[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
couple of times a day. And Elijah has them sweep every car for bombs before we ever get into them."
He circled her ankle with his fingers, wanting to touch her. Wanting to be an anchor for her. "It must be a
terrible way to live, always thinking someone might want you dead."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"I was nine years old when I walked into a room and saw my parents murdered. Armando was stabbing
his brother over and over. Mom was already dead. He cut her throat. There wasn't a spot in the room
free of blood."
Rio could see she was far away from him, was still that little girl, walking innocently into a room, perhaps
coming home from school and wanting to show her parents something special. His fingers tightened,
holding her to him.
"He looked up and saw me. I screamed. I remember I couldn't stop screaming. No matter how hard I
tried, I couldn't make the sound go away. He came toward me with the knife. There was blood all over
it, all over him and his hands. I just stood there screaming. I know he would have killed me. He couldn't
do anything but kill me. I was a witness. I saw him murder them."
"Why didn't he?" It was like pulling teeth. She revealed something and then fell silent. The trauma ran
deep and it would never go away. He knew her life couldn't have gotten much better wouldn't let me
leave the compound. He had someone with me all the time and drove away every friend I had."
"He was splitting with your uncle. Starting a war." "I had a friend, Tony, the brother of my girlfriend. We
hardly knew each other. I met Tony at her house. He'd recently moved back to town. I had dated a
couple of times and it always ended in disaster. Once it turned out to be an undercover cop, and another
time I found out the man I was dating had been paid by Elijah to take me out." Utter humiliation clogged
her throat. "I don't think I can remember a man having an interest in me as a woman. The police wanted
information to convict Elijah, and I guess they thought they could send in an undercover man to romance
me. Armando wanted a way to get close to Elijah again to be able to kill him. He was so furious, so
absolutely furious with Elijah. He's done everything he can to try to kill him."
"Tell me about this man." She was avoiding it. Rio knew her now, knew her every little sign of agitation
and distress. She was burrowing deeper into his body, trembling, her breath coming in hard gasps of
despair.
"I didn't tell Elijah about Tony because I knew he would never allow me to go out alone with him. I
couldn't go anywhere alone. He seemed a nice man. Marcia, his sister, and I were good friends. He
moved in with her and when I went to visit, he was there. At first we just talked, played Scrabble, that
sort of thing. I just wanted a few ordinary hours, a place I could go where I wasn't Elijah Lospostos's
sister. Where no one carried a gun and plotted to kill each other."
She dragged her hands through her hair. "I wasn't in love with Tony. I wasn't sleeping with him and telling
secrets. I would never sell Elijah out. I'd never give him up. I saw all those years when he was forced to
do terrible things. I can't tell you how often Armando threatened me. How many times he would shove a
gun in my mouth and scream at Elijah, how often I wanted him to pull the trigger just to take the pain and
rage off Elijah's face. It was a hellish existence until Elijah was strong enough to move against him. But
Armando got away. And then the war started, and it was hell all over again."
"Why would Elijah object to your friend's brother?"
"I don't know, but I didn't want Tony to know about that part of my life. Marcia didn't know. We met at
the library one day, ended up having coffee and became good friends. She didn't know who I was and I
didn't want to tell her. She was a nice woman from a nice family."
"What does she do?"
"She teaches school, for heaven's sake. She teaches sixth-grade science. I went to see her as often as I
could. Her home was like a sanctuary to me. Elijah always sent someone with me but they waited
outside, in the car. Mar-cia thought they were my chauffeurs. She joked about it a couple of times. And
then her brother moved back home. I got to know him and he was just as nice. One day he asked if I
wanted to go to see an opening at an art museum. He was really into art." She hung her head. "I said
yes."
A chill went through Rio's body. He knew what was coming. Death had a feeling to it, a presence. It was
in the room. It was in her eyes. That stricken look she carried that never quite went away. He tightened
his hold on her and rocked her back and forth gently, trying to give her a sense of peace, of comfort.
There was neither in betrayal. "And your brother found you."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Chapter 16
RACHAEL took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I went to Marcia's house and had the guards stay
outside. Tony and I got into Marcia's car and drove away. I bent down as if I were looking for something
when we drove out so the guards wouldn't see me. For a few miles I thought it was safe. The next thing I
knew, we were in a high-speed chase with cars on either side of us. They were Elijah's men, not
Armando's. I knew them all. They forced the car to the side of the road. Elijah opened the door and
yanked me out. There was shouting back and forth and then suddenly Elijah emptied a gun into Tony."
She covered her face with her hands.
Her sobs were heart-wrenching, dragged from a woman with tremendous courage and control and all the
more terrible because of it. Rio rested his head over hers as he rocked her, his mind racing, trying to
figure out why her brother would want her dead after trading his honor to keep her alive.
"I couldn't believe what he'd done. It was too many blood. Everyone I touched. Everything Elijah had
done was because of me. He was so angry. He shook me over and Over and said he should have put the
gun to my head."
So many emotions ate at him that Rio didn't know what he was feeling. Part of him wanted to weep for
her. Part of him was so angry he wanted to hunt her brother and uncle down. "Rachael, sestrilla. It's good
you came here, to me, to your home where you belong." He caught her wrists and brought the scars to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szamanka888.keep.pl
couple of times a day. And Elijah has them sweep every car for bombs before we ever get into them."
He circled her ankle with his fingers, wanting to touch her. Wanting to be an anchor for her. "It must be a
terrible way to live, always thinking someone might want you dead."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"I was nine years old when I walked into a room and saw my parents murdered. Armando was stabbing
his brother over and over. Mom was already dead. He cut her throat. There wasn't a spot in the room
free of blood."
Rio could see she was far away from him, was still that little girl, walking innocently into a room, perhaps
coming home from school and wanting to show her parents something special. His fingers tightened,
holding her to him.
"He looked up and saw me. I screamed. I remember I couldn't stop screaming. No matter how hard I
tried, I couldn't make the sound go away. He came toward me with the knife. There was blood all over
it, all over him and his hands. I just stood there screaming. I know he would have killed me. He couldn't
do anything but kill me. I was a witness. I saw him murder them."
"Why didn't he?" It was like pulling teeth. She revealed something and then fell silent. The trauma ran
deep and it would never go away. He knew her life couldn't have gotten much better wouldn't let me
leave the compound. He had someone with me all the time and drove away every friend I had."
"He was splitting with your uncle. Starting a war." "I had a friend, Tony, the brother of my girlfriend. We
hardly knew each other. I met Tony at her house. He'd recently moved back to town. I had dated a
couple of times and it always ended in disaster. Once it turned out to be an undercover cop, and another
time I found out the man I was dating had been paid by Elijah to take me out." Utter humiliation clogged
her throat. "I don't think I can remember a man having an interest in me as a woman. The police wanted
information to convict Elijah, and I guess they thought they could send in an undercover man to romance
me. Armando wanted a way to get close to Elijah again to be able to kill him. He was so furious, so
absolutely furious with Elijah. He's done everything he can to try to kill him."
"Tell me about this man." She was avoiding it. Rio knew her now, knew her every little sign of agitation
and distress. She was burrowing deeper into his body, trembling, her breath coming in hard gasps of
despair.
"I didn't tell Elijah about Tony because I knew he would never allow me to go out alone with him. I
couldn't go anywhere alone. He seemed a nice man. Marcia, his sister, and I were good friends. He
moved in with her and when I went to visit, he was there. At first we just talked, played Scrabble, that
sort of thing. I just wanted a few ordinary hours, a place I could go where I wasn't Elijah Lospostos's
sister. Where no one carried a gun and plotted to kill each other."
She dragged her hands through her hair. "I wasn't in love with Tony. I wasn't sleeping with him and telling
secrets. I would never sell Elijah out. I'd never give him up. I saw all those years when he was forced to
do terrible things. I can't tell you how often Armando threatened me. How many times he would shove a
gun in my mouth and scream at Elijah, how often I wanted him to pull the trigger just to take the pain and
rage off Elijah's face. It was a hellish existence until Elijah was strong enough to move against him. But
Armando got away. And then the war started, and it was hell all over again."
"Why would Elijah object to your friend's brother?"
"I don't know, but I didn't want Tony to know about that part of my life. Marcia didn't know. We met at
the library one day, ended up having coffee and became good friends. She didn't know who I was and I
didn't want to tell her. She was a nice woman from a nice family."
"What does she do?"
"She teaches school, for heaven's sake. She teaches sixth-grade science. I went to see her as often as I
could. Her home was like a sanctuary to me. Elijah always sent someone with me but they waited
outside, in the car. Mar-cia thought they were my chauffeurs. She joked about it a couple of times. And
then her brother moved back home. I got to know him and he was just as nice. One day he asked if I
wanted to go to see an opening at an art museum. He was really into art." She hung her head. "I said
yes."
A chill went through Rio's body. He knew what was coming. Death had a feeling to it, a presence. It was
in the room. It was in her eyes. That stricken look she carried that never quite went away. He tightened
his hold on her and rocked her back and forth gently, trying to give her a sense of peace, of comfort.
There was neither in betrayal. "And your brother found you."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Chapter 16
RACHAEL took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I went to Marcia's house and had the guards stay
outside. Tony and I got into Marcia's car and drove away. I bent down as if I were looking for something
when we drove out so the guards wouldn't see me. For a few miles I thought it was safe. The next thing I
knew, we were in a high-speed chase with cars on either side of us. They were Elijah's men, not
Armando's. I knew them all. They forced the car to the side of the road. Elijah opened the door and
yanked me out. There was shouting back and forth and then suddenly Elijah emptied a gun into Tony."
She covered her face with her hands.
Her sobs were heart-wrenching, dragged from a woman with tremendous courage and control and all the
more terrible because of it. Rio rested his head over hers as he rocked her, his mind racing, trying to
figure out why her brother would want her dead after trading his honor to keep her alive.
"I couldn't believe what he'd done. It was too many blood. Everyone I touched. Everything Elijah had
done was because of me. He was so angry. He shook me over and Over and said he should have put the
gun to my head."
So many emotions ate at him that Rio didn't know what he was feeling. Part of him wanted to weep for
her. Part of him was so angry he wanted to hunt her brother and uncle down. "Rachael, sestrilla. It's good
you came here, to me, to your home where you belong." He caught her wrists and brought the scars to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]