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Mentioning my father’s underboss jolted me out of the numb stupor. “What about him?”
“He won’t try to get that position for himself?” Dante glanced over at me.
“No. He’d support me just as he’d supported my father,” I replied firmly, looking straight ahead.
Dante turned down the street that led to my family’s apartment complex. My father had bought the whole building for our family and associates. The first few floors were for our staff; maids, chefs, and security. The middle floors were my father’s head offices, with his personal rooms on the floor above them. My rooms were in the penthouse, an entire floor to myself. No one was allowed up without an ID and a personal card.
The building rose up above the others that surrounded it. It gleamed silver in the city lights, reflecting the skyline and darkness. A few lights lit up the bottom floors, while only a few were lit along the floors my mother lived on. She’d been staying home since my father’s disappearing act, staying out of the news and away from the reporters. They had planned to get back to their normal lives after the Snake had been caught, but now she would have to hold out just a little longer. If the news didn’t break her first.
Dante let me out at the front before pulling the car down into the parking garage. He’d meet me in the lobby. I couldn’t face my mother alone. I couldn’t tell her on my own that the love of her life was now gone. Forever. It made me feel like a coward, weak, that I had to depend on Dante’s strength to get me through this.
The lobby looked immaculate, as always. The white floors were perfectly swept and clean, reflecting the gold that gilded the edges of the glass walls—bulletproof, of course. The security guards greeted me with a slight nod, not even bothering to check my ID. Knowing that Dante was doing something similar just a floor below me, I went through the gates. He’d take the elevator to the lobby before we went up together.
A bell pinged as the elevator doors opened. Dante stood there, as handsome as ever, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans. His dark hair looked tousled from running his hands through it at the safe house, and his shirt was wrinkled, but it was a good look on him. He was the only person I could think of that could pull the tired look off so well.
“You ready?” he asked, making room for me in the elevator.
“No. But does it matter?”
“Probably not.”
The elevator softly lurched to a stop, the doors opening with a ping. I stepped out, automatically checking to see if anyone else was in the hall. It was an old habit and a hard one to break. The front door to my parents’ apartment was just in front of the elevator. My mother probably heard the bell from inside, though there was no indication that she would open the door to check. I couldn’t hear anything beyond the thick door.
Knocking softly, we waited outside in the hall. The numbness was still there though distant. I rolled out my shoulders, trying to get rid of the knots between them. Dante’s hand slipped around mine, steadying me. It took a few minutes before we heard my mother moving around on the other side of the door. Finally, it opened.
Her face was red and splotchy, tears still trekking down her round cheeks. Her eyes were rimmed with red. I stood there, shocked. There was no way she could have heard about my father already. Yet, even with that logic firmly in my mind, I could tell she had.
“Sienna…” Her voice cracked as she reached for me.
Maybe it was seeing her like that—and knowing it was all real—was what broke me. As soon as she touched my face, tears flooded my own cheeks, mirroring hers. My mother pulled me to her tightly, her nails digging into my back, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t needed my mother’s comfort in so long. But I needed it now.
“How did you—” The words choked me. “How did you know?”
She pulled away slightly, smoothing back my hair. “Mateo got the call from one of our officers. He told me.”
“I’m so sorry.” The words came out in a rush. I was sorry for a lot of things. That she had to find out like this. That she had been alone when she’d gotten the news. That I hadn’t been there for her.
My mother seemed to understand as she always had. “I know,amore mio, I know.”
I buried my face into her shoulder, trying to hold it all back. Trying to be strong. Her hand continued to brush back my hair, softly grazing my cheeks. It was something she hadn’t done since I was a child, bringing back the memories of our past.
“What am I going to do without him?” I asked softly. It had slipped out before I could stop it.
My mother tensed, her eyes darting towards Dante as she pulled away. Her mouth set firmly, eyes glinting like steel. “You keep moving forward. Like you’ve always done.” Her hands gripped my arms, holding me in place. “And you find the mother fucker who did this.”
“We’re trying.” I angrily wiped the tear that threatened to follow the rest.
My mother opened the door, allowing us to come in. The salon looked the same as it always had. Persian rugs covered the hardwood floor. Ornate velvet sofas gilded with gold sat before the electric fireplace. Halls branched off from the front room, leading towards the bedrooms, kitchen, and dining room. Oil paintings hung against the dark, emerald walls, and the city glimmered beyond the glass windows. Dante helped my mother to one of the chairs that sat on either side of the couch, taking her hand.
I told her what happened to me at the charity gala and how Dante had come and rescued me. I told her that the Snake hadn’t even been there, probably because he was too busy murdering my father and making sure he didn’t pull another disappearing act. Dante filled in the details I didn’t know, like how he had followed my kidnappers to the warehouse. The entire time, my mother was silent, gripping the arms of the chair for support. When we were finished, she looked older than her fifty years.
“I didn’t know….” Her voice sounded small. “I didn’t know that the last time I would ever see him again would be at your wedding.”
The wedding. It seemed like a lifetime ago. I glanced over at Dante. He’d been so steady through this entire night. A rock against the waves. It had only been a few weeks since we first met at the club, both targeting the same mark. There had been no indication that our hatred for each other would slowly twist into something else. Into love. A partnership.
“I’m so sorry, mama,” I said softly, laying a hand on her arm. “I promise you, we will find the Snake before he hurts anyone else in our family. He will not get away with this.”
My mother didn’t even look at me. Instead, she turned to Dante. “You keep my daughter safe, do you understand me? Because not even the Saints will be able to protect you from me if you don’t.”
