Page 17 of One Filthy Kiss

“I came home one day, and she wasn’t there. Amber was crying in her cot. She was hungry and her diaper was soiled.” Her voice is far away, lost in her memories. “The police got involved. They found traces of my mom’s blood in the kitchen, but her body was never found, and there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him.”

“Have you been looking after Amber ever since?”

A wistful smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. “Mom made me promise to take care of Amber if anything happened to her, not that I needed a reason to look after my little sister. My dad helped us disappear for a while. Then we started over, I got a job to pay the rent on a small apartment, and well, here we are…”

Until I went and fucked it up.

She was still a teenager when she lost her mom and had to bring up a baby, and she’s been holding it together for five years without anyone interfering.

Way to go, Gio.

“Are you worried that he’ll come back for Amber one day?”

It all makes perfect sense now. The way she panicked when she realized that the kiss had been filmed. Her deep-rooted mistrust. Hervulnerability.

She’s so busy protecting her little sister that I think she has forgotten how to be Megan Walsh. I think she has forgotten how to dream, how to live, how to be free. And she certainly has no idea how fucking desirable she is.

“I don’t think he ever wanted Amber.” She sucks in a deep breath and releases it with a sigh.

“So, what then? What are you afraid of, Meggie?”

“That he’ll try to take her away just to hurt me the way he hurt my mom.”

“Boss?” Ric’s voice interrupts us, and he reappears with Amber by his side.

The kid is smiling, and I can see the resemblance between the two sisters. I want to make Meggie smile that way. I want to see her face light up with pure abandonment. I want her to forget that Steve fucking Barone ever existed, and there’s only one way to do it.

“Hey, sweetheart.” The pain behind Meggie’s eyes is instantly gone when she looks at Amber. “Did you meet the pilot?”

“He let me speak on the radio.” Amber takes the seat beside her sister, and Meggie leans across to fasten her safety belt. The child’s feet don’t even reach the floor when she sits back. “Are we going to New York now?”

I can’t help smiling. I only met them a few hours ago, but I already know that I’ll protect them with my life if that’s what it takes. No kid deserves what she has been through. What they’ve both been through.

“Yes, we’re going to New York, and we’re going to eat fries and drink milkshakes and visit the zoo in Central Park.”

“There’s a zoo in the park?” Amber’s eyes grow even wider. “We only have swings and a slide in our park.”

It’s afternoon when we land in New York.

Meggie and Amber peer out of the passenger windows of the car as we cross the RFK bridge into the city. I’ve divided my time between here and Sicily most of my life, but seeing it through their eyes, I feel like a kid again. It’s busy and noisy and frantic, but it’s also fascinating and fun and strangely addictive.

I haven’t stopped thinking about Meggie’s history, and the more I churn it round and around inside my head, the more determined I am to hunt down the fucker who killed her mom and end his life. I’ll make sure the body is never discovered of course. And there will be zero evidence to link it to me.

Then, she won’t have to worry about him seeing her face on YouTube. She’ll never have to wake up at night in a cold sweat, panicking over him coming back for his daughter. She’ll be able to travel the world if that’s what she wants, without a backward glance over her shoulder.

She’ll be free.

I wear dark sunglasses, and we mingle with the tourists at Times Square, the Empire State Building, and Central Park. The zoo is closed for the night, and I promise to bring Amber back another time. I don’t look at Meggie when I say this, and she doesn’t warn me not to make false promises.

One day, I hope she’ll understand that I keep my promises.

Within moments of climbing back into the car, Amber falls asleep with her head on my shoulder. I peer down at the wispy strawberry blonde curls clinging to her rosy cheeks. The weight of her head on my shoulder is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, and the thought of someone hurting her or trying to take her away from her sister makes me want to do bad things to bad people.

It makes me want to crack skulls and spill brains.

It makes me want to never let them go.

I study Meggie’s profile while she isn’t watching. The high cheekbones, plump lips, and wide come-to-bed eyes that make my cock twitch every time she looks at me. How did such perfection come from such hardship and loss? How does she still carry herself with such grace and courage and strength?