Delusive (55 page)

I caught myself a few times, picking up my phone to call my father, only to remember he was no longer there.

I wondered about what made him think living was no longer necessary. Remembering our last conversation, I assumed he kept going because he realized I needed him, and he let go when he thought I no longer did. Or maybe it was something worse—he could no longer use me and saw no point in continuing on. I refused to believe what Roth had said about him wanting to kill me. Even if it was the truth, I had to believe it wasn’t, or the shred of good memories I had about my father would slip away. I needed to hold on to what little I had.

I clutched my phone, feeling the empty space his death left inside of me. There were so many things I wanted to tell him and ask him. I’d never get the chance.

I heard Elias stir in bed. I watched him, naked and beautiful, as he stalked toward me with his predator like movements. I sank my teeth into my lip, feeling dirty for appreciating the way his cock hung long and perfect between his legs and the way each well-formed muscle rippled to accommodate his movements.
 

He slipped down behind me and put his arms around me. “You should be sleeping.”

“I couldn’t. I’m anxious.”

He rested his chin on my shoulder and held me tighter. “I changed my mind. I don’t know if I can let you meet my father, at least not without me at your side."

“You can’t change our plans,” I said, turning around and draping my legs outside his nude body.

“Like you did?” he asked with a lifted brow as he ran both hands up my bare legs.

“Only Natanael will be able to tell me what it was between him and my mother. You’re right about my mind getting away from me. I want to stop thinking and assuming and find out the truth. Hopefully, he'll tell me the truth. I know it couldn’t have been anything serious, even though they were married.
 

“I keep sitting here making assumptions about what it might've been.” With my fingertips, I traced the dips in his abdomen, making it flex underneath the pads of my fingers. “I know how my mother worked. If she went after Natanael, it was because she hoped he would be what she needed to start her career. I don’t believe for a minute she really loved him. I think she only said that and made people believe that to hurt my father—or maybe she thought it would get back to Natanael and he would forgive her. All I know is she couldn’t love anyone. I guess—”

Holding my head firmly between his hands, he lowered his lids at me.

“I’m stopping.” I held up my hand as though I was swearing in.
 

“You’re making me concerned.” The skepticism he held to was perceptible.
 

I might’ve been obsessed with discovering the truth, but it was only so I could fully move on with my life. “Can you set up a meeting with your father tomorrow instead of next week?”

“What did I tell you the night we decided to do this? Soon, but not that soon. I wouldn’t trust him to answer your questions. Furthermore, we agreed you would collect more evidence, not push him for answers we both know he won’t give you.” He dropped his chin to his chest and his eyelids moved erratically. He lifted his head and the moment he looked at me, I knew what he was going to say before he said it. “I’m changing the plan; it’s too dangerous. When I’m ready for him to give up his power, I’ll use someone else to get the job done. But it won’t be you.”

“Don’t take this away from me,” I pleaded, putting my arms around his neck. “I need…closure. I can do what we planned and get answers. I need to see your father.”

“Closure is an illusion, Hanley.”

“You’re probably right, but I have to do this. For me.”

“What if the answers only hurt you? I can’t let that happen.”

“Are you changing your mind about the promise you made to me about getting answers from your mother?”

The sudden stoic look on his face, told me that the answer was yes.

“Elias, please. I can handle it.” Choking on my words, I told him the one thing I hadn’t been able to when he picked me up. “I’m the one who killed my mother’s husbands. My father gave me packets of what I thought was sugar and demanded I put it in their tea when I visited my mother. But really, they were full of hemlock…a poison.”

He forced my head to tilt back. “That sounds like coercion. It does not sound like you were an emotionless killer.”

“The first couple of times I didn’t understand what I was doing. The third time, I was in denial.”

“And the fourth?”

“My mother can claim that one.”

“Look at me,
minha amada
,” he demanded, his hold on my head firming. “It wasn’t your fault. You were preyed upon by the person who was supposed to protect you.”

“Someday, I hope I can believe that.” I placed my hands on his waist and took a moment to level the emotion. “I need this. I need to see your father.”

“I’ll see what I can do about setting up the meeting tomorrow,” he promised begrudgingly.

THIRTY-FIVE

I WANTED TO HOLD strong to the confidence I had lost and regained with the help of my husband. It was vital I maintained at least a casual indifference when I finally met the man face-to-face on my terms. The second I stepped across the threshold and into Romo’s Italian Eatery, my body once again disconnected with my brain. I could feel the hives burning my neck, irritating my skin.

Daniella served as hostess and gave me a tepid hug. Her eyes didn’t hold the same glimmer they once did. I wanted to ask how she was, but it seemed inappropriate. After all, my husband was the reason her husband was no longer living.

She directed me to a table in the nearly empty restaurant.

I ordered an iced coffee while I waited. I couldn’t bring myself to touch it when she brought it back to my table. Eventually, the whipped cream and the ice began to liquefy and spill out onto the sides of the ornate glass.

Two men in black T-shirts and jeans came inside. The diners in the restaurant were told to leave, and ushered out. Daniella, along with the kitchen staff, were the last ones to leave. She gave me a pointed look of longing before disappearing out of the door.

From the window, I could see a Bentley pull up to the curb in front of the restaurant. The man who opened the door for Natanael was familiar. Suddenly, I understood what Elias meant when he said I would be protected while meeting with his father. It appeared that Mateus pulled triple duty, working for Elias, Kirsten, and Natanael. I had to wonder whom the man held in the highest esteem. While I could be comforted by the fact he might’ve been the one sent to protect me, his presence put a slight kink in my plans.

The restaurant became filled with Natanael’s employees, now totaling five.

I stood to greet the man as he walked in, but he placed his palm perpendicular to the floor and pushed down at the air, directing me to remain seated.

“My…son nearly begged for this meeting.” He settled in the seat opposite me at the table, surveying the empty restaurant with disinterest. “He’s not known to beg me for anything.” He folded his hands on the table and regarded me with neither a grin nor a frown. “I won’t pretend I don’t know what this is about. My wife, and I use the term loosely, because she won’t be for much longer, finally saw fit to tell me your story. Do you remember my threat to you in Miami?”

“I no longer have a father to kill.”

“Let me refresh your memory.” His broad shoulders seemed to broaden beyond measure as he leaned across the table. “I said the person responsible for bringing you here would pay.”

Obviously, Kirsten wasn’t clear on what her husband felt about her, because he’d just made it clear that if he once loved her, he didn’t anymore. “Are you referring to your wife?”

With a wink, he relaxed back in his chair. “What is it you want, Hanley? Answers? Do you want to know why your mother died? Do you think I had a singular purpose in that I desired or wanted her dead?” He shrugged it off in a flippant matter. “The woman mattered very little to me.”

“So little that you married her?”

“It was strategy. Nothing more.”

“I heard the recording you kept of you and my father speaking about killing her,” I said, hoping to put him back on track. My neck began to itch and I scratched at what I knew to be a bad case of the hives on my neck.
 

He seemed to notice the offending welts, and it made him a bit smugger. “So you did, did you?” he sneered. In the moment, I could see the parts of Natanael that Elias had inherited. The more intimidating parts. “But did you hear anything about me agreeing to do it? Do you have concrete proof it was done by my hand or someone who worked under me?”

“Marcus was your friend, of course you had something to do with it.”

He laughed. “Employee and employer. Your father and I were never friends.”

“Was he working for you while he was a district manager at Flesker’s?”

“Who do you think owns the chain, Hanley?” he asked with a deviant twinkle in his eye.

“To be honest, Mr. Cari,” I took a moment to clear the raspiness from my throat, “while I told your son I came here for answers, I really didn’t.” I unbuttoned my blouse and showed him my bra, revealing that I wasn’t wired and hoped it would be enough to make him stop dancing around with his words.
 

The man began to leer at me in a way no father-in-law ever should have looked at his daughter-in-law. “Did you come here to seduce me? You’re a little too used up for my liking.”

“No.” I snorted. “I wanted to look at you one last time before I said what I had to say.”

“You”—he raised both eyebrows in surprise—“have something to say to me?”

Nodding, I surveyed the scene in the dining hall, visibly measuring the distance Mateus stood from the table. Buttoning my shirt, I leaned across the table, keeping my voice quiet and soft, making sure it would’ve been impossible for Mateus to hear what I had to say. “I. Won.”

Alerted, Natanael began to blink at me, obviously confused over what I meant.

“There are only two ways you’re going to walk out of here. Dead…or in handcuffs. You can’t blame me for either of those options. You have your son to thank for that.”

“What do you mean by this?” his voice raised, but for some unknown reason, he began to match my quiet tone. “What the hell are you saying to me?”

“You were right about me.” Exhaling in relief, I began to smile. “I did come to your town to cause trouble. My father and I…we had one last conversation before we came here. It was about what we’d do to your son…or really what I would do. It’s funny.” I smiled as one of the better memories came back to me. “He pulled out a chess board, and while teaching me how to play chess, he laid plans. He wanted Elias to die. I told him that would be too easy. I told him that in order for our plan to work, we had to make the people who wronged us, watch while their lifestyle was torn from their fingers by the son they favored the most.
 

“There could only be one reason why your son would betray you. Your son loves me, and he would do anything for me. While he may have thought he opened my eyes and pulled me from my father—and my father might’ve believed it of Elias too—they were both wrong. Everything I did was to make you pay for everything you took from me. This is about justice for me. No one fucks with my family without facing repercussions. That includes you and your wife, Mr. Cari.”

“Little girl,” he said with a hiss, “you are out of your depth.”

“I know you have spies on your son. When did they tell you that you had a reason for a concern? When did they tell you he was beginning to change the business and becoming active instead passive in getting it out of the drug business?”

He looked at his men, sizing each one up. He had a good reason to if none of them disclosed the truth to him.

“I’m going to tell you when. When a man, who isn't even worth mentioning the name of, tried to kill me with a lethal dose of heroin. That’s when Elias decided that Cari Enterprises was getting out of the drug business. I made it happen. Elias has changed because of me and the things I've done. I’m the reason he stopped doing all the things you wanted him to, because he was hungry for your approval before then. He no longer cares about what you think. And now, I’m the reason your life is about to get really fucked up.”

“Look around,” he warned, gesturing to his bodyguards in a grand fashion. “You’re surrounded by my men. One word and they will put a bullet in your skull.”

“Are they really
all
your men?” I smiled proudly. “Are you sure about that, Mr. Cari?”

He blew back in his chair, expelling a large stream of breath. “What is it I can do for you?”

“Your wife asked me the same thing. It’s fucking hilarious; the two people responsible for tearing my parents apart, putting them at odds with each other are asking
me
what they can do for
me
. Let me tell you what I want—it’s simple. I want you and your wife to retire permanently, because your son and I are taking over. To really answer your question, there is nothing you can do for me, because I’m taking what I want.” As I began to hit record on my cell phone, I leaned back and glanced out of the window, checking to see if Elias came through.

“You won’t make it out of my town alive,” Mr. Cari spat, having trouble controlling the volume of his voice as he pounded his fists on the table. “Do you hear me, you little bitch? I will kill you. You think my son loves you? He was reared to be ruthless. He is my blood. I know him better than you ever will. I will fucking kill you. Not here. Not now. But soon on my own. How dare you come here and think you can threaten me. You are a fucking dead woman.”