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You’re all beauty, Scarlet, no question about that.
My smile widens even more. Theremustbe something unique here. I wouldn’t be able to talk like this with anybody else without going crazy with guilt. It’s like this deep, urgent impulse inside of me pushes all that aside.
Where are you now?I ask.
I don’t think you want to know. Don’t worry about what we’re doing.
No, Elio,I reply.I want to know. I need to. Otherwise, I’ll imagine stuff that’s ten times worse.
Are you sure?
I’m not a little kid,I tell him.I can handle it.
CHAPTER14
Elio
We’re in a neighborhood known as Satan’s Basin. Apparently, your dad mentioned he was going to come here for a poker game. We’re currently staking out the most well-known game organizer in the neighborhood.
She takes a minute to respond. Luca leans back in his seat, eyes closed. He’s always been able to relax easier than me. Even with the Family at stake, even after kneecapping a man, he can sit there completely at peace, with no stress at all.
Oh, God,she replies.Be careful.
Don’t worry about me. I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it.
What are you waiting for?she asks, then sends a follow-up a moment later.I didn’t mean for that to sound rude. I just mean, why are you staking the place out?
You don’t have to worry about sounding rude with me,I type, then pause, rereading my message. I want to tell her that she and I are far too close for anything like that to matter. There’s far too much heat between us, destiny, belonging. She never has to question herself when we’re together.We’re waiting to get an idea of how many people are in there. Then we’ll move in.
I can’t imagine what my mom is doing right now,my angel-voiced woman texts.If she’s there with those people, what is she doing? Have they kidnapped her? Is she playing poker, too? Or maybe she and Dad have decided to go on the run and leave me behind.
I almost gasp when I read that last sentence.Do you really think they’d do that?
I don’t think Mom would, but with the pain pills, maybe Dad could convince her.
I grit my teeth. The more I hear about my woman’s father—my future father-in-law—the more I dislike him. A man should stand by his daughter no matter what. She should never even have toquestionif he would abandon her. It shouldn’t even enter her mind.
When we find her, we’ll get answers,I text, holding back a lot about her dad. The last thing she needs right now is for me to rant about him.Just try to relax.
Relax? Doing what? I feel like I’m trespassing just being here.
I clench my hand around the phone. My woman should never have to feel like that in any Family-owned place, house, or business. She’s going to be my mafia queen one day. She’s going to give me her perfect, curvy body, her hand in marriage, and our children. She’s going to provide me with a whole future.
Maybe relax isn’t the right word,I reply.But try not to stress. Hopefully, I’ll have news soon.
“Bro,” Luca says, tapping me on the arm.
I look up and spot a side door to the house opening. One man walks out first, holding the bottom of a bundle of tarpaulin. Another man steps out after, holding the other end.
“Fifty bucks if you can guess what they’re carrying,” Luca says dryly, classic gallows humor.
I’m not in the mood for that today. “That could be her mom or her dad. Have some goddamn respect.”
“Sorry,” Luca says, reaching for the door. “Let’s go find out before they get rid of it.”
I swallow, wondering how I’m going to tell my woman if the worst has happened.
CHAPTER15
