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“I’m aware,” Sandro says darkly. “Well? Will you tell us where he is?”
“I don’t know. He came to me last night. We…talked. I thought…” I take a breath. “Wait. Get off me.”
I say it calmly enough that Sandro removes his knee from my shoulder, and I push myself up into a sitting position, legs sprawled wide, trying to get my head to work. “He’s really missing? He’s not with you?”
“We haven’t seen him since he left Redwood—several days ago, now,” Sandro replies, his jaw clenched tight.
“We’ve looked everywhere, but there’s no sign of him,” Jacopo adds. “What Sandro’s saying is the truth, Leo. We only want to stop him doing more damage. That’s all.”
“He was with me last night, but…”
Shit.
Sandro and Jacopo stand, and then Jacopo helps me up. I pull up my t-shirt to wipe my face down, trying to make sense of everything. “He was afraid you’d put him in the cells,” I tell Sandro. “He didn’t want to get locked up. He didn’t kill Vinnie.”
“He said that?” Jacopo asks.
“He said it and he fuckingmeantit. And I believed him.”
Sandro and Jacopo exchange another look, the kind that drips with meaning, and is real fucking annoying when you’re the fifth wheel standing there with a dizzy head.
“He left,” I go on. “I woke up and he wasn’t there. I thought he was just, you know. Processing. Dealing with his shit. But I haven’t heard from him all day.”
“He left of his own accord?” Sandro asks.
“Chain was off the door. And I can’t imagine someone’d break in quiet enough to get by both Julianandme. Besides, hardly anyone knows where I live.” I can count them on one hand. Julian. Rachel. AJ. But again, Rachel or AJ would have to break in—and why would they?
I’m more inclined to think Julian left my apartment willingly. With I sigh, I tip my head back, trying to think, and find myself squinting at the moon.
At a big, bright,fatmoon.
“Was it a full moon last night?” I ask.
Jacopo pulls out his phone and does a quick search. “Yep. What’re you thinking, Big Guy? Werewolf?”
“Not helpful,” is Sandro’s clipped response.
“Julian has a thing for the full moon,” I tell them. “Maybe he went outside to look at it. He likes to do that.”
After a moment, Jacopo asks, “Why?”
“Reminds him of his mother.”
Sandro shoots me a look of surprise. “Ah,” he says softly. “Is that it? The guards tell me he does it every month, wanders the grounds under the full moon, but I never…” He shakes his head. “So let’s say my brother went outside to look at the moon. Where is he now?”
“Maybe someone took him?” Jacopo suggests.
“Who the fuck would try to take Julian Castellani?” I point out. But Sandro hesitates. “What?” I demand. “What is it?”
“Two of our own men tried to jump him recently,” he admits. “They were...unsuccessful. Perhaps someone has tried again. Many more someones.”
“But why?” I ask, bewildered. My hands are shaking with adrenaline. Sandro and Jacopo seem tense. Worried. “And who?” I add. “Who would want to take him?”
“Someone who knows what he’s capable of and wants to use him for their own ends,” Jacopo says grimly.
“Or someone who wants to hurt the Castellani Family,” Sandro adds. There’s a challenge in his eyes, daring me to deny the possibility. The implication is clear: this could be my father’s work. I need to tread carefully.
“Alright,” I say finally, my voice strained. “Let’s say someone snatched him. Let’salsosay he’s still alive. We need to find him.”
