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“Is that why Luca left?”
“Maybe Leo called and asked him to pick Mia up.”
“I’ve got a missed call from Leo,” Colt says. “Dammit.”
“It’s okay. Luca will get her. Luca will protect her.” My voice gets husky. I should be with her, but I can dothisfor her. I can make a difference, at least. “A lot’s happening, Colt. I’m not calling about Mia.”
“What, then?” he says.
“I need you to use your databases, old contacts, whatever you have, and get me everything on Ritchie Amato.”
“Sure, Dante. Why?”
“Because he hurt Mia,” I growl.
Colt pauses, then says, “You have to move into this, Dante. You can’t fight it.”
“Fight what?” I growl as I surge across the bridge. “I want to know who I’m dealing with.”
“You and Mia,” Colt says. “You’ve never been like this before.”
I grind my teeth, glad he’s not here to see me. “I’m not fighting anything. I’m not thinking about the future or any of that. I just need to protect her. That’s all.”
“You want her like I wanted Lexi and like Luca wanted?—”
“Listen to yourself. You sound like a whacked-out cult member or something. There isn’t some magic spell that makes the Marino mafia fall for women.” I take a breath, shuddering. “I know better.”
“What’s better, then?” Colt says gruffly.
“Knowing I have tothink. I can’t have what you have. It’s not the same.”
“Why are you doing this, then?”
“Because she’s a good person and something bad happened to her.”
And she’s mine.
“I don’t need to explain that to you,” I say, and Colt knows I’m right. He’s done the same, but did he ever enjoy it? Did he ever relish it? Did he ever feel like a little terrorized kid who’s finally had enough and just snapped? Or was it all business?
“I’ll get the details,” Colt says, “but sooner or later, you’ll see I’m right.”
“The big don has ordered us to stay away from each other,” I say, laughing darkly. “So if fate, or whatever you want to call it, is in charge, it’s not on your side.”
“Maybe some time apart will remind you how you really feel.”
“Or maybe you’re wrong,” I say.
But it feels sick even to say that. It feels like a betrayal to my Mia. Yet when people start talking about the future and family, it rattles something inside me.
“Stay on the line,” Colt says. “I can get some details on him right now. Lexi’s putting David to sleep.”
“How is he?” I ask.
Colt’s voice gets warm. “He’s… changed me,” he says, with a heavy, emotional pause. “I thought I knew who I was. I was like you, I guess, Dante. Damn, was Ithismiserable?” He laughs again, and I figure I have it coming, especially with my cult-member comment. “Then I met Lexi, and I realized I didn’t have any clue who I was. Now my son is here, and it’s happened again.”
“I’m happy for you,” I say.
I’m glad when Colt doesn’t say something about how his setup could be mine and Mia’s one day. I hear him tapping keys, then Colt says, “He’s got a rap sheet. Domestic battery and something else. Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Jesus.”
