“Hello?”
There was a pause that sent chills down my spine.
“Hello?” I repeated, my eyes scanning the bullpen for signs of anyone that shouldn’t be there.
“I’m disappointed in you, cara,” Seamus finally said in a soft voice.
My heart stopped. “How did you get my number?”
“I have more than that,” he assured me. “I know where Mama is right now in Soho at her little restaurant. I know the address of Giselle’s apartment in Brooklyn…I’m looking at her right now, in fact. What a beautiful little girl Genevieve is.”
My breath froze in my lungs. Could it be possible that Seamus was this evil?
“What are you doing?” I asked slowly. “Don’t bother Giselle and her daughter.”
“No?” He laughed. “Always trying to protect your family, even from your own dad. Even when Giselle stole your boyfriend. Poor little Elena. The family never did treat us right.”
The ice melted into nausea as I thought about Seamus watching Giselle and Genevieve, both of them completely unaware.
“You don’t want anything from them,” I reminded him. “What do you want from me?”
“Clever girl,” he praised. “I want you to know that your little stunt today cost me big time. Kelly is furious. We got a delicate balance going right now, and you nearly broke that.”
“You want an apology?” I couldn’t stop the incredulity from seeping into my tone. “There are a few I think you should get off your chest first.”
“I didn’t want to have to do this.” His voice was sad, almost like a little boy filled with contriteness for doing something he shouldn’t. “But you gave me no choice. Instead of standing beside your father, with your family like I raised you to do, you turned your back on me, and now I have no choice.”
“Just like you had no choice to sell Cosima,” I snapped. “She made you gamble any money you ever made? She made you so in debt to the Camorra that her beauty was the only chip you had left to play?”
“Stai zitto about Cosima,” he roared through the phone.
There was a moment of silence as he collected himself.
“You’re going to meet me downstairs in ten minutes,” he told me, calm once more. “You’re going to get in the black sedan idling at the curb, and you aren’t going to disconnect this call until you do so.”
“No,” I said simply.
Another gusty, dramatic sigh. “Can you hear this, Elena?”
There was a change in sound as he put the phone on speaker, the greater noises of the world around him apparent to me too. Distantly, I heard female laughter.
“Giselle is enjoying showing her daughter snow for the first time,” Seamus narrated.
There was a crunch of snow as he moved, the sound of that familiar voice growing louder.
“Ma petite choux,” I could hear Giselle sing from somewhere too close to Seamus. “Look at you, loving the snow!”
My belly burned as if I’d swallowed lit coal.
“Don’t do this, Dad,” I asked him softly. “Please, just listen to yourself. That’s your daughter and your first grandchild right there. Stop this. If you stop this, it’s not too late. You can make amends to everyone. You can meet Genevieve properly, and we can have a relationship again.”
He laughed, but the sound was broken and lopsided, ugly in my ears. “No…no, I know it’s too late for that. I’ve looked into the eyes of two of my daughters, and all I’ve seen is hate. You can’t fool me again, Elena. You might be a fighter, but you got that from me.” Then quietly, almost as if he didn’t know he even spoke the words. “I’m just trying to fight to stay alive here.”
“I can help you,” I tried again, so desperate I could taste the metallic panic on my tongue. “Dante could help you.”
I offered, and I knew in my heart he would. Even if they were enemies, Dante would help Seamus for Cosima.
He’d help Seamus for me.
“Five minutes now, Elena,” he said again, his voice at full force, whatever moment of reflection he had succumbed to totally forgotten. “Don’t be late. I’d rather not have to interrupt Giselle’s day. Remember, don’t hang up. I’ll be listening.”
He went quiet, but the connection didn’t drop, and I knew he’d muted me.
I kept the phone pressed to my ear for a long moment as I fought not to cry.
Get it together, Lombardi, I ordered myself.
First, I sucked in a deep, stabilizing breath to clear some of the fearful fog from my mind, and then I stared at my phone. I could still text even with the line occupied.
There didn’t seem to be any kind of quick fix for this situation.
If I didn’t go, I couldn’t put it past Seamus to abduct Giselle and Genevieve. He’d done worse before, and he was between a rock and a hard place. Animals had chewed off their own limbs for less, and Seamus was just that— a cornered monster desperate to survive.