the Southeast.

“Maybe she’ll come back to school one day.”

“Maybe, honey. Why don’t you go finish your drawing and your dad will figure out what to do for dinner.”

“O-kay.” Her sigh was so dramatic but allowed me to realize she hadn’t been emotionally scarred by the day’s event.

She popped out of her chair, rushing toward me and rising onto her tiptoes so she could plant a kiss on my cheek. Soon I’d be worried about her desires to begin dating.

I pitied the poor boy who dared ask her out.

As Mina skipped from the room, I closed my eyes as another wave of memories crashed into my mind, clawing at the very darkness I’d tried so hard to drive away.

The ugliness was as if it had happened just yesterday instead of three years before. Every detail had returned about the day.

An argument neither of us had meant to have. The last words before she’d walked out the door. The uneasy feeling I’d had that had been only a few minutes too late. And the horrible pain experienced after watching my life reduced to ashes.

Grief had taken a heavy toll both professionally and personally and had it not been for Mina, I honestly didn’t know how I would have gotten through the first few months. As it was, the events following the tragedy remained a blur, although I was well aware of how many people I’d killed either myself or by ordering it to be done.

I’d left no stone unturned and yet hadn’t found the answers I’d fought so hard to discover.

After all this time, I suspected they’d remain buried.

While I should continue to experience the pain of loss and the guilt surrounding the reasons for my wife’s death, my focus needed to return to the present.

Whoever had been sent to protect my little mermaid was either a guardian angel or a reminder of the evils plaguing the empire I’d built.

If an angel, she deserved my thanks and one day, our paths might cross again.

If she was anything else, she’d face the kind of wrath only meant for traitors and monsters.

And when I was finished with her, she’d wished she’d never captured the attention of an enraged and despondent Russian.

CHAPTER 5

Isabel