Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
“Thank you,” she said. Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips against his, and she knew she had startled him, but she didn’t care.
He’d done what no one else could, and Maureen, her best friend, needed justice. No one would be interested in helping her, a woman taken, and never found.
She let go of Diago and helped to remove the rest of his clothing.
“Vanessa?”
“It’s okay,” she said.
The tears were not for the family she hated, but for Maureen, the woman she had loved with all her heart. She didn’t deserve to die.
Stepping into the shower with Diago, she moved him so that he stood beneath the water. She stared down at the pristine white basin and watched as it turned red with blood. Her family’s blood. Blood red.
She didn’t care if it made her some kind of monster.
Her family had gotten what they deserved. She couldn’t help but imagine her best friend, screaming and crying, begging for her life.
When the last of the blood washed off Diago, he grabbed her and pulled her in close, sinking his fingers into her hair. His other arm was banded around her waist, and he held her tightly.
“I’ve got you. Let go,” he said.
Vanessa hadn’t needed permission to allow the tears to fall, but with how he held her, she knew he was going to keep her safe, so she finally let go and the tears flooded down her cheeks.
She’d been crying before. This time, she sobbed.
****
Diago stared down at the gravestone that marked Maureen’s resting place. Her body had already been disposed of by whomever Isaac hired, and there was no way to get the ashes, or to know if she’d even been buried.
This was all he could do for Vanessa—to give her a place to come to. A place of solace. A place for her and Maureen.
She had mourned this woman, and he’d known without any doubt Vanessa had loved this person. He’d never gotten to meet her personally, but he had heard of her. The beauty who had worked for Isaac Norma.
Vanessa had asked him if killing her family would have consequences. Isaac had to answer to the boss of the mafia family he served. As it happened, Diago knew the man, had worked for him several times, and in doing so, had taken all the information he had on Isaac, and instead of having a target on his head, he’d been rewarded.
There would be no consequences hanging over his head for the death of the Norma family. He had done the mafia a favor. Isaac had exploited too many capos and business associates one time too many, and now he’d paid for it.
Diago hadn’t killed him because of his betrayal to the family. He’d killed him for the truth he was going to have to tell Vanessa.
She reached out and grabbed his hand, locking her fingers with his. It still marveled him after all this time how she sought comfort from him. He didn’t fight her.
Glancing over at her, she wasn’t crying. She’d given into her tears for several days, as he made the arrangements to have a proper burial for Maureen. He’d even gone out of his way, using his tech guy, to find as much detail as he could about Maureen. With barely anything to go on, he didn’t have much of a choice but to ask Vanessa for help.
She’d been the one to identify Maureen in a picture. There had been a small search for the missing woman over twenty-five years ago, but as her family hadn’t been wealthy, the search hadn’t lasted long. Her family didn’t have the funds to find their daughter. Tragically, a year after Maureen was taken, her family died in a house fire. Seeing as she was living as a mafia’s nanny, she’d been the only one to survive, and now, her whole family was dead.
“Do you think she is at peace?” Vanessa asked.
“Yes,” he said.
He didn’t have the heart to tell her he didn’t believe in such things. She needed hope.
“Good,” she said. “I could imagine her, you know, wearing a dress, something floaty, walking among fields, surrounded by dogs.”
“Dogs? Why dogs?” he asked.
“She loved dogs. Dad would never allow us to have one. He said they cost too much money, and, well, you know the drill. He had to pay for the lifestyle he couldn’t afford himself.” She blew out a breath. “But, she would talk about the dogs her family had. Massive German shepherds, and cute little Jack Russells, cocker spaniels. Her family loved dogs, and even though they didn’t have a lot of money, they always found ways to make it work.”
He looked at her. “Do you want a dog?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t know how to take care of it.”
“That’s not what I asked, Vanessa. Do you want a dog? Don’t think about how you’re going to take care of it. Just think about what you would like. Would you even love a dog?”