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“Oh. You could have talked to her.”
“It’s fine. She was just checking in. Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich.”
“No, I’m good. I think I’ll go lay down if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, go ahead.”
I stood, feeling this space between us, something strange that hadn’t been there before. But then she walked over to me and hugged me.
“You’ll be okay, sis. I won’t let him hurt you. I’ll take care of everything.”
An unease settled over me as I made my way up to my old bedroom. Something in her tone or posture was off…wrong. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, though. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was the five years between us. She’d changed too, just like all of us. She’d grown a little harder. But maybe that was what she’d needed to do to survive.After a short rest and a microwave dinner later in the evening, I’d gotten ready and gone to sleep in my old bedroom, the sinking feeling never leaving my stomach. It wasn’t too much later when I woke to rain beating against the window and voices arguing. I sat up and glanced at the time on my phone. It was a little after midnight. The display showed eight missed calls, all from—surprise, surprise—Salvatore.
I guess he’d gotten home from Natalie’s. Asshole.
I ignored the messages, got out of bed, and cracked the door open. The voices came from downstairs. It was Isabella and a man. Although I knew the voice, I couldn’t place it. It didn’t belong here.
“You promised me. I don’t want him hurt!”
My sister sounded agitated.
“I’m placating. Relax.”
“How the fuck can I relax? God, I wish this were over!”
I stepped out onto the landing and crept over to the stairs. Hearing the familiar creak on the third step, I froze, hoping they hadn’t heard. They continued arguing.
“You need to go. You can’t be here.”
I suspected my sister didn’t realize she was whispering that loud.
“I took care of what you wanted done. Don’t I get a little reward?”
What you wanted done?
“I’m sure Salvatore will be here any minute. He’s not stupid, he knows where she’d run to. Get out of here before he gets here.”
Salvatore was coming?
“I parked a few blocks down. I’ll duck into a room. No worries, babe.”
Was that Dominic? Calling my sister babe?”
Tires screeched to a halt just outside the house. Headlights shone through the windows, and a car door slammed shut.
“Pussy whipped,” the man said just as someone leaned on the doorbell.
I turned and ran into my room, pretending to just come out of it when I saw Izzy run to the door.
“Is that the doorbell?” I asked, not wanting her to know I’d overheard anything.
“Here we go,” Izzy said.
I walked down the stairs. Izzy opened the front door.
A soaked and furious Salvatore stood just on the other side, his gaze fixed on me.15Salvatore“It’s the middle of the night,” Isabella said, standing in the doorway.
I looked over her shoulder and saw Lucia standing on the bottom step of the stairway. “I won’t be long,” I said, my eyes trained on Lucia. “I’m just here to collect what’s mine.” I then turned to Isabella. “Move.”
“No.”
“Move.”
“I’ll call the police.”
“I own the police.”
“It’s okay, Izzy. Let him in.”
Lucia stepped down from the stairs and folded her arms across her chest. She wore a short pink nightshirt that reached to just beneath her ass, and her hair looked like it did when she woke up: a beautiful mess.
“You don’t have to listen to him,” Isabella said, although she stepped aside.
Lucia’s eyes were locked on mine.
“Get your things,” I said to her.
“How’s Natalie?”
“Natalie? That’s why you left?” I’d gotten home to find my cell phone in the toilet. Had Natalie sent another text that Lucia had read? My phone was password protected, but the messages flashed and stayed on the screen for long enough that she wouldn’t have needed the password.
Lucia stuck her chin out. She was jealous. She was fucking jealous.
I watched her, and the longer I did, the more nervous she became, shifting on her feet, biting her lip.
“Let’s go home. We’ll talk about it there.”
“This is my home, Salvatore. I’m staying here.”
I stepped toward her, dropping my gaze to her bare feet with their pretty pink toenails, before I took her arms and unfolded them. I attempted a smile. I’d been pissed when I’d gotten home to find out she’d run. Marco had tried to get hold of me, but all he’d been able to do was leave messages and assume I got them. But since my phone was in the toilet, I’d only found out about Lucia leaving when I got home around eleven at night.
But now, understanding why she’d run, I wasn’t angry. I was surprised.
“You’re coming with me,” I said in a quiet whisper. I didn’t care if her sister could hear or not. I also couldn’t have cared any less what she thought of me. I’d talked to Roman about the DNA tests, and I was putting two and two together. “Your home is not here, not anymore. It’s with me.”
