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“I don’t understand.”
“Your fiancé, the attorney for my family, is very much alive. And you’re going to help me drag him out from the hole he crawled into.”
CHAPTER9
Alessandro
Time was a strange tool. It could be manipulated, caressed, and often became a healing mechanism, but it could never be altered.
Seconds ticked by as Sierra processed what I’d allowed her to learn. There was no instant reaction of rebuttal or fear. There were no tears or assertion that I was wrong. There was a wide-eyed surprise for a few seconds then a full acceptance that what I’d told her was the truth.
That meant she’d already suspected something was off about the man she believed she loved. I could tell the time researching her during the month after my release, delving into as much of her private life as I’d been able to find, had been productive.
Her personal and private endeavors had been an open book.
No pun intended.
There were no gray areas in her past or present, no breaking laws or refusal to pay her taxes. She came from an upscale but not wealthy dignified family in Pennsylvania, her older sister a doctor, her younger brother a computer programmer for a gaming firm. By all outward appearances, her parents appeared happy, married for forty years.
Sierra had graduated college near her hometown with a degree in finance, working in a bookstore until she was twenty-one, then shifting her attention to being employed by a winery for almost four years. She’d saved money, researching locations in the United States to open her own store and had spent four years trying to make a go of Corks and Books.
Somewhere after her move to Raleigh, North Carolina, she’d met and fallen in love with Tristen. Why and how I had yet to be able to determine, but the timing would indicate he’d been in my employ for two years prior to their meeting. Had his need to find an innocent girl been the driving factor, falling in love with her quirky personality and stunning good looks? I’d known men who’d sold their souls for less, so it was entirely possible.
However, I would maintain she held a key to his discovery. What I needed to ascertain was whether she’d been in contact after his demise. If so, I’d be forced to end our budding relationship after he was located. If not… The possibilities were endless. It would all depend on if she could be handled.
Training her started right now. Her disobedience would not be tolerated.
“What did you say to me?” she asked, her inflections more timid than I was used to. The woman had a strength inside of her that surprised and pleased me. Weakness I loathed, including in women. While I’d never allowed a female to be the victim of an extermination, her compliance was required.
“You heard me, Sierra. I’ve long suspected that Tristen was alive.”
She fisted her hands, a clear indication she was having a hard time grappling with the news.
“What did he do to you to make you hunt him?” She looked away, her brow furrowed.
Hunt. At least she’d found the appropriate word. I pushed her gently into the kitchen, moving almost immediately toward the bottle of scotch I’d stashed in one of the cabinets. I’d purchased the cabin completely furnished a couple hundred miles away from her house for no other reason than being able to bring her here for interrogation. The time alone I hoped would prove to be fruitful.
I poured two glasses, pointing to one of the chairs. At least at this point all I needed to do was give her a stern look and she eased onto the seat, her hands shaking. Good. I wanted her scared of me. That would help keep her compliant.
For now.
However, I knew better than to turn my back on her again.
I shoved the glass in front of her, keeping my expression the same until she wrapped her fingers around it. She was more subdued than before, but it was only a matter of time until my little kitten turned into the lioness I’d already witnessed. Being honest with her was a necessity.
“Tristen was almost solely responsible for stealing not only money from my organization but documents that allowed the FBI to arrest me for extortion. I spent four long, hard years behind bars because of his betrayal. As you might imagine, the time spent in a six-by-six-foot cell did nothing but infect the wound.”
She tilted her head, her eyes searching mine. If it was for truth or something else, I wasn’t certain. “You’re lying.”
Laughing, I lifted my drink, staring at the cheap glass as filthy thoughts shoved the requirement for garnering information aside. There would be time to find out every aspect of what she knew. From what I could tell so far, she’d been clueless. Was that possible in today’s culture where almost anything could be found on the internet? Maybe she hadn’t wanted to learn the truth for fear of upsetting her organized life.
The primal urges soaring through me refused to be denied. “I’m not in a habit of lying, Sierra. That’s something you’ll come to understand. Your fiancé attempted to destroy my life as well as that of my family.”
“So, now you’re determined to destroy mine.” She shoved her drink away, using enough force the tumbler almost toppled over the edge.
I grabbed it, slamming it onto the counter. Then I swallowed every drop of mine before tossing the glass aside, enjoying the cracking sound as it tumbled against the wall. “I’m doing exactly what is required in my line of business, protecting my own.”
Her defiant look aroused me more than it had before. I would enjoy taking what already belonged to me.
