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“They told you to… blackmail me?” I asked, putting the pieces together. “A cop told you that?”
“A detective, but yes. That was why he was at the hospital. He was so upset that he maybe gave me the wrong advice.”
“That’s a good man,” I said, nodding. He wasn’t in anyone’s pocket that I knew of. I swear every organization in Navesink Bank had a list of the crooked, and the not-so-crooked cops. Hart and Carver were as incorruptible as Collings had been. But I guess they were more like Collings than we’d realized. Because while Collings couldn’t be bought, he also understood how shit worked in our town. He knew that while we were criminals, some of us were more upstanding than others, and could be trusted to keep their business between fellow criminals, never involving innocents, and therefore, he never felt the need to step in.
“He is,” she agreed, giving me a sleepy smile. “I was thinking of what he would tell me to say whenever I was pulled out of the trunk. And then I did that.”
“What’d you say?”
“I was kind of a bitch—“
“Not possible.”
“It is. I was. They hated me. Well, evil-eyes hated me the most. Bushy-brows wasn’t, you know, the brightest bulb. And Luigi was just curious. I told them that I had all sorts of information about you and the Family. Codes to security systems and stuff. I think they half-believed me. Enough that they didn’t kill me or rape me like I think they first intended. And then you showed up,” she said, reaching over to take my hand, and giving it a squeeze. “I rushed out the back door. The rest… you saw.”
“Never again,” I promised.
“You keep saying that. You don’t have to. I believe you,” she told me, pulling my hand over to press a kiss to the back of it before letting her eyes drift close.
“Go ahead and sleep. We have a while yet, baby,” I told her.
She was out cold not ten minutes later.
I drove in silence, listening to the incessant bleeping of my phone as texts kept rolling in.
I could deal with all that later.
Right then, I needed to get my girl home.
I had to get her comfortable.
I had to show her how sorry I was.
And take all the steps necessary to make sure I could keep my promise about it never happening again.
My house was lit up when I pulled into the driveway, every single light on, including the basement and attic.
Sofia’s car was in the drive, along with the guards we’d left behind.
“Baby, we’re home,” I whispered as I ran my finger down Josie’s cheek until she stirred, nose twitching at the touch.
“Hm?” she asked, slow-blinking at me.
“We’re home. Want to go in and get in bed?”
“With you?” she asked, somehow sleepy and sexy at the same time. “Always.”
“There are going to be people in the house,” I warned her.
“I can be quiet,” she said, eyes dancing.
“No, actually, you can’t,” I said, chuckling, trying to keep focused, and not let my mind go there. I needed to get her tucked in, but then I had a long couple of hours left before I could get any rest.
“You’ve got me there,” she said, un-clicking her seatbelt as I cut the engine and climbed out, making my way around to her. “I’m not hurt,” she assured me when my arm went around her again.
I wasn’t so sure I believed her on that. She was walking in shorter steps and leaning a bit to her side. The running had probably bothered her ribs again.
“Josie!” Smush yelled as soon as we moved in through the front door, rushing forward, eyes big, worried.
“She’s okay, Sm… Sofia,” I said when her hard gaze slid to me.
“Okay? She’s not o-fucking-kay. Look at her neck! Would you be okay if someone strangled you? No, I don’t think so,” Sofia said, pulling Josie out of my hold, leading her forward.
“Oh, my girl!” Aunt Adrian cried when we made our way into the kitchen. “My sweet, sweet girl,” she said, rushing forward to wrap her arms around Josie, pulling her into a tight, motherly hug, the likes of which I’d felt many a-time from my aunt. “You must have been so scared. But you were so brave. Aurelio said so,” she added, giving Josie a tighter squeeze.
“Ma, she doesn’t need to be strangled twice in one night,” Smush said, shaking her head at her mother.
“Oh, no. Oh, your throat,” Adrian said, pulling back and inspecting Josie’s neck. “You need to ice it.”
“Matteo gave me ice in the car,” Josie assured her.
“Good boy,” Aunt Adrian said, nodding. “And I’m assuming we won’t be having any more incidents any time soon, yes?”
“Everything has been… taken care of,” I said nodding. “Well, not everything,” I said, my gaze cutting to the basement door.
