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I couldn’t agree more.
We spent the next few hours drinking a few beers, listening to our women chatter, sinking into the feeling of what life could be like, and slowly the clock ticked and time passed.
Beep.
I grabbed my cell.
Mateo: We’re here.
“Anna,” I called out, lifting my focus. “They’re here.”
She stilled, her eyes widening before she glanced to the windows, then slowly rose from the sofa.
We headed out, and I lifted my gaze to the darkening sky. Headlights cut through the bank of trees as Anna reached out and grabbed my hand.
Her smile was small, hesitant. Nervous. She was nervous about seeing her dad…or was it the Commander?
The black Hummer pulled up just outside of range. Jesus, the man never stopped being careful, did he? But then the passenger door shoved open, and a hurricane followed. A hurricane who was Xael Davies.
“Anna!Kat! Bitches, come over here!”she roared as the driver’s door opened.
Mateo Ristani stepped out, his attention consumed by the woman who charged toward Anna and Kat. But the rear door opened, and a man followed. A man who was gaunt and quiet. A man who was the sole reason we were in this damn mess in the first place.
Anna hugged Xael before the tornado moved to Kat, leaving tooohandahhover the baby. But it was Anna’s father we focused on as he stepped into the glare of the headlights, and I saw how the guy really looked.
“Jesus.” The word slipped out before I knew.
He winced at the sound, but he didn’t look my way, only held his daughter’s gaze.
“Daddy.” She stepped forward, until she broke away with a rush, lunging at him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
He grabbed her as best he could, but the man was thin…too thin. He stumbled under the weight, gripped her arm, and buried her head against her neck. “Anna.”
I glanced away when they hugged. Hating how she clung to him and sobbed. It was all because of me. Me and my fucked-up father. A flare of jealousy tore through me. I wished I had that kind of love. I wished I had any kind of love.
Something more than the cold, controlling fist of hate my father gave me. I watched as the man’s shoulders jerked and trembled, looking away when the thick sobs came.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” Anna cried.
Christ, that fist in my chest gripped tighter, driving my hate a little deeper. If only my father had been reasonable and not been the savage bastard who'd made her father’s existence impossible.
But he didn’t need her father, not when he now had Anna.
He’d never let her go, not now he was seeing the vast amounts of money coming in. Anna pulled away, glanced at me, her eyes shining with tears. “Let’s get you inside so you can eat.”
“You and I need to talk.” Mateo stared at me. “You, too, Rossi.”
I felt the weight of that stare and turned to Lazarus as Anna, Kat, and her dad left us, heading inside.
“It surfaced,” Mateo started as soon as they were gone. “But before you could get your hopes up, it was gone before my men could even reach out.”
“Gone?” I winced, my pulse stuttering. “What the fuck do you mean, gone?”
Mateo pinned me with that unflinching stare. “It was an under-the-table transaction. The word surfaced and was snuffed out like a damn flame.”
“Fuck!”I roared, turning away. I took a step, then stopped, my mind racing as I raked my fingers through my hair. “So, did we find out who the buyer is?”
“Arnold Smutter,” Mateo answered. “My guys tracked his IP through about twelve different countries. He made it hard, that’s for sure.”
