Page 5 of Echoes of Sin

The house wasn’t as large as the old mansion, but it was more than big enough, with two stories, a basement, five bedrooms, and five bathrooms. The kitchen and living room were spacious. It was a family home.

“It might not be to your liking, but the price is right,” she said, reading off what was being asked. “And the owners are eager to sell.” At my frown she explained. “The inspections are all up to date and they’ve put quite a lot of money into modernizing it, but the father has been transferred to Oregon.”

This house felt right. My gut instinct rarely failed me, so I knew what I would do before I finished touring the property. “I’ll take this house as well as the penthouse.” The penthouse was expected of me and that’s where my enemies would look for me—if they were stupid enough to want to find me. “I want it done as quickly as possible.”

“I’ll draw up the paperwork and have it to you by end of day, Mr. K.” She smiled brightly at me. It was strange, under other circumstances I might have considered taking her out for a celebratory drink, and then spent the night fucking her. But being back in Winter Valley with Brooke on my mind, that idea seemed unappealing.

“Good. Thank you,” I said, leaving the realtor to lock up, happy in the knowledge that she would be making a tidy profit from both my purchases.

Since Calhoun was as good as dead, I needed to reach out to the fat man. Finding a new money guy wasn’t on my list of shit to do today, but it was a priority.

I would do whatever I had to do to succeed here in America and I wouldn’t let some greedy fucker derail me. Calhoun was my first opportunity to let the world know what happened when you fucked with Ilya Kuznetsov.

Chapter Two

Brooke

“Mom, I can’t find my red leotard!” Karina called out from her bedroom. I could already picture her searching her room frantically for her favorite dance leotard.

“Where did you put it when you took it off?” I asked. We were already running behind schedule.

“I don’t know.” Her frustration was clear, but I didn’t take it personally.

I shook my head. Karina was just seven years old, but some days she had the attitude of a fourteen-year-old. I climbed the steps of the small house we rented in Winter Valley and found my daughter’s legs sticking out from under her bed. “This is why we put things where they belong.”

She groaned. “Mo-om!”

“Don’t you Mom me, little girl. Where would you put a leotard you’ve already worn?”

Karina shimmied her way from under the bed, stood, and marched to the hamper in the closet, dramatically lifting the lid. “It’s dirty.”

I knew she needed to be dramatic about it for a moment, she got that from my best friend Lara, so I grabbed her purple leotard and shoved it into her dance bag. “When you get home tonight, bring the laundry down to the laundry room and it’ll get washed for next time.” I didn’t wait for a response because there was a hot cup of coffee downstairs with my name on it.

The front door opened just as I picked up my mug, and then I heard Lara’s voice. “Good morning, lovely ladies. Your favorite lawyer is here!”

“Aunt Lara!” Karina’s heavy footsteps sounded above me and then flew down the steps, where she wrapped Lara in a tight hug. “You look pretty.”

Lara smiled and flipped her hair off her shoulder. “Well, thanks, sugar. You look pretty too. Love those shoes!”

I smiled at those two. They were my two favorite people in the world, which wasn’t saying much because I kept my circle small, but it was still true. And I was so grateful to Lara. I didn’t know how I would ever repay her for all the help she’d given me over the years. Our friendship survived Lara continuing college and law school, while I worked hard and cared for Karina.

“Thanks, Aunt Lara. I love sparkly shoes,” she replied, and showed off her pink shoes the way Lara had taught her.

I finished my coffee and packed my bag while they chatted. I had twenty minutes to make the seventeen-minute drive and park my ass in my office before my boss Ruben came looking for me. “Thanks for handling drop off today,” I told Lara. “I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me a damn thing, Brooke. It’s what family does, and family is what we are.”

I hugged her. “Still, I owe you. Dinner here whenever you want.”

Lara laughed. “And that’s different than any other night how?”

I shrugged. “You work late a lot. I’ll keep a plate warm for you or try to drop it off at your office for lunch.”

“I won’t turn down your cooking,” she said with a grin. “You’ve become quite the cook over the years.”

“Single motherhood and crap salaries made it necessary,” I reminded her. The early years after I had to drop out of college were rough when it was just Karina and me, more so because I’d stubbornly refused my family’s help. “Okay, thanks again, Lara. Bye Karina, have a good day.”

“Bye, Mom. You have a good day too.” Karina hugged me and smacked a kiss on my cheek, and it was moments like this that made all the hardship worth it.

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