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“Who came, Sugar?”
“Andrew Kypianos.”
There is a moment of silence as Calix takes that in. “The head of the Kypianos family?” And Cirillo’s enemy. Oh, they kept the peace, for the most part, but that was only because they were outnumbered. It had nothing to do with loyalty. Andrew loathed Santos.
“I made a deal. My freedom and his silence in exchange for Santos as a new toy.”
I wait for him to react, but apart from looking a little surprised, I get nothing.
“I got a sick thrill out of knowing he was suffering what my parents did, what my sister did. But my need for vengeance came at a steep price. If I’d have just let him burn with the boat, nobody else would have gotten hurt.” I feel tears behind my eyes and blink rapidly to stop them from falling. “See, while I was busy living my life, I had no idea that Andrew had died. He had no children, but he did have three nephews. The oldest one, Felipe, took over, having no clue who he had in his hands. The official story is that all prisoners were disposed of, but the rumor mill is teeming with tales of a man who escaped.”
“People and their rumors,” Calix murmurs.
“Nobody knew who he was. He was emaciated, had long hair, and a beard. He looked old and weak, which was probably true, but evil has an innate way of keeping you strong. I found a few witnesses who describe the same caveman-type figure, but he doesn’t show up on any of my tracking software. And trust me when I say it’s state-of-the-art.”
“That person could have been anyone.”
“I know it was him, Calix.”
“Look, I get what you’re saying, and I can see you believe it, but none of this is proof. Do you really think a person can survive nearly twenty years of torture and then be capable enough to make an escape?”
“If anyone could, it would be Santos. The man lived on spite and the souls of the innocent. I know it sounds crazy, Calix, and you don’t know how much I wish I was. But he’s alive. I can feel it.”
He huffs out a breath and stands up, walking to the window beside me. He looks out at the picturesque view before speaking. “If he’s alive, then where the fuck is he?”
“That I don’t know, not for sure. But those girls I was talking about? They were being forced into prostitution and snuff films that went down in the States. Each victim had his brand burned into their skin.”
“It could be someone else. A copycat. Someone pretending to be him to protect their own identity.”
“But why? Why pick a man as high profile as Santos, who everyone thinks is dead? And why now? It’s only going to draw people out and make them ask questions. That’s not the best way to conceal your identity.”
“Fear is a strong motivator. Throwing the Santos name around will have people wary. A copycat could easily buy himself respect if people truly believed he was Santos.”
“And buy himself a whole new set of enemies. The payoff just wouldn’t be worth it.”
“Who knows how these assholes think? Maybe it’s something as simple as one of the other families trying to stir shit up again.”
He turns to look at me when I sigh.
“The night we got married, a hitman came to my hotel room,” I admit. “He wore the brand of Santos. I originally thought he was there because Santos had figured out who I am and that I’m alive. Instead, he was there because of who I am to you.”
His face goes hard at this. “What the fuck, Sugar? How come you didn’t tell me this?”
“I’m telling you now. I dealt with it okay. Anyway, my point is, he wore Santos’s brand, but he, like you, were under the assumption Santos is dead.”
“So, someone else was calling the shots. Who?”
“Kypianos.”
He frowns. “As in Felipe? The head of the Kypianos family?”
I shrug. “I didn’t get a first name.”
“Well, there you go then. It has to be him. I don’t know the reasons why, but he must have known about Santos being a prisoner, especially given his position within the house. He was likely behind the hit outside the prison too. The question is, is he working alone or are the whole family after me–after us?”
“You don’t know that Felipe is behind this, Calix—”
“And you don’t know that Santos is. Just stop for a second and think about this. Put your feelings aside and look at it from a bystander’s point of view. If Santos was held captive for twenty years and tortured at the hands of his enemies, he would be at death’s door. And if by some miracle he wasn’t, the first thing he would have done once he found out I was not only alive, but a free man, would be to kill me.”
