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“Hello, Tristen.”
He glanced toward the other two men before opening the door wider. “Constantine.”
“Wait here,” I told the other two. This was just between the two of us.
I closed the door behind me, watching as he walked toward his kitchen. It had been over a year since I’d been inside his house. He stood in front of his window, but I sensed he wasn’t looking at anything in particular.
“Why?” I asked. There was no anger building inside of me, only a strange sadness that he’d felt compelled to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“Because that’s what I was taught; you and your family were our enemies.”
“When you heard what happened when I was a kid. How did that make you feel?”
He huffed. “In truth, at first, I enjoyed watching you mentally writhe in pain. Then over the years, I understood how one decision could alter a life.”
The fact his father, a man my father had sparred with over the years, had been the person responsible for ordering my abduction as a child didn’t surprise me. However, I was repulsed by the lengths someone would go to in order to act on needed revenge. Was I any different? I’d altered Jade’s life for the very same reason.
“You father commanded you to finish the job his assassin couldn’t do. That’s why you lied about who you were.”
“Yes. But there’s no reason to continue doing so now. Since I’m his bastard child by one of the many women he had an affair with, no one knew of my existence. My father thought me a perfect weapon to use.”
“You’ve had twelve years to kill me. Why didn’t you?”
He finally turned around, and for the first time that I could remember, there were tears in his eyes. “Because your father treated me like family. My father was a son of a bitch who used to beat my mother and me. That was when he decided to stop by and fuck her. From the minute I came into your father’s employ, he treated me like another son. It was something I couldn’t forget.”
Sighing, I looked away, trying to make sense of how desperate his life must have been. “You could have confided in me.”
“Then what, Constantine? Then your father would have killed me and have gone after my father, which would have started a war. When my father was gunned down, there was no reason to carry on with the plan he’d initiated. I wasn’t really a part of his life, my half-brother taking the helm.”
“You father hired the Emissary nine years ago. Did you know that? Did you know he’d also hired the fucking lunatic to try and take me from my house in the middle of the night?”
“I only knew about his desire to kill you nine years ago. I was my father’s eyes and ears. However, the plan was already in motion when I learned about your desire to kill Montoya.”
“Jesus. Your father destroyed a family who had nothing to do with this life we live. That kid didn’t deserve to die.”
He nodded, shaking his head. “No, he didn’t. If you’re going to kill me, I understand. Just do it, Constantine. I knew one day you’d find out. I’m sorry about how I treated Jade. She was easy to blame for a failure my father reminded me of until the day he died.”
Why did I have the feeling he was the one who’d put a bullet in his father’s head?
I’d brought my weapon with me, my initial plan of putting a bullet in his brain still tempting. But as I stared at him, I realized that he’d been forced to live in his father’s shadow, never allowed to choose. That was all Tristen had ever known. I studied him for another minute before turning toward the door.
“What do you want from me, Constantine? I don’t have another life. I have no one.”
I stopped just before reaching the door. “You’re not your father, Tristen, no more than I am like mine. If you ever consider betraying me again, I will kill you myself. Is that understood?”
“You’re right. You’re not your father. You’re a better man.”
As I walked out the door, the words hit me hard. That was only possible if I allowed the one thing I loved more than anything else to go free.
Only I wasn’t certain I had the courage.
CHAPTER20
Jade
Three weeks later
“You neglected to tell me that His Majesty was the thoroughbred racing in the Kentucky Derby. Why in the world would you allow me to ride such precious cargo?” I asked as I brushed hair from my face from the light breeze. The day was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky. Constantine’s surprise was exciting.
