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“Why didn’t you just testify against Dante, put his ass in jail?”
I swallowed hard. Shaking my head, I knew I shouldn’t even be still here, let alone talking to Charity about this.
“The first person I told was Antonio. He was working undercover to take the family down. By the time Antonio had gotten to where it happened, everything had been cleaned up, the body moved. He had no proof Dante had killed his father. It was my word against his.”
Wrapping my arms around my body, I glanced out onto the balcony. “Dante threatened me and said if I told anyone, he was going to kill me and my family.”
“That had to have been terrible.”
Nodding, I whispered, “It was. The FBI promised protection, but Antonio decided it would be safer if he faked my death and only my father and he were in on it. They didn’t tell my mother right away because they needed her to act like her only daughter had just died.”
Charity gasped.
“The last six years my brother has been waiting for Dante to screw up. And Lucas would be there to get it all.”
“Whose Lucas?”
I was telling Charity way too much information, but God it felt good to get it all out.
“Lucas was the inside guy Antonio had planted with Dante. Not FBI, an old friend of his that pretty much buried himself into the family as a payback for my brother saving his life. He was there waiting for Dante to slip up.”
“Holy shit. This feels like a damn movie.”
With a soft laugh, I stood. “Yeah. A horror movie.”
Nic and Cole were both looking down at something going on.
“What are they doing out there?”
“Nic mentioned something about a car sitting out there.” She took me by the arms and faced me to her.
“Let me make you something to drink or eat.”
Frantically shaking my head, I replied, “I have to go, Charity. If I don’t leave soon . . . something . . . something terrible could happen.” My voice cracked.
Strong arms wrapped around my body.
“Nothing is going to happen,” Nic whispered in my ear.
My head dropped back to his chest. Oh, how I wanted to believe him.
“I’ll make something to eat for us all,” Charity said as she glanced over to Cole.
“You don’t understand, I have to leave before . . .”
The knock on the door had us all frozen in place. Nic placed his finger on my chin. “Baby, breathe. I think it’s just going to be your brother.”
My brows furrowed. “What?”
Nic motioned for Cole to come stand next to me. Cole grabbed Charity’s hand and pulled her with him as he stood in front of both of us. My head peeked around his body as I watched Nic head toward the door. My breath caught in my throat.
He looked out first, then reached for the door handle.
The pounding of my heart in my chest was almost unbearable. “Nic! Don’t!” I cried out.
My knees almost buckled when I saw my brother standing in the doorway.
“Antonio?” I gasped.
His eyes found mine.
“Gabi, are you okay?”
Rushing around Cole, I ran to my brother. “What’s going on? Why are you here? What’s happening?”
Antonio laughed then wrapped his arm around me. “Christ, Gabi. Catch your breath and invite your brother into your house.”
I stared at him like he had grown two heads. “Not more than an hour ago you were telling me to leave. Now you want me to show you the place?”
He nodded. “Yes. But first, I think you need to introduce me to someone.”
All I could do was stand there and look at him. He finally took me by my arms and said, “Gabi, it’s over. Dante will never hurt you.”
The air left my lungs and I had to reach for his arms to steady myself. “What do you mean it’s over?”
His eyes swung over to Nic, then back to me.
“Let’s sit down. I’ll explain everything.”
I sat with my hand in Nic’s as Antonio explained everything to me. How Lucas had alerted him to Dante finding my picture in the Denver paper and how Dante had been having someone follow me since he found out where I was. He even knew I went to Italy. Lucas had secretly recorded Dante’s plan to kidnap me.
My entire body shuddered.
“Is that why you had so much security in Italy? You thought he’d show up?”
He nodded. “I knew I was risking things, but it was the only way to get Dante to come to you.”
My stomach churned as a wave of nausea hit me. “Come to me? You wanted him to find me?”
“Once I found out Dante had found you and was crafting a plan, I went to the FBI and got them involved.”
My mouth dropped open. “You said you couldn’t trust anyone in the FBI. That’s why you came up with this whole plan to keep me away.”
