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A person who didn’t recognize the pain would have pushed him for more, would have asked why he wasn’t saying anything. But I didn’t. I just stared at him, knowing that the unsaid wasn’t spoken for a reason.
He took another step back, his gaze not moving from mine until he pulled a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, cutting me off completely. I’d have been lying if I said I didn’t feel the loss, but I understood it. More than he would ever know.
“I’ll see you around, Luna.”
“Okay.” I readied my body to turn away from him, but at the last second added, “If you ever need anything…” I trailed off, knowing that he would understand what I meant. He didn’t acknowledge my words or move his body, but I knew he’d heard me.
So I turned, feeling his gaze on me the whole way down the pathway as I headed to my first class of the day. I halted in front of the building, glancing over my shoulder seeing him standing in the same position, his head turned my way. I blinked, pulled in a breath, and tried to forget the way he made my skin burn when he looked at me.
I wasn’t sure what he was: a danger, or a glimpse of light in my darkness. Either way, I didn’t have time for people like him. I had a plan, one that would get me out of the life I’d always been stuck in. As I opened the building door, I solidified that fact and pushed everything else out of my mind. I was here for a reason, I just needed to remember that.
* * *
MATEO
I hadn’t spent enough time at home lately, not since I’d been made a captain. The perks of captain were what we needed as a family, and I was already working on buying our own place, but it’d be at least a couple of weeks until the paperwork could be signed.
In the meantime, I was traveling from the apartment to the mansion and working longer hours. I was doing all of this for the kids, that was what I kept telling myself, but to them, all they wanted was me at home as a buffer between them and our mom.
Guilt choked at me as I walked into the apartment after another fifteen-hour day. I made sure I was here every morning to take them to school, but after school was a different story. Each time I sent a new babysitter to the apartment, Mom would kick them out within minutes. Riccardo had told me that she’d do the same to him and Chiara not long after, leaving them with no place to go but outside in the apartment block. I hadn’t known until I’d come home last night and they’d been outside alone in the dark.
Fuck. Something had to change. Fast. I couldn’t let them keep being treated like this.
Mom was an alcoholic; had been since before I could remember. The bottle came first. Always.
Every fiber in my being wanted to abandon her, but there was still that niggling feeling at the back of my brain. I couldn’t listen to that any longer though. I had to do what was best for Riccardo and Chiara, even if that meant leaving the woman who had birthed us behind.
I puffed out a breath and stared at the TV. It was only 10 p.m.—I’d made it home earlier than usual—and everyone was already in bed. I’d even managed to put my mom to bed, although I had a little help from the bottle of vodka she’d been drinking all day. And now I was surrounded by peace and quiet with only my thoughts to keep me occupied. Thoughts that I kept at bay by being busy. But now they were at the forefront, demanding the change that was in motion.
I pulled my cell out and typed an email to the lawyer handling the purchase of the new house I was buying. I needed it to go through quicker, even if it meant spending more money. The faster we got out of this place, the better.
Just as I clicked send, my satellite phone rang. Lorenzo’s name flashed on the screen, so I snapped it up, answering, “Boss?”
“Need you at the mansion asap.” He didn’t say another word as the line went dead. It was straight to the point, giving nothing away, just like he always was. My body worked on automatic as I stood and headed to my room. Once I was changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, I headed toward the front door.
Fuck.
I halted. I couldn’t leave the kids here alone with Mom. I’d never left them on their own during the night. If I’d had to go and handle business during the darkness, I called the babysitter in, but now we d
idn’t have one. Goddammit.
My heart raced. There was no way in hell I couldn’t go to the mansion. Lorenzo had called, and you didn’t just not turn up when he demanded you there.
I glanced around the apartment, trying to search for answers when my gaze landed on a bright-pink hair tie Chiara had left on the table.
Luna. I could ask Luna.
Her words from a few days ago echoed in my mind. If you ever need anything…
This was that time. I needed her, even though I didn’t want to admit it fully. I’d read her full background check and I knew more about her than possibly even she did. Her parents were addicts, had been before she was born. She’d grown up in the same house as them, never leaving their side. She’d even moved them here with her. Maybe they were getting a fresh start. But something in her eyes told me that it hadn’t gone to plan. Not only that, but I wasn’t the only one who had noticed the random people going in and out of her door.
We lived in a rough part of town, one where we didn’t intrude on people’s lives, mainly because we didn’t want people poking their noses into our own business. Which was why I hadn’t said anything to her.
But right now, I needed her. So I opened the apartment door and rushed up the stairs. I’d never been up here to her apartment, but I didn’t need to to know which one hers was. I’d stared at the peeling paint of the door way too many times since I’d found out which number she lived in, thanks to the background check.
Music blasted through the apartment door and I frowned. I didn’t know Luna, but from the few times I’d met her and spoken to her, she didn’t come across as a party girl. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after—
The door swung open followed by a small squealed, “Holy fuck.” I stared down at Luna, narrowing my eyes and trying to figure her out. She was a mystery to me, one that begged to be solved. Too bad I had too much on my plate to even consider it. “You scared the life out of me.” She laughed, the sound too high. Her hand landed on her chest, and I moved my attention down to it. Her breathing was faster, causing her tank top to pull taut.
