Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 496(@300wpm)
“Of this man vomiting?”
Kaz happily nodded.
“You are being a fan girl.”
Kaz moved his view from the window and watched me feed Emilio. “Is that one of Maxwell’s suits?”
“Yes.”
“It looks good.”
I slipped my gaze along his body. “You look good too.”
“Focus, mysh.”
I blinked. “What?”
“We have important things to do, before I fuck you.”
“Hold up. No one said we were going to have sex. I was just showing my approval of your attire.”
Kaz’s joyful expression shifted to neutral. “I saw the ballroom.”
I tensed. “Do you like it?”
“Maxwell put Paolo’s mother on the wall too, right next to Pavel.”
My mood dimmed. “Yeah.”
“After you are done feeding Emilio, we must tell Paolo. . .”
My heart broke. “I know, baby. I. . .had Blue get Pavel’s stuff from his place.”
Kaz stepped back. “What stuff?”
I gestured to the wooden trunk. “Do you remember when Pavel told me to get personal items for Paolo?”
Kaz stared at the chest. “I do not.”
“Not at all?”
“The only thing running in my mind was blind rage for him and fear that Valentina might die in the hospital due to the Romas attacking. Some of his words to you got lost in the madness.”
“Well. . .I remembered.” I felt Emilio’s suckling begin to slow down and looked down at him. He had his eyes shut and one closed fist raised in the air as if signaling his defeat to sleep.
Kaz slowly walked over to the wooden chest. “This holds the items?”
“Yes. I figured we could give it to Paolo when we. . .tell him. Baba gave me the chest and thought it was a good idea that we were going to do this today.”
Soft snores left Emilio. His head slowly tilted to the side. My nipple popped out of his opened mouth. Tiny drops of milk dotted his bottom lip.
I put my focus on Kaz.
Silent, he bent over and lifted the chest’s lid.
I pulled my top up.
As soon as Kaz spotted the photo album, he quickly shut the lid and inched back like he saw a terrifying ghost.
Silent, he stared at the chest. His hands shook at his sides. “I will be in the hallway.”
“Kaz. . .”
He walked off without looking back.
Fuck. How is this going to go with Paolo?
Chapter 29
Heartbreaking Reality
Kazimir
In the hallway, I leaned against the wall and contemplated the impossible.
How did one find the right words to tell a child something so life altering?
How did one communicate the unimaginable to a kid?
This was why the Brotherhood didn’t deal with the orphans of our victims. We shot our enemies in the head and left the task to others. Let someone else clean up the blood and wipe the tears.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to find the right words in my mind.
Instead, that last memory of Pavel played out in my head—the moment he realized we had successfully grabbed Paolo from Black Axe.
Pavel had spotted his son and cried tears of joy. It was a mixture of sadness and relief. Horror and comfort. “Oh my God.”
Paolo let go of Emily’s finger, hurried to his father, and hugged his chained legs. “Daddy.”
Pavel couldn’t hug him back due to his hands being chained.
Emily had turned to David. “Could you please undo his wrists?”
David checked with me.
I nodded. “Go ahead.”
David and Wassily undid his chains, but remained right next to him, making sure there would be no escape.
Pavel rubbed his wrists and then picked up his son. “Ah, Paolo!”
Pavel had looked close to death when we first entered, but with his son in his arms, he’d come alive.
His tortured face had even brightened.
Shivering, I opened my eyes.
A heartbreaking gasp left me.
I looked around the hallway, making sure no one was there. All had been told to get dressed for tonight. Therefore, the space remained empty.
I swallowed.
My heart boomed in my ears.
Now that I was a father. . .that memory of Pavel. . .hurt more.
Dear God.
The day Emilio was born, my life forever changed, my thoughts, my. . .goals, everything.
Now I understood why Pavel did what he did.
Would I not have done the same for Emilio, had someone taken him?
Pavel. . .
Today, I knew what I had to do, but it weighed heavy on me like a boulder on my shoulders.
I could barely remain standing. My knees felt like they would buckle under the burden. But, I stayed up, even though my body quaked with dread.
Unfortunately, there was no way out of this. I couldn’t let this child suffer in confusion. It wasn’t Paolo’s fault that he was born into a world of violence and bloodshed.
And it damn sure wasn’t his fault that somehow. . .this boy had. . .seeped into my heart.
Damn you, Emily and Pavel. I did not want to love him, and now. . .
That moment in Italy returned again.
Pavel held Paolo in his arms and switched to Italian. “My love for you, my son. . .it has no bounds, no limits. . . You are the most precious gift that I have ever received.”