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“You weren’t supposed to see those,” I admonished, locking my cell and shoving it into my pocket.
She shrugged, looking all innocent, but I knew she wasn’t. “Not my fault it was there for my eyes to invade.” She laughed, the sound echoing off the tiled walls. “Now, tell me everything about him.” She pointed at me, her warning loud and clear. “And don’t leave a single thing out.”
I sighed, but it was a happy sigh. I’d missed our talks, missed having someone I could gossip with. So I spent the next two hours telling her everything there was to tell about me and Dante. She listened intently as I told her all about the family and how they’d rallied around me. But it was when I was telling her about his kisses that she leaned forward, not wanting to miss a single word.
When the bell rang for the last class of the day, we decided there was no point in going to it, so we stayed in the bathroom while she told me all about her breakup with the college guy and how she wanted to stick needles in his eyes and kick him in the balls.
And when the last bell of the day rang and we shouldered our bags to head outside, I realized just how much I’d needed my best friend over the last few months.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call or message you,” I told her again as we walked out of the main doors and into the parking lot.
“You don’t need to keep saying sorry.” She pursed her lips at me. “But you can make it up to me by inviting me over for dinner and letting me squish the Mafia baby.”
I rolled my eyes at her nickname for Dario. “It’s a deal.”
We hugged, a little longer this time, and then she flitted off to her car, leaving me alone as I watched more students pile off the premises.
When there were only a few cars left and a handful of students waiting around, I pulled my cell out and clicked on my messages app, then selected Dante’s name. My fingers flew over the keyboard, writing a message to ask where he was. He said he’d be here but there was no sign of him.
Shuffling on the spot, I debated sending the message. Maybe he was busy, or maybe he was already on his way.
An engine peeling into the parking lot drew my attention, my lips lifting at the thought of it being Dante. I wanted nothing more than to get home and see Dario. I’d never known I could miss someone as much as I had today.
Five weeks. I only had five weeks and a couple of days left at school, then I could be with him all day, every day.
I lifted my head, stowing away the cell in my pocket, but as quickly as the smile came, it was gone again, replaced by pursed lips and furrowed brows.
It wasn’t Dante’s car. It was my dad’s.
The car sat idling in the middle of the parking lot, my dad in the driver’s seat, his blue jacket firmly around him. There was no mistaking that the car was an unmarked law enforcement car.
His gaze clashed with mine, his expression a mask that I knew he’d perfected over the years so that nobody could read him.
My stomach lurched, my pulse racing. I hated how my palms started to sweat with him being so close by. There was no doubting that he could see I wasn’t pregnant anymore, not when his attention dipped to my stomach and then back to my face.
The passenger seat was empty, his usual partner not with him, and I wondered if he was on the job right now or whether he was just waiting to see if I turned up.
How did he even know I was here?
I shook my head to myself. That was a stupid question, of course he would have been told the moment I came back to school, he had eyes and ears everywhere.
He didn’t make a move to get out of the car, and there was no way that I was going to go to him. Not after everything he’d done.
My stare didn’t move off of him, showing him that I wasn’t going to look away. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of bowing down to him. The moment he’d hit me had changed everything. Gone was the father I truly knew, and in its place a stranger.
They said blood was thicker than water, but I was learning that blood left stains that couldn’t come out.
I pushed my shoulders back as I heard another engine pull into the parking lot. This time the car stopped right in front of me, the unmistakable shiny black metal telling me that it was Dante.
Not looking away from my dad, I took two steps forward, blindly reaching for the door handle, but before I could grasp it, the door popped open and Dante’s deep voice asked, “Is that your dad?”
“Yeah,” I replied, then finally ripped my attention away from my dad and slid into the safety of Dante’s car. “He’s been sitting there for a few minutes.”
“He’s letting us know that he’s watching us,” Dante growled, gripping his steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white.
“He can watch all he wants.” I reached over the center console and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Take me home, D.”
His chest heaved, his head turning to look directly at me. “Home.” He smirked. “I like the sound of that.”
