Betrayed (The New Yorker) (11 page)

“My name is Reno
Kanaloa
Kent. Dennis Kent is my father. He abandoned us
when I was six. I came to New York to get even. I met your sister, but by the
time I found out who she was, it was too late.” He looked down at Lisette who
was still in his arms. A gentle smile touched his lips and he couldn’t resist
the urge to kiss her.

“Save that for later,” AJ cut in.
“What do you mean too late?”

“I fell in love with your sister at
that bonfire, the second I laid eyes on her,” Reno mumbled as if he was in a
trance. “I wanted to stay away from her, trust me I tried, but your sister
started stalking me. I couldn’t say no to her. She’s so cute and stubborn and
determined.”

“Yeah, I wonder how you managed to
turn her down this time.” From the look AJ was giving him Reno knew that he
didn’t believe him entirely.

“Your father managed to convince
me.”

“Are you serious? He knows about
you and Uncle Dennis?”

“Apparently they have known for a
while.” Reno chuckled. “I was the idiot who thought I could catch them
unprepared. They were waiting for me. They probably knew when I boarded my
flight in Hawaii.”

“What’s the leverage?”

“What?” Reno asked confused.

“What’s the leverage they are using
against you?”

Reno began to speak but choked on
his words. How could he tell AJ about his sister, without feeling so ashamed?

“I see the way you look at my
sister, the way you kiss her. It’s not perverted; it’s so innocent. Totally
contrary to what I would be thinking if I had a beautiful girl in my arms.”

“They are going to help me find my
sister. I traded your sister for my own.” Reno shook his head in disgust. When
Lisette started to stir, he mumbled soothing word into her ears.

“Why don’t you tell her that?”

“Tell her what?” How could he tell
Lisette he was so intoxicated with guilt, hate and spite against Dennis and
himself that he couldn’t see reason? It would have been easy to tell her the
truth, but he was ashamed. “I know what Lisette did to protect you. She was
barely five years old and she was brave enough to save her whole family. I’m a
coward. I did nothing when they took little
Rhyne
away.”

“You feel ashamed?” AJ looked at
him as if what he said was bizarre. “You were just a child.”

“I’ll tell her once I find my
sister.”

“You sacrificed your love. Don’t
get me wrong, I think Cupid is just an unfortunate baby in a diaper. You gave
Lisette up for a promise our fathers made you.” AJ chuckled. “You are an idiot.
I thought my sister’s negotiating skills would have rubbed off on you.”

“What would you do if Lisette and
Catalella
were suddenly taken away from you?” Reno bit back
a snarl.

“I would do anything to get them
back. I would also think that if I were not able to find them, they would
understand and they would want me to be happy.”

“Do you really think that?”

“Hell, no!
I’m just
telling you what you need to hear. I wouldn’t rest until I had them with me
again.”

“That’s how I feel.” Reno buried
his nose in Lisette’s hair and inhaled. He wanted to bathe in her scent. He
needed her to protect him from the inadequacy he felt engulfing him. Maybe he
should tell her the truth.

“Now what?”
AJ mumbled
as he dug into his pockets for his phone. “Hi, Mama, I have Lisette… no…why?
Reno and I are on our way.”

Reno could see how rigid AJ’s body
had gotten. The worried scowl canvassed his face, as the hand that held the
phone to his ear trembled. “What’s wrong?”

“They can’t find
Catalella
.”

* * * *

Reno felt a pinch of jealousy as he
watched Rosalinda go crazy for her missing daughter. The only thing
Kono
had afforded
Rhyne
was a
frown that was quickly forgotten when she got her fix. Reno always thought that
Kono
blamed
Rhyne
for
Dennis leaving. But Rosalinda was distraught, practically pulling her hair out
of her head.

“I’ll take her.” Adrian Ross stood
over him.

Reno felt so natural with Lisette
in his arms that he had almost forgotten she was there. He stood up from the
couch,
Lisette still cradled to his chest, and gave the old man
a defiant gaze. If his daughter wasn’t missing Reno would have told him a thing
or two about his ultimatum.

“I’ll take her upstairs. You stay
here with Mrs. Ross.”

“Don’t even try,” AJ piped in. “He
won’t give her up.”

Just then the door flew open Dennis
rushed in with a protesting Daniela behind him. “Tell them what you told me.”

Reno laid Lisette on the couch and
covered her with an afghan. He stepped closer to Daniela, his eyes fixed on
Dennis’s fingers shackled around the little girl’s wrist. “Maybe you should let
her go.”

“I know her better than you do. I
know you just want to protect her. But now is not the time to be sweet about
it.” Dennis turned his attention to Adrian. “
Catalella
ran away to Vegas. She’s going to marry Michael Mathews.”

“That snake!”

“Bastard!”
Reno noted
he and AJ had spoken at the same time. All it took was a glance and they were
both on the same wave length. “Maybe we can catch them.”

“Let’s go.” AJ grabbed his leather
jacket and led the way out.

Reno paused for a second and glanced
at Daniela. Closing the distance between them with three long strides he pulled
her into his arms and hugged her. “You and I are going to have a chat when I
come back.” Daniela nodded, her tear-streaked face reminding him of
Rhyne
.

* * * *

Lisette groaned as last night’s
excesses sent shards of pain, like glass splinters, into her skull. Her head
felt too heavy to lift. She turned her face away from the sunlight streaming
into her room, and felt someone move around her room. She opened her eyes out
of curiosity more than necessity.

“Mother-f—” She groaned when the
light proved to be too much for her booze-soaked eyes.

“You better not finish that.” She
heard Adrian growl.

“I wouldn’t have to curse if I
didn’t have to open my eyes. And I wouldn’t have to open my eyes if you weren’t
pacing around my room like a hungry bear.”

Adrian growled again, and Lisette
realized that he was more of an angry bear than a hungry one. She was in
trouble and she could feel it. Adrian didn’t say anything else. He took a seat
in a chair in the far corner of the room. She watched as her father buried his
face in his hands, an exhausted sigh filling the room.

“Papa.”
Lisette
bit back an oath as she rose from the bed. “I’m sorry I quit and got drunk last
night. I just wanted to numb all the hurt that I feel. I’m sorry if I
disappointed you.”

“It’s not you, sweetheart.
Catalella
is missing.”

Lisette let out a chuckle. So her
sister had reached the age of sneaking out. How come their father hadn’t found
her yet? It usually took Adrian five minutes to find Lisette. The excitement
was taken out of it, to the point that Lisette started leaving through the
front door, and asking permission. “She’ll be back. You’ll see.”

“She went to Vegas, to marry
Michael Mathews.”

Lisette fell back on her bed. It
took everything inside her not to succumb to the panic that filled her. She
knew that boy was trouble. But she was the one who brought him into their
lives. If she had told her father about what he tried at the bonfire, he
wouldn’t have hired the rat. “He’s just after her money.”

“I know that, sweetheart.” His gaze
swept over her as a sly smile claimed his lips. “What he doesn’t know is that
Catalella
isn’t eligible to get her trust fund.”

“You won’t let her live with him.
He won’t be able to provide for the life style she’s used to.” She worried.

“If she insists on staying with
him, she’ll just have to learn how to be an adult.”

“Adrian!” Her mother called.

“They are back,” her father said as
he got up to leave the room.

Lisette looked at herself for the
first time that morning. She was in her pajamas and thought her mother had
changed her. How the hell did she get back home anyway? If she hadn’t been out
drinking and had been at home
Catalella
wouldn’t have
taken off. But who was back, and from where? She rushed to the living room
where everyone seemed to have gathered.

She frowned as she stared at the
man towering over the rest. Reno, what was he doing here? Reno’s gaze turned to
her. His eyes swept her from head to toe, a burning trail touching her like
warm flesh. She stared in surprise at the immediate and absolute boldness in
his gaze. Lisette tried to look past him and at everyone else in the room, but
her eyes were drawn to his each time. She took a step back and he walked toward
her. Soon she was backed up against the wall and trying to hide the fear,
desire, and panic she knew he would see in her eyes. She opened her mouth to
say something, but her words were swallowed by Reno, as his lips covered hers.

Lisette’s hands dangled at her
sides as her body tried to absorb the shock his lips had caused to her body. As
the kiss drew deeper, her body grew bolder. Lisette locked her arms behind his
neck. A gasp of surprise sounded in her chest when Reno lifted her off her
feet, his strong hands, shackled behind her back and holding her firmly against
his body.

“Can we save that for later?”
Lisette heard her father bark.

She felt her feet touch the ground,
and when she opened her eyes, she was staring back at Reno’s dark lust-filled
eyes. A chill ran through her body, as she took a step back to create a much
needed space between them.

“What did you find out?” she asked.

“They were gone by the time we got
there.” Reno stepped back, releasing her from the caged corner he had backed
her into. Soon she could see the whole room, and AJ and Reno recounted their
story. “She sent AJ a text.”

“
I’ll be
back
home. Don’t worry. I’m happy.
”
AJ said in disgust. “What does she know about being happy? When I get my hands
on that guy, I swear I’ll kill him.”

“No!” Rosalinda’s desperate voice
filled the room. “If you attack him,
Catalella
will
only defend him. We will be the bad guys.”

“So what are you saying?” Lisette
asked as she took a step forward.

“
Catalella
wants to behave like an adult. We give her a chance at being an adult,” Adrian
said.

“Papa, you are not serious.”
Lisette saw the hard set of his face, and she knew there was no way
Catalella
was escaping her latest mistake without a lesson.

“But you will give her some money?”
AJ asked.

“No. In fact, to be sure the two of
you will not go behind my back and help
them,
I am
freezing your accounts. Any money you want, you can get it directly from me.”
Adrian ignored the protest echoing in the room. “Plus, I think it is time the
both of you moved out, to show
Catalella
that you can
also make it on your own. You will obviously stay in apartments I rent for you.
Not too far from your mother and me.”

“If you are
giving us apartments, why don’t you give
Catalella
one?”
Lisette asked.

“Both of you are past the age of
twenty-one, and have limited access to the hundred thousand in your accounts.
That is where your rent money and allowances will come from. And Michael
Mathews has taken the responsibility of caring for your sister,” Adrian said.
“He was after
Catalella’s
money when he married her.”

AJ let out a bark of laughter and
Lisette quickly joined in. “He is going to be shocked.”

“Yes he is,” Adrian said with a sly
grin. “I know you have a weakness for your little sister, but you have to let
her learn on her own. That includes you Rosalinda.”

Lisette shot a glance at her
mother. She had stopped crying now, and was shooting daggers at Adrian. It was
obvious she didn’t agree. There was no other way to release
Catalella
from Michael, unless…

“I need to talk to you.” Reno’s hot
breath tickled her eardrum.

Lisette felt a sliver of weakness
run through her body. She didn’t want to get her heart broken again, and her
body always seemed to betray her mind whenever they were alone together. “I
can’t right now. My sister is missing.”

“I know that.” He groaned. “I have
been up all night looking for her.”

“You have?” She stared at him in
shock. When she thought she had finally gotten him pegged down he always seemed
to surprise her.