Violet swallowed hard. “Why?”
“I have something I want you to see.”
She knew it then, when he didn’t outright lie but he didn’t tell the truth, that he was looking at the same photos she was.
Violet wasn’t quite sure what she should do at that moment. Call her father out on it, or placate him as much as possible.
Alberto spoke again, forcing her hand in an entirely different manner. “And guessing by the note included in the gift that just arrived at my door, I think you know exactly what I want you to see. I thought you were doing so well, dolcezza. And I can see now that my blind affection has made us both fools, hmm?”
“Daddy—”
“Be in front of that building when Gee arrives. You will not like what happens if you make me come looking for you myself, Violet.”
The call hung up.
Just like that.
Violet blinked down at the phone as she pulled it away from her ear. Panic settled in deep, burrowing into her bones and seeping through her nervous system.
She didn’t know what to do, but her first instinct wasn’t to listen to her father. His voice in her head had lessened—it didn’t hold quite the same quality of law that it used to.
Someone else had told her to look around and listen more.
And so she had.
But it was still a fight for her. An internal war with one side of her brain telling her to stay put and do as she was told because she had done wrong, while her heart screamed for her to move because Kaz was right.
Her heart won.
Violet turned on her heel and bolted toward the street, straight for the crosswalk blinking for people to walk. She weaved in and out of people as she sent off her first text message to Kaz. A second quickly followed, more panicked than the second to the point where it was barely legible. She didn’t stop moving further from her building and where Gee thought he would find her.
Blocks, three at least.
And then another two.
Finally, her phone rang.
Violet saw Kaz’s number flashing across the screen, and relief swept through her blood. She still didn’t stop moving, and checking over her shoulder at the same time as she answered the call.
“He knows,” Violet said the second she put the phone to her ear.
Kaz was quiet on the other end, Violet almost thought that maybe he didn’t hear her.
“My dad—”
“Violet.”
Her name always came out so smooth and deep from Kaz, but that time he said it hard and sharp enough to make her steps stumble.
“He sent pictures,” Violet said, barely able to even say the words. “Your father—to me and my dad. He sent pictures of us. All sorts of pictures, Kaz. Walking. At the pier. Going into your place. And inside …”
Kaz blew out a heavy breath. “Inside where?”
“Your place.”
“When?”
“I don’t know!” she cried.
“Violet, what were they of?”
She choked on nothing but air. “What do you think?”
Kaz cussed—thick and angry. “Where are you right now?”
All Violet managed to reply to that was, “Not going to my father.”
The tears had started falling.
Her panic kicked up a notch.
She still heard Kaz’s voice in the background of it all. He rattled off the name of an address she didn’t recognize that was situated mid-Brooklyn.
“Get in a cab,” Kaz said. “I’ll meet you there.”
Violet handed over what the taxi driver asked for, and stepped out into a residential neighborhood that wasn’t exactly upscale, but certainly wasn't the slums. She kept a hand on the cab door, unsure if she was at the right spot. A small driveway led up to a modest two level home that was pretty on the outside, and had a white Bentley parked in front of the small garage.
“Miss, I got another fare to pick up,” the driver shouted.
Violet hesitated. “Is this the right place?”
He rattled off the address she had given him. “I’ve lived and drove in Brooklyn for forty fucking years—this is the right place, girl.”
She let go of the door, knowing she didn't have much of a choice. Stepping up onto the curb, she felt her phone began to ring and vibrate in her messenger bag. It hadn’t stopped since she jumped into a cab and took off. Without a doubt, she knew it was her father.
Violet had checked a couple of times, just to make sure it wasn’t Kaz. He hadn’t called her back, or messaged, so that only left Alberto.
Guessing by the number of voicemails her father had already left, he was livid.
Beyond pissed.
She couldn’t be bothered to listen to a single one.
Why should she when she knew what they would say?
As the cab pulled away, Violet stayed on the curb, still staring at the house and wondering why in the hell Kaz would send her to a place he had never taken her to before.