I felt so happy right then, like everything was finally coming together. Like we’d maybe paid our dues and would be afforded the luxury of a chance together. Just a chance. But then, just as we reached the church, the cell phone Maxx had given me rang, wiping the content smile from my face. I didn’t miss the look on Damon’s either as I dug it out of my pocket and swiped it to answer.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Guardia, this is Maxx Carson.”

“Hi, Maxx.”

“I have some information I thought you’d like to know.”

“What information?”

“Your grandfather is being moved.”

“Moved? Why? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. Healthy as a horse.” He cleared his throat. “For now, at least.”

“What does that mean?”

“He’ll be transferred to the prison where Sergei and Alexi Markov are being held.”

“What?” I clutched my belly, stumbling into the wall of the church for support. Damon put his hands on my shoulders.

“What is it?”

I ignored his question but took hold of one of his hands as I continued my conversation with Maxx. “Maxx, you can’t do that. They’ll… They’ll hurt him. You know they will.”

“The decision isn’t mine, Ms. Guardia.”

“Is this because I won’t testify against Alexi?”

“The two are unrelated.”

“Bullshit.”

It sounded like he took a sip of something before speaking, and I had the feeling he’d planned this.

“I may not be in a position to stop the transfer, but I can provide security for your grandfather.”

“Let me guess what I need to do for that security.”

“Cooperation is always appreciated, Ms. Guardia.”

“This is blackmail.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t see how my calling you to inform you of a decision that the court made is blackmail.”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“Again—”

“Fine. You win. I’ll do it. I’ll testify. But you need to swear he’ll be protected. If he’s hurt—” My voice broke. Again, I’d be responsible for hurting my grandfather. Again, it would be my fault if anything happened.

“Why don’t you come into the office tomorrow morning, and we can talk through the details.”

“This isn’t right. He’s an old man.”

“It may not be right, but this is life. And your grandfather is no innocent bystander. There’s a reason he’s in prison. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Ms. Guardia.” He hung up.

“What the hell’s going on?”

“I can’t catch a single break.” I explained everything to him and watched Damon’s face change, anger hardening it. His hands clenched into fists.

“I’ll call Lewis. See if there’s anything we can do.”

“I’m tired, Damon.”

“Let’s go upstairs. You can lie down for a bit—”

“Not that kind of tired. I’m tired of this. Of life being like this over and over and over. Am I being punished? Is that what this is? Is it because of what I did to my grandfather? Because I went against my family? Because of us? Because I stole you?”

“You did the right thing. Your grandfather is a criminal, Lina.”

“He’s still my grandfather.”

Damon sighed. “And you didn’t steal me. I chose you.”

“Your God is vengeful.”

“No, he’s not.”

“How can you say that after everything that’s happened to you? To your family?”

“Because the alternative is too terrible.”

* * *

Damon, Mr. Lewis, and I met with Maxx the following morning to go over my testimony. The trial, which I’d thought would be a long time coming, had been scheduled for four weeks from now. I wasn’t sure if I was glad, relieved to have it sooner rather than later, or nervous. At least it meant I could go back to Italy, see my sister, sooner than I had planned. I could truly close this chapter and start over.

But there was one thing that I needed to do before I could do that. As much as I dreaded it, the time had come.

Maxx arranged for me to visit my grandfather later that week. Damon offered to accompany me, but I needed to do this by myself. I sat alone in the back of the car Maxx had sent, feeling anxious, my stomach in knots. I remembered the last time I’d been on this road with Stanley on my way to visit Sergei, who was still in the infirmary, although apparently no longer in critical condition.

Once inside, the procedure to see Grandfather was similar to the last time I’d been here. The agent who’d driven me presented some paperwork, then led me to the same room in which I’d met with Sergei. Only difference this time was, where Stanley had waited in the other room, the agent remained inside the room with me, standing at the door as I settled into the chair I’d sat in the last time and waited for Grandfather.

Damon had told me I didn’t need to do this, that I owed him nothing. Sitting here now, I questioned my decision to come. This was the last place I wanted to be. He was the last person I wanted to see. But Damon was wrong. I did owe my grandfather something. I owed him the right to see me. To tell me to go to hell, if that’s what he wanted.

The door I’d been staring at opened, and a guard walked in. Behind him, a man I almost didn’t recognize followed.

My mouth went dry, and my heart raced even faster as our eyes met. My grandfather, Marcus Guardia, a figure I’d always remember as looming, ever present, all-powerful, now stood before me…looking different.

But not in the way I expected.

He seemed harder.

Meaner.

“Well, well.”

He gave me a cruel grin.

“Katalina.”

A guard placed his hand on Grandfather’s shoulder, and my grandfather sat.

If I’d thought prison would have softened him, would have made him repentant or remotely sorry, I was wrong. I knew it from the look on his face, the tone of his voice. From the energy rolling off him, threatening to make me vomit.

“Cat got your tongue?” he asked.

I swallowed, and my hands shook. “No.” I stared at his eyes, darker now.

“That’s all you have to say after four years of silence? Not a single visit. No letter. Not even a postcard to an old man?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what, exactly?”

His question confused me, caught me off guard. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to visit.”

“No, you didn’t. Neither did your sister. What ungrateful girls I raised.”

“We’re not ungrateful.”

“No?”

I felt suddenly protective, defensive of my sister. I didn’t care what he said about me, but Sofia wasn’t here to stand up for herself. “What you did to Sofia was unforgiveable. I know what it cost her to attend your trial, to arrange everything for us when the bank seized the house, when the feds seized all our assets. You have no right to call her ungrateful. I’m just glad at how things turned out for her. That’s a miracle.”

He scowled. “A miracle, indeed. You bed the devil, you’ll raise his spawn.”

“Stop. She’s my sister. They’re babies.”

“Why did you come?”

He made no attempt to hide his contempt for me. What had I hoped for? Expected? Whatever it was, it hadn’t been this.

“To get one final look before your friends put an end to me?” he continued.

“My friends?”

“Don’t play the innocent. You never were. You’re your mother’s daughters, both of you.” He leaned in close. “Tell me something. Did you bed the father first, then the son?”

My mouth fell open. “I bedded neither. And you’ll be safe here. I agreed to testify against Alexi in exchange for your safety.”

At that he laughed outright. “Who fed you that piece of bullshit?”

I almost answered, then stopped myself. All my life, I’d given him power over me. I’d been afraid as a child, cowered as a teenager, tiptoed around my whole life. That was finished. I was taking back my power. Now. “Are you remotely sorry for what you did? Do you take any responsibility for any of it?”

He snorted but had no response. He studied me, an accusation in his eyes. Traitor. I read it as clearly as if he’d said the word aloud.

“That’s a no, I’m guessing,” I said. “For four years, I’ve held onto that other notebook feeling guilty, feeling like I betrayed you for turning over evidence at all, wanting to spare you, wanting to not believe what was in that last one. Hoping it wasn’t possible you knew of those things that happened. Thinking you couldn’t have known. I thought coming here, I’d see you as a different man, one who was sorry for some of it at least. But you’re not. Not even a little.” I took a deep breath.

“You grew up with a silver spoon in your greedy little mouth. You’re the reason it’s all gone, and I’m in here.”

“I’m not the greedy one, and you’re wrong. I’m not the reason you’re in here. You are.”

He had no reply, and I continued, asking something I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer to. “Did you ever love us?”

That seemed to take him by surprise. It took him a few moments to answer. “We’re family, Katalina.”

Why did his answer wound me still?

I stood. “I’m glad I agreed to testify. I’m glad you’ll be safe.”

He chuckled at that.

“I’m glad I’ll help put Alexi Markov away for a very long time.”

“Just be careful. He may be behind bars, but he’s in no way less dangerous. If he’s anything like his father, and I have a feeling he is, he won’t be one to overlook a betrayal.”

I ignored his warning. “I’m glad I came, but I won’t be back.” At that, his expression changed, eyes softening a little, but perhaps it was the desperation I glimpsed in them that made me think that. “For what it’s worth, I don’t wish you harm. I never did. And I did love you,” I said. Tears filled my eyes, and I turned my back. “I still do.” I walked quickly to the door.

“Lina,” he called out when the agent who’d escorted me reached to open it.

I turned to find him on his feet, prison guards flanking him. He looked a little less tall, his shoulders not quite as wide, his countenance not as foreboding.

“I wish things had turned out differently,” he said.

I had no reply. He could have meant a hundred different things. This was, after all, the very worst way for things to have turned out. He could have been talking about getting caught. He could have been talking about Sofia and the deal he made with Raphael. He could have been talking about anything at all. All I could do was believe what he meant was that this, us, our family, that he perhaps wished that had turned out differently. Better. I didn’t know.

Without a response, I walked out, the agent at my heels.