Page 179 of Eternal Craving

My mind wandered back to that perfect summer.

A breezy Sunday afternoon, Miguel leaning against the paddock gate, the man with the smiling eyes. Annabelle calling to me from the steps of the house, begging me to take Eduardo off the pony – he’d only just turned four.

“Did they suffer?” Jacob asked.

Breathing in the scent of blood, I saw Miguel splayed out upon the floor. And upon the bed, Annabelle lay dead, still clutching our son.

I cleared my throat. “I don’t believe so.”

“And the senator?”

I loosened my necktie. “Dead.”

“How did he die?”

The blood of my enemies not spilt but imbibed.

Jacob’s stare was persistent.

My beloved Spain’s darkest hours.

“I finished it,” I said quietly.

“Father, how did you finish it?”

I liked that he called me that. “Power can turn in on itself, blinding one to reason.” I paused, remembering. “When I met your mother, she was a dancer. She was so beautiful.”

“How did the senator die?”

The door flew open, and Sunaria entered the room, carrying a bottle of wine. “Time for a toast.” She raised it high. “Tonight, we celebrate.”

Her timing was perfect. She poured white wine into three glasses she’d found on the chestnut sideboard.

Violin music struck up from somewhere in the house.

“We have a lifetime of catching up to do,” I said.

Jacob accepted the glass from Sunaria. “I remember you,” he said with a nod.

“She’s impossible to forget.” I raised my drink. “Cheers and good health to you, my son.”

Jacob lifted his glass high. “To my father, and our reunion.”

I feigned a sip, trying not to stare, nervous that my gaze would hold his too long and he’d see more than I was ready to show him. Jacob sipped his drink and stared off into space, hypnotized by the violin music.

Sunaria and I swapped a wary glance.

“That’s beautiful,” he said. “Who’s playing?”

“Rachel,” Sunaria answered. “Both she and her brother live here with us.”

I smiled at Sunaria. “She’s come a long way with that instrument.”

Jacob’s cheeks looked flushed. “Is she as bewitching as her music?”

Chapter Fifty-Seven

I sat opposite Jacob, with the inlaid chess table between us.