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I kissed her forehead. “Go with Knox.”
Clutching my jacket around her torso, she scrambled up the steps and into the house.
Anna stood next to me. “What happened to Allegra?”
“Before I found her? I don’t know. She hasn’t said.” My jaw ached from clenching. “I didn’t want to ask her. She’s focused on her sister.”
Anna glanced over her shoulder to the doorway. Giada leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed.
“Keep her away from Allegra and Dee. But don’t leave her alone.” I met my beautiful, trusting, sister’s eyes. “Do you remember our conversations at the funeral?”
She nodded once. “That our enemy was in the family. Is it true?” she whisper-asked. “About Luca?” Tears welled in her eyes.
I nodded, and she gasped. I brushed my thumb across her cheek. “Later.”
Our father confided in Giada more than his flesh and blood. Now, he was dead.
The sedan stopped. Timoteo met Santino and thumped his back with a fist in a rough hug.
Don Jilani approached me with a man who might have been a few years older than me, but not what I expected for a family physician. He carried a small medical suitcase. “Where are my girls?”
“Inside. Anna will show you to the great room.”
“I want to see my daughters.”
I rested my hand on his shoulder. “It’s been a long night, Salvatore. They’re both here and safe. They both require medical attention.” A father didn’t need to see the trauma to his daughter…neither did a husband. My gut tightened when I thought of what Allegra might have suffered.
Byrne’s sexual appetite was no secret. Pressure coiled around my throat, strangling me, the thought of him touching my wife slipping into my thoughts like poison. Had he violated her?
Deidre had yet to speak. She clung to Knox, a ghost of the girl who’d been feisty and full of mischief.
“Felix Senna,” Salvatore said. “The doc.”
The doctor followed me into the house and up the stairs to the bedrooms. I knocked once and opened the door.
Knox sat on the chaise, his head tipped back, and his eyes closed. Covered with a throw, Deidre curled up next to him.
Knox lifted his head. “She cried when I tried to set her down.”
Allegra sat on the edge of the bed, still wearing my suit coat. “Hi, Felix.”
Felix glanced from Allegra to me, and then he squatted next to Deidre and Knox. “What happened?”
“She’s hurt,” Knox spoke quietly. “I don’t know how bad. She’s scared. But that might be the drugs. She keeps saying my name.” His gaze shifted to Allegra. “She was tied down when I found her. There were three men in the room.”
“Did they…did they touch her?” Allegra spoke so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.
“I don’t know. She was sold as a certified virgin.” Knox banded his arms around Dee, holding her tighter. “They had her arms strapped to the headboard.” Tears filled his eyes. “Her legs were spread and tethered to the posts on the footboard. She has bruises everywhere, from where they held her down.”
I gritted my teeth and growled. Rage burned in my chest. “They’ll all fucking die for this.”
“When I saw what they’d done to her, I saw red. I slit their throats. With their blood coating my knife, I cut her loose and put my shirt on her.”
“Hi, Dee, it’s Felix.” He softly spoke to Deidre as he unzipped his suitcase. “Can you tell me what you remember?” He gently tugged on the blanket.
She stiffened and tightened her hold on the throw.
“Maybe you should give us a little privacy,” Felix said.
