“I said I should take the lead.” Spade grinned, and I knew I immediately had to put a stop to that.
“Nope, he’ll be dead by the time any of us get in there.” I placed a hand on my hip, but he only laughed and threaded his fingers through mine.
“Oh, you know me so well, sugar.”
“We can’t really stop her if she wants to go in first.” I shrugged, drawing glares from Merrick and Kellan. “It’s her shop, and her choice. I don’t like it, but she knows him best, and it was her idea after all.”
Francine sat up a little straighter, her lips curled into a triumphant grin.
“Fine, but we’ll only give you a minute, then we’re coming in.” Kellan’s tone was harsher than usual, and I knew he wouldn’t brook any arguments.
Francine seemed to sense the same since she just nodded, her smile dimming a bit, but that was the best we could do.
“Okay then.” I clapped my hands, not wanting the conversation to lapse into any more disagreements. “Let’s have lunch, then we can show Francine around the property. The twenty-four-hour mark isn’t until eleven tonight, so we should all get some downtime before we head out.”
Merrick nodded his agreement. “We’ll get you a room or take you back to the motel if you want to get some rest.”
“Knowing you, if I return to the motel, you’ll try to leave me there.” Francine glared at the guys before taking a sip from her mug.
“I wouldn’t let them do that,” I said. “But you don’t need to. There are still a few empty rooms you can use.”
“Thank you.” Her eyes softened as they met mine.
“Did I hear lunch?” Sophia asked excitedly, bounding into the room with Sebastian unsurprisingly on her heels. Thankfully she wasn’t shouting about it this time. Her brow pinched before settling in the seat next to Francine.
I would take the little wins. And if Sophia felt marginally better after our talk, that was all that mattered to me, even if they ended up still sniping at each other.
Chapter Seventeen
Giana
Thewindwhistledthroughthe alley, sending a shiver of apprehension up my spine. The main street was like a ghost town tonight, not a person in sight. That was better than having the place crawling with Angelo’s men, but it was disconcerting nonetheless.
“Alert us if anyone pulls up to the front of the building,” Merrick growled into the earpiece as we approached the back of the ice cream shop.
“10-4,” Nicholas said, and the radio went silent.
We weren’t sure how Lorenzo was getting in and out of the shop unseen, but we’d had at least one person watching the cameras all day, and they didn’t capture him once.
“Are you sure you want to go in alone?” Kellan asked, his lips quirking to the side. I could tell he really didn’t like this idea, but we couldn’t stop her.
“Of course I am,” Francine huffed, pulling her jacket tighter around her as the cold air wrapped around us. It was getting colder and colder every day as autumn quickly took hold. “Imagine the situation was reversed and it was one of you I was meeting. I know you all like you’re my own children. Even when Giana left, I knew there was something else going on.”
“Yeah, and you just had to meddle when I came back,” I teased, and she narrowed her eyes at me.
“And I knew you’d be grateful I did.”
“Always.” I placed my hand on her shoulder in reassurance. “We’ll be right outside; just radio us if you need anything.”
She clasped her shaky palm over mine and squeezed, nodding in agreement, before she rolled her shoulders back and strode for the door into the back of her shop.
Merrick started the timer on his watch, none of us wanting to go over the minute we promised her. I trusted Francine knew what she was doing, but I couldn’t trust Lorenzo, not before I truly knew which face was the real one.
Spade zipped up my leather jacket, helping to keep some of the chill out. I hadn’t even noticed I’d been shivering until he wrapped me up in his arms, letting his warmth soak into me. I wasn’t convinced that the tremors wracking my body were from the cold rather than unease, but either way, Spade’s body cocooning mine seemed to do the trick.
The moment the timer went off, Merrick and Kellan had their guns drawn and out at their sides, ready for anything as we entered. The lights were off, the blinds shuttered to keep anyone from seeing inside, but there wasn’t a sound that reached the kitchen as we silently closed the door behind us. My stomach twisted, and we quickened our pace to the open doorway.
I froze as their shrouded forms came into view. Lorenzo was crouched low, embracing Francine in a tight hug.
