Page 75 of Daddies of the Underworld

Dante looked up from where he was adjusting Sofia's posture. “She asked how not to trip.”

“Then why does it look like you're putting her in the same fighting stance you taught me when we were doing defense classes?” I almost felt guilty for the way the light in his eyes dimmed at my question.

Dante gave me a look I had no trouble interpreting. “There will not be any fighting.”

He said it like it was a guaranteed thing, but we all knew the kind of life that they led and the problems that were always waiting on the horizon. It wasn't that I was even opposed to him teaching self-defense to our daughter. Honestly, I wasn't even sure what I was opposed to.

Luca and Matteo wandered over to a far corner while Dante taught Sofia how to stand without locking her knees. When she mastered that, he taught her how to catch herself with her hands without hurting her wrists. From there, they moved on to how to roll onto the folded coat from a crouch.

By the fourth try, she rolled onto Dante’s coat and sprang up with both arms in the air. “I did it!”

Luca cheered like she'd won an Olympic medal.

Matteo applauded. Seeing someone who moved only when absolutely necessary break into a wide smile at Sofia's accomplishment did undignified things to my heart.

By the time we walked outside, the city had softened into late afternoon. The sun pushed through the clouds enough to turn the dirty slush along the curb silver. It was the only time it might resemble anything close to pretty. Sofia walked between Matteo and Dante, holding one hand from each, while Luca fell in step beside me.

Ahead of us, Sofia demanded a swing. Matteo and Dante exchanged one quick look, then lifted her on three. Her boots left the sidewalk, and her laugh shot through the cold air.

My breath burst out in a cloud of white. I’d always been able to talk to Luca, and I fell into that same rhythm now. “I'm scared, Luca.”

Dante's phone rang before Luca could reassure me. He released Sofia's hand and stepped away as he answered, and the small warmth of the afternoon disappeared. Three weeks of pancakes, bookstore trips, homework, learning to play chess, and Sofia laughing between them collapsed into the space between one ring and the next because I recognized that look on Dante’s face.

Dante listened without speaking, his eyes moving over the street. The man who had folded his coat on a museum floor so Sofia could practice falling was gone, tucked away behind this one…the one who knew exactly how fast a day could turn dangerous.

He ended the call and looked at Matteo.

My stomach dropped before he said a word. “What happened?”

Dante raised his head to the sky and took in a long, slow breath. “Luca, would you like to take Sofia to get an ice cream?”

Sofia, completely oblivious to the adults’ concern, ran over and grabbed Luca's hand, already pulling him toward the local ice cream shop that had her favorite flavors.

This was bad. Very, very bad. This was the kind of bad where he did not want Sofia to overhear even a single word.

Dante took a step toward me. “The two guards at your apartment are dead.” He winced and shook his head. “God I wish I could ease into this, but it isn’t possible. I’m sorry, Nina. That’s not all. There was a message. Written in blood.”

“What did it say?” I didn’t want to know. Not really. But I had to. They’d promised to let me be part of everything this time. I couldn’t shy away from the hard parts.

“Sofia.” Dante was there as my knees went weak.

I looked back to make sure he wasn’t actually calling her name, and the truth slammed into me.

Whoever had killed those men, they’d written my daughter’s name in blood.

26

DANTE

This was all our fault. If we had never come here, it was likely they would never have found her.

As it was, blood messages did not leave room for gentle transitions.

Nina stared at me from the sidewalk, her face pale enough that I put a hand at her waist before she tipped too far. She caught herself before I had to hold her upright.

Across the street, Luca stood inside the ice cream shop with Sofia at the counter. He had one hand on her shoulder and the other pointing at the flavors like mint chocolate chip. Sofia bounced on her toes, completely unaware that her name had just been written in blood across the wall outside the apartment where she kept her books, mismatched socks, and one-eyed rabbit.

Let her stay unaware for one more minute before we upended her life.