AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dante moves behind me, pulling me back against his chest as it starts to ring again and pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“This is a good thing,” he reminds me, his solid warmth grounding me.
“I know, I know.”
But that doesn’t stop my heart from trying to pound out of my chest as I wait for Frank to pick the fuck up already.
Dante’s got one hand on my stomach, holding me against him, and I cover it with mine, tangling our fingers together to keep mine from shaking as I wait through another six rings. Then it goes to voicemailagain.
I end it and hit the call button again with a curse.
“I’ll drive you over there,” Dante says as it starts to ring again. “Let me tell Madd and Logan where we’re headed, then we’ll—”
Dante’s mouth snaps closed when Frank finally answers, his voice so faint I can barely hear him.
“Ri…ley?”
“Frank? Frank! What’s happening? What did Chloe say to you? Is she okay? Did she tell you where she is? Is she with you?”
All I get back is the sound of his rattling breath.
It sounds unnatural.
Broken.
I squeeze Dante’s hand so hard I lose feeling in my fingers, and he dips his head lower, pressing his cheek against mine, like he’s listening in too.
“Dad?” I blurt into the phone. “What’s happening? Goddammit, you piece of shit, answer me!”
Frank doesn’t, and after a moment, Dante pulls me around to face him, his face grave.
“He’s such a fucking asshole,” I whisper, still clutching the phone. “Why won’t he fucking say something?”
“He can’t, princess,” Dante says, his voice grim. “He’s dying.”
32
RILEY
I shakemy head in denial. “Frank? Frank! Dad? Just… just answer me!”
I hear another slow, wheezing breath—an exhalation that almost sounds like my name—and then nothing but the wet, rattling sound of a man choking on every inhalation.
Dante steps away, pulling out his own phone and getting Maddoc on the line. Once he’s given him an update, he reaches for my hand. “Put it away,” he says, nodding toward my phone. “Let’s go.”
I nod, feeling numb, but hit the “end call” button and do it.
As soon as we get in the Escalade, Dante peels out. “They’re meeting us there.”
“Where?” I whisper, that numbness making it hard to think.
He cuts a glance my way, then puts his foot down on the gas, blowing through a stop sign. “Frank’s place. Maddoc and Logan are on their way.” He reaches over and grabs one of my hands, squeezing it. “Hold on, princess.”
I squeeze his hand back, and suddenly all the foggy numbness is swept away by a tidal wave of other feelings. Anxiety curls in my gut, my mind racing over all the questions Frank couldn’t answer for me on the phone. “Do you think he was lying?”
Dante glances at me again. “About Chloe getting in touch with him?”
I nod, my shoulder hitting the passenger door as he roars around a corner faster than the Escalade is designed for.
