Page 81 of The Claiming

I shiver. “Nothing about this is pleasant, or what happened to her. I’m guessing we will discover a lot of answers to our questions at the end of this passageway.”

“Agreed.”

Siri shivers. “Trust my cousin to go on without us. This is his kind of disturbed shit and he will be loving it.”

“Tell me what he’s like, Siri.”

I’m so intrigued by Frankie and Siri could provide an insight into his dark personality and she laughs softly.

“He’s always kept to the shadows. His brothers and sisters are just like him.”

“Are his parents the same?”

I kind of think they must be and Siri whispers, “They are. My aunt and uncle had a heavy beginning. Winter was kidnapped from Rockwell and made to marry a psychopath.”

“No way.” I stop suddenly. “That’s seriously twisted.”

“Too right it was. She left Rockwell pregnant with Frankie, Uncle Alessandro’s son, and had the baby in captivity.”

“Frankie?”

My blood runs cold as Siri says sadly, “It was two years of hell and she only escaped when she killed Massimo, her deranged husband. But Frankie was missing.”

“Oh my God! What happened?”

“It’s a long story that ended happily, but the scars run deep. Don’t get me wrong, Frankie’s parents are like my own and I love them unconditionally.”

“But?”

“But they are way too overprotective, and Frankie rebels against that. Plus, the nature of their business doesn’t make for an apple pie upbringing, so it’s no wonder Frankie is so secretive and dark.”

“What about you? You’re nothing like that.”

I can’t believe anything bad has ever happened to Siri, and she chuckles. “My mom has a lot to do with it. She won’t tolerate anything but love and kindness and gives way too many hugs and kisses. She softens an otherwise hard existence, which is why I turned out so great.”

I nudge her and she stumbles. “What. I’m stating a fact.”

I pull her to a stop as we hear voices, and then I detect Jack’s voice wafting toward us. For some reason, it reassures me because if Jack is nearby, no harm can come to us and I have always looked on him as my harbor in a storm.

“Jack!” Siri’s loud whisper reminds me he has somebody else’s heart now and I ignore how my heart sinks at that and focus instead on the man walking beside him.

His dark turbulent eyes lift to mine and the devilish gleam in his eye chases away the shadows. I can’t help how he sucks me in. I’m intrigued by him and crave what he does to me. I am head over heels in lust with Frankie Majerio and as he draws near, his wicked smirk tells me he knows it.

“You just couldn’t follow orders, could you?” He huffs with a slight shake of his head and I flip him the middle finger.

“I take orders from no man.”

Jack laughs and reaches for Siri’s hand and the smile she directs his way tears my heart out.

“Are you ok, darlin’?”

“Of course.” She snuggles in close to his side and says in an awed whisper, “What is this place?”

Frankie scans the passageway and shrugs. “Unexplored territory. It’s kind of cool, though.”

Siri’s expression is triumphant as she winks at me and it breaks a smile on my face.

“So, now we know how Abigail left the tunnel. Where does it lead? I’m guessing the boathouse.”

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