“He asked me if my stepfather caused the bruises on my ribs,” Danny continues. “And I told him yes. So he shot him.” He laughs a little. “Then he told me to get in his car. I didn’t hesitate. I got right on in there with a perfect stranger, a killer, and never looked back. My mother had abandoned me, and the monster I lived with was now dead. I had no one. Carlo brought me back to Miami. He fed me, watered me, made sure I was clean. He hired a private tutor and demanded I relay everything I learned each day. It didn’t make much sense to me, but who was I to argue? Then one day, on my eleventh birthday, I finally plucked up the courage to ask him why he’d saved me.”
“And what did he say?” I press, swallowed up in his story, eager to hear more of how Danny Black came to be.
“He said he wanted a son.” He smiles. “He wanted a son and he didn’t want a woman. So he took me. Simple as that. He told me that a kid who’d had half his cheek sliced off and didn’t cry about it was worthy of the status of being his son. He gave me a new birth certificate. Had my name changed to Black, officially adopted me, and I became an American citizen. I have not a fucking clue how he did it, but I never questioned him. I trusted him. Because he saved me.”
Given who Carlo Black was, it’s insane for me to think that Danny won the jackpot. But he did. “And your mom? How come she’s here now?”
“Because Carlo found her and brought her here.” His sweet reminiscent tone has gone and resentment is back. “I thought I wanted to find her. But when Carlo tracked her down, I looked at her and felt nothing but hatred. She chose drugs and prostitution over me. She left me to slowly die, and I will never forgive her for that.”
But she’s here. It’s Danny’s way of being cruel and kind all at the same time. This man, this killing, formidable, merciless man, isn’t as hard as the world thinks he is. He can’t turn his back on her completely.
I bite my lip, astounded, but especially that he’s told me. Confided in me. Esther serves a purpose. Danny’s giving her the chance to do all the things she didn’t do when he was a boy. “And now Carlo’s world is your world.”
Danny nods, though something in his expression tells me he’s not as pleased about that as he feels he should be. “And what about you?” Danny asks.
Me? I clam up. We are not having that conversation, and I’m ignoring the wretched guilt I’m feeling after he’s told me his story. I shrug as nonchalantly as I can. “Nothing to tell.”
“Rape.”
I naturally flinch at the word, feeling myself crawling into my shell. I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing, flexing my hands in his until he releases me. I rest my palms on his bare chest and lean in, giving his scar a light kiss, before I get up off the bed.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“To get my toothbrush.” It’s all I can think of to get me out of the room to compose myself. As I step away, he seizes my wrist stopping me, and I silently beg him not to press. “Rose?” I look over my shoulder tentatively, so nervous he’s going to demand answers. He studies me for a few moments, obviously taking in my sudden discomfort. “Don’t be long.” He lets go and edges down the bed until he’s lying again.
Relief. It nearly floors me. I take his shirt from the floor. “Mind if I borrow this?” I push my arms through the sleeves before getting his answer, then find my panties and pull them on. He watches my every move until I pull his bedroom door shut behind me. Then I stand on the other side, staring at the wood, my head thumping. All the words, every confession, are all on my tongue ready to be spat out. I just don’t know where to begin.
I hustle back to my room and find the phone behind the drawer, and I don’t think twice about texting Nox to tell him I have nothing to report. That’s the first step of my plan complete. The easiest step. I quickly replace the cell, scrub my teeth, and hurry back to Danny’s room, but when I make it there, he’s not in bed. I look across to the glass doors and see him on the terrace, his long body naked. My eyes root to his back as I creep up on him, slipping my arms between his and hugging him from behind. “You realize the panels are glass, don’t you?” I ask.