Page 2 of Everything We Found

“Do not call him James.” Thomas growled out the order. “I’ve told you countless times. He’s Carlos now. You slip and call him James around the wrong people, they’ll find out he’s still alive. They’ll kill him then come for you.”

“Sí, sí,” she pleaded, and rambled on in worried-sounding Spanish.

“Imelda, listen.” Frustration elevated his delivery. “Carlos will believe whatever you tell him. He doesn’t know what is or isn’t the truth. He has no point of reference. It’s up to you to fill his head. You’re the one giving him a new life story. That’s what I’m paying you for.”

“And if he still doesn’t believe me?”

“Convince him you’re his sister or the money stops. You’ll lose your hotel.” Threatening her was growing wearisome, but he needed her. James needed her. “As for his face.” He paused and pinched the exhaustion from his eyes, trying not to think about his inevitable financial ruin. “Order the doctor to fix it. I’ll cover it, whatever the cost. I don’t want him to look like himself. He needs to be unrecognizable when he leaves the hospital.”

She heaved a sigh. “He likes his physical therapist. He seems quite taken with her.”

“What’s her name?”

“Raquel. She has a son.”

He felt no concern for the kid. But Raquel? She might be the solution to James’s survival. Thomas wanted him to focus on the future. If he fell in love, he was more likely to believe his roots were in Mexico. He’d be less inclined to dig up a past that led him back to the States and risked getting not just himself, but all of them killed.

As long as he had no memory of his former life it could work.

God help him, Aimee would never forgive him if she learned of this. Neither would James when his memory returned.Ifit returned. Thomas would have to live with that.

“Befriend her. Get him to fall for her. Be his family.” The thought of James living in witness protection with someone who cared about him made what Thomas had to do on his brother’s behalf more bearable. If there was the slightest chance James could find love and happiness again, Thomas would make sure he’d get it.

“You want me to encourage their relationship?” Imelda asked.

“Whatever you have to do to make this work.”

Movement in the corner of his eye told him that he was no longer alone in the room.

“I have to go. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Thomas ended the call. “Find the key?” he asked, turning to Filippo. But it wasn’t the funeral director standing by the opened casket.

Everything inside Thomas locked up.

The woman slowly looked over at him in a state of shock. Startling green eyes glowed against a complexion that had lost its color.

His chest tightened in a way that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the cruel irony of this moment. After years of keeping her separate from him and his family’s ugliness, here she stood, witnessing his worst deception.

He and the woman stared at one another from across the room.

“How long have you been here?” he dared to ask.

“A while.”

He felt sick to his stomach.

“How much did you overhear?”

Her mouth parted, her expression shifting between disbelief and confusion to trepidation and fear. Fear of him. “I don’t understand. James?—?”

“How much did you overhear?” He punctuated each word as he walked toward her.

“Enough. I heard enough.”

He stopped. They continued to watch each other. Her eyes hardened with accusation. Between the call and the casket of sandbags, she knew James wasn’t dead.

And now she was in danger.

The thought gutted him as much as losing his brother had. He’d always kept her at arm’s length, protecting her from the darkness of his world. Now she stood in the center of it.