Page 76 of Daddies of the Underworld

Matteo stepped close enough to block Nina from anyone passing on the sidewalk. “We move now.”

I already had my phone out. “Car is two minutes away. Decoy will pull up first and the second car takes us away from here.”

Nina blinked like she had to pull herself back. “Where?”

“Safe house.” I had been working on this since the day we found her. I knew there was every possibility that someone besides us would come for her. I'd prepared to move even while holding out hope that I was wrong.

“Good.” That one word from Nina meant more than I could ever imagine.

Matteo crossed the street, intercepting Luca and Sofia. Seconds later, Luca scooped Sofia into his arms and hurried them both over to stand beside me. Luca turned so Sofia was hidden between him and the building.

“Are we going home?” Sofia licked her ice cream cone and draped her arm around Luca’s neck.

Luca swiped ice cream from her cheek, wiping it on his pants. “No, little star. We need to go somewhere else for a little while.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere secret.” I grinned at her like nothing was amiss. She likely knew better. Little thing was more observant than we initially gave her credit for. It was a mistake we would not make again. “It’s a special place.”

The first SUV pulled up to the curb. The second arrived ten seconds later from the opposite direction. Matteo leaped into the front passenger seat while I put Nina and Sofia in the middle row with Luca beside them. Two of our men followed in the decoy as we peeled out. They split off three blocks later, and we swapped cars at a service entrance behind a closed bakery ten minutes after that.

It took forty minutes to drive to the safe house, with our driver switching and backtracking enough times that even a pro would get lost. We pulled into a quiet neighborhood after a third car change, the driver not stopping until we wheeled into a covered garage detached from the house. An underground tunnel system led from the garage to a basement that wasn’t on any of the blueprints, and the man who’d built it was dead. Not because of us. Someone else had gotten to him.

I had chosen it weeks ago and had it stocked. I had hated every minute we’d spent not using it, all while holding onto that tiny thread of hope that my paranoia would not be needed.

No such fucking luck.

I’d turned off my emotions the moment I saw the name on my phone. They were still off, but I did my best to comfort Nina and Sofia. Mostly I relied on Luca to take care of their emotional needs, but I answered questions when I could. The rest of the time was spent watching our surroundings and staying in contact with the rest of our protective detail.

This–keeping them safe–was my job. It was the only thing that I could think about right now or I’d lose my mind.

Sofia had fallen asleep somewhere along the way, and she woke up enough to mumble something about melted ice cream when Nina pulled her into her arms and scooted from the car.

I led the way to the hidden door, then through the concrete tunnel and into the basement. Three men waited for us there, and all three nodded at me in unison.

“Koda and Brenden are outside making rounds. Cameras are on. House has been secured. No one in or out.” Jerome, the man on the left, tapped his earpiece. “We’re on channel four if you want to chime in.”

“Good work.” I clapped each man on the shoulder and unlocked the door to a set of stairs. “Bedrooms are upstairs. There’s a safe room behind the pantry wall. Medical supplies in the bathroom. I have cameras over every entrance. The back fence is reinforced. No one comes through the neighborhood without me hearing about it.”

Nina gave me a sad, tired smile. “You’ve been busy.”

“Not done yet.” I couldn’t take the words as a compliment. “Let me know if you need anything. I prepared the best I could. Sofia’s room is the third on the right.” I managed a tiny smile. “Everything is purple and glittery.”

Nina snorted, the sound just enough to jostle Sofia from sleep. “Let me get her settled, then we need to talk.”

“I’ll be in the kitchen.” I had no intention of arguing with her. Whatever she wanted, I would give. If it was within my limits and would not compromise her safety. Once she turned away and her footsteps moved up the staircase, I settled at the white counter with my laptop open and scanned through the reports.

Time slowed to a crawl as I waited for Nina, and the images on my computer screen did nothing to ease the coiled tension in my gut. Whoever left the gruesome message would not stop. Threats wouldn’t curtail this kind of behavior. They had to be found and eliminated. I’d learned a long time ago not to flinch at the thought of taking a life, but I hesitated now as I considered all the potential ramifications and side trails that had brought us to this point. Nina’s brother was still a wild card we’d never found.

“Tell me about the guards.” Nina walked into the kitchen with her chin up. “Names. Families. I need them to be real to me. I didn’t even know they were watching us.” A scowl twisted her lips. “I thought I was observant, Dante. I could feel you watching me. I felt it for weeks. But these men.” She stopped and waved a hand at the computer screen.

I’d closed the images when I heard her approach. There were parts of this life she did not need to see. “They had families.” The tension in my chest squeezed tighter. “They’ve been notified and they will be compensated and taken care of to the best of our abilities. It will not ease the pain of loss.”

Matteo joined us. “All cell phones have been tossed. No phones except secured lines.” He met and held Nina’s gaze. “No school.”

“We’re not keeping her here forever.” She crossed her arms, then let them fall, her defiance melting as the full weight of the situation settled on her shoulders. “Priorities, right? We stay alive first, worry about everything else second.”

“Right.” It was good to hear her so calm about the situation. I had expected tears, maybe some anger.