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“Yes,” Elio says. “Nobody will hear about this.”
“Then just pay the ransom, and let’s be grateful this Vito bastard had enemies mostly in Vegas.”
“Enemies?” I ask.
“He wasn’t well-liked, apparently.”
Yet, this was the person Mia was going to marry,I almost say—a Marino princess—but I don’t press the point. Mom appears at the back door, and Dad walks toward her. He brings her into a hug.
“At least we can keep Dante safe,” Elio utters quietly as dad walks inside.
“The more I hang around Uncle Tony, the less worried I am about keepingDantesafe,” I snap. “I’m starting to think Dante did this for a reason.”
“Iced Vito and kidnapped Mia?”
“I think it was more than them getting into a fight or it getting heated somehow. I bet Dante saw Vito do something, and he couldn’t just stand there and let it happen.”
“We’re just speculating about this whole damn thing,” Elio snaps. “Let’s get Mia, bury this, and go on with our lives.”
“We know something’s going on between them, though,” Colt mutters. “Mia and Dante. Our buddy downtown showed me the texts, but I told him to hold off. Dante contacted her out of the blue.”
“Maybe something is going on,” Elio snaps, “but I’m not getting in their way, and I’m not losing Dante for some olive-eating ass.”
“That annoyed me too, with the olives.”
“His daughter is missing.” Elio looks at me darkly. “Imagine if it was Molly. I can only imagine what I’d be doing. If it was Lexy…”
“I know, brother. He’s messed up.”
CHAPTER 14
Dante
I drive out to the hospital, my heart thudding as I try to work out what happened with Leo. I hate feeling like this, as if I have to stress over something I said to another man, mafia king or not, but Ma’s awake. She’s the reason I have to.
It couldn’t have beenthatbad if I walked out of that place. I need to stop this, somehow. Purge all the darkness. Maybe with Mia, I can be better, be different. I can’t see her as the cure for everything, even ifshefeels that way to me.
When I walk into Ma’s hospital room, the world gets brighter. She’s sitting up, a big, tired smile on her face. “Oh, Dante,” she says.
I go to her bedside, gently take her hands, and sit down. “I’m here, Ma.”
“Did I scare you?” she says.
I try to laugh, but it comes out sounding almost like a strangled sob. There’s too much on the surface, bubbling, boiling emotion. It’s more than I’ve ever had to handle.
“Yeah, Ma,” I say. “I think…” I take a breath, but I’ve got to think of her. “It’s time we talked about getting you somewhere more stable to live.”
Mom nods, a tear sliding down her cheek. “We can do that, Dante. Then you can go, live, and find a girl.”
“I may have found someone,” I say, which is a mistake.
It just comes out, my voice getting heavy with emotion.
It’s almost worth it, even if I know there’s not a happy ending for us. Holding her last night made me feel something different, something new. It was like she changed me just by being there, just by being her.
“Who?” Mom says.
“I… She’s younger than me,” I say.
