Chapter Ten
Vanessa knew she had stopped believing in fairy tales long ago. Longer than she could remember. She found it odd how she could look back at her life now and realize it hadn’t exactly been great. Like the memories of the family dinner table. The way her father yelled at her mother to keep her quiet, or the fact he would lose his temper with her. She’d always get told that he was busy and she had to give him time.
Her father was always the one in charge, which she didn’t have a problem with, but he had been an asshole.
Anyway, she found herself sitting on the stairs, staring at the front door, knowing if anyone was going to bring Maureen back, it would be Diago. She had that much faith in him, and she anticipated his arrival. She missed Maureen, and she wanted someone she could trust to tell the juicy gossip details about her feelings for Diago. Not that she needed advice on how to deal with him, because she already knew.
Against all odds, she had feelings for the man who’d come into her father’s party, grabbed her not too gently by the arm, and all but dragged her from that awful life she had known.
Diago wasn’t her monster.
He was her savior.
She wanted him so badly.
Vanessa put a hand on her stomach and wondered if she was finally pregnant. She wasn’t a fool and knew they didn’t use protection, so there was a good chance she was pregnant.
Withdrawing her hand, she looked toward the door. She already planned to tell Diago she loved him, even if it made her look like a fool.
Love was … a feeling.
Diago made her feel, he made her excited, and happy, and she looked forward to seeing him every day. Even when he went to work. She’d never felt this way before. He didn’t look at her with pity or disgust. He saw her as a woman and treated her as such.
Also, he was really good in bed, and even though she knew that shouldn’t be a priority, she did kind of like the fact that they were so compatible with each other.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she looked toward the door and waited. He would be coming through that door any minute. She pressed her lips together. Why did it feel longer than usual? Vanessa didn’t even know if he was going to find her friend. She could only assume.
The door handle moved, and she got to her feet with the biggest smile on her face, only to freeze in place. Diago was covered in blood. His shirt was soaked, as well as his hands, and he paused as he looked toward her. There was no way that could be Maureen’s blood. He wouldn’t kill her best friend, her … mommy. Maureen had been more of a mom to her than her own.
“Diago?” she asked, rushing toward his side. “What happened?”
“I need to take a shower,” he said.
“Whose blood is this?” she asked, following Diago up to their shower. She didn’t hinder him, and they walked through his bedroom and headed straight toward the main bathroom.
He turned on the shower and looked toward her.
“What is it?” she asked. “What is going on?” She didn’t know how she could be asking so many questions when it felt like her whole world was being torn apart. Tears filled her eyes. “This isn’t Maureen.”
“No,” he said.
“What happened?”
“Maureen … is…”
“Don’t say it,” Vanessa said. “Please don’t say it.” She felt her tears begin to pool in her eyes, and there was a burning in the back of her throat she couldn’t deny.
This was a nightmare. It couldn’t be happening. No. She didn’t want to accept it.
Diago put his hands on her, and the blood had already dried, so it wasn’t transferring to her. She saw that, and looked at him.
“Maureen is dead,” he said.
She shook her head.
“Your father had her killed after she stopped being useful to him.”
Again, she shook her head, not wanting to hear this. No, this couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t fair. This was a nightmare she wanted to wake up from.
Diago was still talking, and she tuned in to listen.
“Maureen was a trafficked woman, and caught your father’s eye. What caught his eye was the fact she was beautiful, and she was a nanny. You were young and he wanted to find a woman he didn’t have to pay. Anyway, Maureen had a way of getting people to trust her, and your father used her, exploited her, and when she was no longer useful to him, he removed her from the equation.”
All along, Vanessa had known. She knew Maureen worked for her father, but she also knew her nanny had hated him. Maureen had never uttered those words, but she had known there was no love between her nanny and her father. It had always been a job—a contract.
Maureen had been fighting for her life, and Vanessa hadn’t known. She had only seen her nanny, her precious, lovable nanny and best friend, who she had been able to go to for everything. Maureen had never gone to her for anything.
Pain sliced through her body, and she couldn’t help but press a hand against her chest. This wasn’t fair. This was cruel.
She hated this feeling that consumed her.
She looked at Diago, at his bloodied hands and clothing, and stared into his eyes. “You killed my father?” she asked.
“Vanessa, your family is dead,” he said. “All of them are gone.”
Vanessa knew any normal person would find that scary. They would hate the man who had killed her parents, but she closed the distance between her and Diago and cupped his face.
He stared down at her, and she looked into his eyes. To so many people, she knew his gaze was one of death, of fear, of panic. So many people had died at his hand, but she didn’t care about any of that. Not right now. She cared about what he’d done for her, and she loved him even more in that moment.
“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?”
“Yes, I’d love a dog.”
“Then we’re going to get a dog, and you can name her Maureen.”
Vanessa pulled him in close, and he stared into her eyes. “I love you,” she said.
Diago stared down at her, not sure if he’d heard her right.
“I’ll understand if you don’t love me back, but I do love you. I love you so much, and coming to that party and taking me away was the best thing you did for me. You’ve shown me that I was dying inside, and being with you made me want to live.”
He cupped her cheek and couldn’t believe the words he was hearing. He was a monster. From a young age, he’d been trained to kill, to have no feelings, and it didn’t matter who he killed. There were no feelings. No emotion. Just a job.
Until Vanessa.
She tried to look away, but he slid a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head back to look at him. He had wondered if she would hate him after killing her family, but she had held him.
He didn’t need the comfort.
She didn’t hate him.
Vanessa loved him.
“All my life, I didn’t believe love existed, but Vanessa, I fell in love with you seven years ago, when I picked you up in my arms and carried you to safety. You were the first person to hold onto me like I was a lifeline. You trusted me, put your faith in me, and now you are my wife. I’m not saying life with me is going to be easy, but I will give you the world, and all you have to do in return is put your faith in me. To love me. To put up with me.”
He didn’t get to say anything more, because Vanessa cupped his face and kissed him. “Consider it done,” she said, kissing him again.