12. Miceli #2
“Not a problem.” I gave her a small smile.
I wanted to gather her up into my arms and make promises I wasn’t sure I could keep or that she’d want to hear.
Not having her trust was killing me. “Where were you going, Collins? Why does it look like you were trying to leave, or at least set yourself up to leave?” Tears spilled down her cheeks as she laid there, holding onto herself.
Whatever secrets she kept, I had to elevate her conscious.
“Whatever it is you’re holding back on, I understand.
You’re not telling me because you’re afraid.
Still, I can’t help you or protect you unless you talk to me, sweetheart. Let me in.”
She sobbed then, clinging to me, her face pressed to my side, as though she was afraid to let go or let me see her.
I hated this. Had Benny and Robbie not killed those three bastards, I would have done it myself.
They deserved to die twice for the mental anguish she’d been put through.
There was more there in her cries and the way she clung to me.
I could feel it. Deep down, this wasn’t the first attempt on her life.
I don’t know how or when I realized that, but now I couldn’t banish the theory.
“Help me,” she whispered. “I lied to you, Miceli. I know you’re going to kick me back out onto the streets, but I had to keep us safe.”
The ferocious yearning to protect her consumed me. “Tell me what happened and leave nothing out.”
She stared up at me, her black lashes dampened from her tears, her eyes bloodshot and red, turning her eyes a shade of storm clouds heavy with rain, pleaded with me to keep my word. “I don’t care what you do to me but keep Kyle here. Don’t make him leave. He’s been through enough.”
Bingo.
An answer.
I tensed, holding my breath as she spoke.
Kyle. Of course, her brother’s name was popular, however, not in this instance.
“Why would I make either of you leave?” I had to keep my voice soft.
Level. Any emotional change would cause her to stop speaking.
I already knew it. She trusted me. She ran to me.
That was saying something. “He’ll be safe here. You’ll be safe here.”
She shook her head. “We’re not safe anywhere.”
“Stephanie,” I said her real name, hoping she wouldn’t clammer to get away from me. “You’re little Stephanie Hollis, aren’t you, precious girl? You’re still alive.”
She trembled. Her gaze snapped to the door, then back to me. “How did you know?”
I laughed a little. “I didn’t. Until now.
Oh, I had my suspicions, but...” I shrugged.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth in the very beginning?
” Stupid question. She’d obviously been trying to hide for almost a year now.
She didn’t have anywhere to go, nor anyone she could trust, especially after the way her parents had been murdered and her brother shot and left for dead.
“When you didn’t recognize me,” she whispered, “I believed it was for the best.”
Again, I laughed to myself. I’d had the faintest of recollections of her the first day, hence why I’d asked Ellory to dig into her past. Now, I wished I would have brought the subject up sooner.
“I have a confession, too.” I tucked her into my side, relaxing back on her bed, leaving myself vulnerable to her.
Should she want to leave? “I had my suspicions this whole time. A woman who has no background other than the few things you made up, along with a younger brother in her care...” I shrugged.
Heat suffused her cheeks as they turned a pretty shade of pink. Was she embarrassed? Bashful about the subject? “I did the best I could. Besides, I kept us alive for almost a year without getting hurt, didn’t I?”
There was that spunk and spark I liked the most about her. “Yes, you did. Why didn’t you go to the police?”
She gave me a ‘duh,’ look, and I chuckled at the ridiculousness of my question. “Do you really think they’d be able to save me if whoever killed my parents wanted to murder me or finish what they started with Kyle?”
“Point taken,” I agreed. “So, who do you think killed your parents?” I had my suspicions and reasons, but I wanted to hear her ideas on the subject.
“You’re taking this awfully well. You told me in my interview, if I lied to you, you’d fire me.” Again, she peered up at me. Those impossibly long lashes fluttered against her cheeks, and my heart squeezed.
“Do you want me to fire you?”
She shook her head. “No. I like Rocca.”
“How about we not worry about that for now? We’ll discuss the issue of you lying later. For now, I need to know how I can help you, Stephanie.” I liked how her real name rolled off my tongue.
“Are you going to keep saying my name?” She quirked a brow and the defiant edge of her voice sent a bolt of lust through me, soothing the rage agitating my stomach.
“Yes, is that all right?”
She nodded. “It’s nice to be me again.”
I could only imagine. Having to take on a new name and personality was hard. Doing so because your family had been killed, was a whole different monster of a situation. “I’m glad. I’m more than sure none of this has been easy on you or your brother.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t bury our parents. I couldn’t say goodbye.” Her tears spilled again. “I don’t even know why they were killed.”
Nor did I. Nothing Ellory had turned up so far showed a motive other than a rumor.
I didn’t believe the stories about Theo Hollis stealing money from the families.
It was too easy, yet also too messy. With him being the accountant for several of sitting members of the Table, unless someone brought in a replacement, no one would ever know he was skimming off the top.
The only exception, someone caught him in the act.
Then, of course, it made sense. “I wish I could explain it myself.”
“Daddy wouldn’t have stolen anything from anyone. He enjoyed his job.” She wiped her eyes. “He was a good man.”
“When did you arrive home?” From the photos Ellory showed me, I could now say those bloody marks on the door to Kyle’s closet were hers and Kyle’s, solving a small piece to a rather large mystery.
“After it happened. I was surprising my parents. I didn’t tell them I was coming home,” she said, her voice so small, so innocent, it broke my heart.
“When I walked in, I just felt something was off.” She shook her head.
“It was odd. Quiet. Not normal quiet either. Eerie. Like someone sucked the air out of the space. Destroyed the warmth and peace.” She let out a shuddered breath, her hands fisting in my shirt, anchoring herself to me.
“I went to daddy’s office first and found him, then my mother. ”
Those photos would be etched in my mind forever. Whoever had been sent to kill Theo and his wife was sloppy. They made a mess. I would have made an example of them. Also, leaving the son and daughter alive was another mistake. One I was personally grateful they’d made. “Jesus, Stephanie...”
“Kyle moaned. Had he have stayed silent, I wouldn’t have known he was there.” She swallowed hard again. “I’d have left him. Oh God.” She cried harder. “I took what I could before I helped him out of the house, then we ran when we thought someone was still there.”
“His shoulder?” I pressed, realizing if I didn’t get her to tell me in one go, she’d never speak of what happened again.
“Took him to an emergency clinic that accepted cash and didn’t ask questions.
Within six hours, we were on the road. Deep down, I knew that part was stupid of me.
He needed to rest and recover, but I couldn’t leave us out in the open.
If we stayed there, they’d find us.” She exhaled a shaky breath.
“We moved around every two or three weeks. Mostly when I had the feeling we were being watched.” She looked up at me.
A ghost of a smile and pride shone in her eyes, then sadness swallowed her whole.
“Other people lost their lives because of me—us, too. The last time I ran, I told myself I had to find someone to turn to and not the police. So, I started looking for help while also being proactive.” She sat up a bit, gaining an ounce of courage.
“I bought a cheap version of a bug detector and went over everything Kyle and I had, including my car. That came in handy. Then I saw your ad on the internet.”
My mind swirled with the reality of her situation.
The fact she had presence of mind to check her belongings and her car shouldn’t have surprised me, yet it did.
She’d done everything right. “I’m sorry.
” I didn’t know what else to say. She’d been alone in this for a year.
In my estimates, she should have been dead.
“You didn’t do anything. This time, I messed up. I thought... I was getting the feeling of being watched again and I...”
“Went with your gut,” I said.
She nodded. “When we left here in my car?—”
“Stupid decision,” I teased, trying hard not to let the anger seep through.
“Yeah, well, I told you, I don’t enjoy feeling like an object and not a person,” she retorted in a haughty tone. “Anyway, I believed it was more conspicuous than, say, your Land Rover.”
Touché.
“I wasn’t followed,” she said. “I left here and was free for a few hours, but by the time we got done shopping...” She shrugged.
“You were never alone,” I whispered. “You need to know that. I’d never allow you to get hurt.” Her current condition notwithstanding. “As soon as you left, I had Benny and Robbie follow you at a distance.”
“Well, I can’t be too mad. They saved us.” She gave a small lift of her shoulder. “Guess I owe them one. Or several, as it seems.”
“From what Robbie told me, two of the men were from Alphonso Tripoli and the other, like you said, was trying to impress Alphonso.” I pressed her head to my chest. “You’ve never seen them before, you’re sure?”
“Never. Though, the last time I was at anything concerning the family was the Christmas before Rosalina gave birth to Rocca,” she whispered those words and my heart ached.
I remembered the party. “You were a little girl.”
“Ten,” she replied. “You were so happy. I had the biggest crush on you and your wife. So weird to say as much now.”
I sighed. “So much has happened to both of us since then.” The wound of grief closed over time, but never healed completely.
Stephanie and I shared a connection. A bond no one should ever have to claim or endure.
Death did one of two things to a person, destroyed them, or made them resolute.
I almost fell victim to mine. Stephanie had become resolute, determined to save herself and her brother.
“What do we do now, Miceli? Where do we go from here?” She wrapped her arm around my middle, snuggling closer to me.
“Now we work together,” I said. “We’re going to take down every person who was responsible for the death of my wife and your family.
” Then I’d claim the head of the Table if Kira didn’t want it and change the face of the Table forever.
In between, I’d figure out the simmering attraction between Stephanie and me.
“I’d like that.” She sighed. Her eyes fluttering shut before her breathing evened out as she fell asleep.
I don’t know how long I lay there with her before I got up to leave.
She was injured and traumatized. Kyle would want to see her as well, since he’d been the one to fight their attackers to protect her.
As I left the room, I spied the person of interest in the kitchen making food, I suspected, for both of them.
“How are you feeling, Kyle.” Again, the name was odd on my tongue.
I’d become so accustomed to using their fake ones, saying their proper names was weird.
He went rigid standing there. He grasped the knife in his hand, as if ready to fight, if the need should arise.
“Stephanie told me everything. You’re safe here.
Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.
” Yet, now that I had one answer, I had more questions.
He went back to work, keeping his back to me, a sign he might have some trust in me, at least for the moment. “How is she?”
“Scared. Hurt. Upset,” I said. “She’s worried about you and what will happen next. I’m sure something both of you have discussed before.”
He nodded. “Sounds about right.”
“You did good today—protecting your sister.”
“I’d do it again, if I have to,” he said. “I’m going to need more training.”
I grunted. “We can arrange that.” I pointed to Stephanie’s room—Fuck, just being able to say her name, and know for sure who she was, settled some odd pang within me. “Your sister is sleeping.”
“I had a feeling she might. Today was harrowing.” Kyle finally faced me. “Anything I should be worried about?”
I shook my head. “No. She seems fine. I told her if she wanted to see the doctor, I’d have them come here. She agreed. I think for now, that’s safer.”
He concurred. “All right. If you find anything out, keep me in the loop. They were my parents, too.”
“I will.”
Leaving the cottage was hard. Stephanie was a wreck, so was Kyle.
The day should have been an adventure for them, one I could have nagged her about when she came home in her car instead of the Land Rover.
She finally let me in so we could fix the sticky situation they were in.
If it connected to mine, all the better.
I, like her, didn’t believe a damn word in the media about her father stealing money or what Ellory was led to believe.
There would have been a bigger stink among those who sat at the Table.
So, what was it?
As I stepped into the main house, my phone rang. Ellory’s name appeared on the screen. Good, I needed to talk to him, too. “Just in time,” I said in greeting. “I have some information for you and another job if you’re up for it.”
“Oh, yeah?” Ellory stated, a bit surprised. “Well, I have information for you too, and you won’t like it.”
“Shall we meet then?” Whatever he had to say, I had a feeling it had to do with Stephanie and her brief run in today.
“I’ll come to you. This evidence is fresh. If you catch my drift.”
“I do. I’ll be here all night. Whenever you’re ready,” I replied.
“Already here.” He chuckled. “Tell your men to let me pass.”
I nodded to Benny, who relayed the information to whoever was out in front of the house. After everything with Stephanie and Kyle, I couldn’t take any chances. “See you at the door.”