This was Sean. Sean. Who apparently had always been a master at hiding the truth. Could he have sunk any lower?
“You’re a double agent? You’re the mole inside the Lazlo Group. Oh my God.” She couldn’t catch her breath. “You not only lied to me, but you lied to Corbett, too? You’ve double-crossed everyone.”
After a moment of stunned silence, Sean laughed. This shocked her even further, though it was a hollow sound. “Come on, Nat. Be realistic. You know better.”
“Do I?” She resisted the urge to rub her stinging eyes. “Apparently I don’t know you at all.”
The guarded expression of mirth that he’d affected vanished. Hurt darkened his eyes. “I know I hurt you, but I did what I thought was best. For you. So you could live. Now, I might have done things differently, but—”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” she cut him off. “Answer the question, Sean. Are you the mole?”
“Of course not. I can’t believe you would think such a thing.”
“Can’t you?” Again her anger, always close to the surface, bubbled up. “Nothing you’ve told me is true. Why should this be any different?”
He sighed. “I worked for the Hungarian briefly, a long time ago, before I knew any better.”
She felt as though she’d been zapped by a Taser. “You … worked for him? Then you know who he is.”
“Not really. I told you—I’ve seen his face. But his real name—no one knows that. We all called him Big V. That was before he became known as the Hungarian.”
She had to ask. “What did you do for him? What kind of work?” Praying he wouldn’t tell her he’d been the assassin for an organization that bordered on terrorism.
“I did very little work.” Brows lowered, he looked annoyed. “Like I keep trying to tell you, I didn’t work for him that long. He’s the one who arranged the meeting with Corbett. He was aware Corbett liked that restaurant, so he got me a job there and made sure I got Corbett’s section. I guess he must have known Corbett would be a sucker for someone like me—a young man with a good education but no direction.”
She gaped at him. “You’re telling me the Hungarian—”
“Sent me in to take down Corbett. Yes. But I couldn’t. Once I got to know him and saw what he was like …”
His voice broke. “So I pretended to be waiting for the right opportunity, which of course never came. Eventually, Big V began to question me, and I broke off all contact.”
Now the vendetta made more sense.
“You double-crossed the Hungarian? One of the most powerful underworld bosses in the world?”
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I barely knew him. I worked for him while I was at university. After I graduated, Corbett took me in, taught me the ropes. Helped me believe in myself. I couldn’t do what I’d been sent to do.”
“Why’d he want to kill Corbett?”
“No clue.” Shaking his head, his expression was grim. “But he’s hated him for years. Corbett can tell you the exact number of attempts that have been made to kill him over the years.”
“And the e-mails? Are they from him, too?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve tried to trace them, but the trail leads right back to the Lazlo Group’s server.”
She took a deep breath. “All right, so you never told me. I’ll try to deal with that. But why didn’t you tell Corbett the truth? He was your mentor.”
“Tell him? How could I?” Expression anguished, he took a step toward her, then stopped. “I was afraid. Afraid he’d stop trusting me. Afraid he’d send me back into the streets where I’d be at the complete mercy of the man I betrayed.” He sighed. “Then I met you and fell in love. I couldn’t go back. I didn’t want to go back.”
“Didn’t you realize if the Hungarian could hate Corbett for years, he could surely want to make you pay, no matter how long it took?”
“At first I didn’t. I was young and green. I didn’t fully understand how much power Big V had at his disposal. He gave me no warning, nothing. He simply sent his people in and obliterated my entire family. I knew you were next.”
“So you ‘died.’” Even remembering hurt.
“I had to.” The earnestness in his voice made her throat ache. “Don’t you understand? You were next. He means to torture and kill everyone I ever cared about.”
As if he was the only one who’d suffered.
“I lost the baby.” She hadn’t meant to say that. Once the words were out, she desperately wanted to call them back. Oddly enough, she felt as though she’d been the one hiding secrets from him.
He froze. “What baby?”
Swallowing, she braced herself to say the words. Bringing it up again only served to awaken old grief, old pain.
“I was pregnant, Sean. With our child.”
“You didn’t tell me?”
“I was going to tell you that night, the night you ‘died.’” Her voice broke, but she forced herself to continue. “I had everything planned. I thought we could announce it to your entire family together.”
The anguish in his face mirrored that in her heart.
“Sweet Jesus … I didn’t know.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” she lied. She’d convinced herself she was all right for so long, she didn’t dare fall apart now.
Now he did come to her, pulling her into his arms. “Did you tell anyone?”
“Only my father, and I swore him to secrecy.” She held herself stiffly, unwilling to take comfort from Sean now, when it was far too late.
“I didn’t know,” he murmured again, his voice breaking. “God, Nat. I’m terribly, terribly sorry.”
“Yeah. Me, too.” Pushing him away before she lost control and started weeping, Natalie tried for stoic and settled on disgust. “I’ve already grieved for him, Sean. Two years ago.”
He winced. “Our son?” His voice was hoarse. “You’re telling me we would have had a son?”
Managing a nod, she said nothing. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Not yet.
He reached for her again. “What you’ve been through …”
Evading him, she took a step back and shook her head. “I survived. Just like you.” Taking a deep breath, irrationally proud that her voice sounded steady, she met his gaze. “About the Hungarian, Sean. Big V. You need to tell Corbett.”
“I know.” He began to pace, his agitated movements
