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“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes, Romeo.” I placed my hand on the side of his face, really looking into his eyes, allowing him to see everything that I was feeling in that moment. “I’m not stupid, Romeo. I know what you’re doing—what you’re going to do. But I…I need to see it. I need to see it with my own two eyes.”
For minutes we stood there, neither of us saying anything. I wouldn’t back down, not on this. I needed it for my own peace of mind.
And as his attention bore into me, I knew he could see how much I meant it—how much I needed to see what was happening to him.
“Fine,” he conceded. “But you stay close to me. And be prepared for what you’re about to see. It’s not like the movies. This is real life, angel.” His warning was loud and clear.
“I know,” I whispered, holding on to him tighter. “I know.”
He stared at me for a beat, searching my eyes, and when he’d found what he was looking for, he pushed off the side of his car, carrying me to the passenger’s seat, deposited me, then belted me in.
I took one last look at Peyton’s house as Romeo rounded the front of his car, spotting Peyton standing in the window just like I had. She lifted her hand in a small wave, a clear smile on her face. I did the same back, just in time for Romeo to turn the steering wheel and peel out of there.
The drive was silent, but Romeo didn’t let go of my hand at all, instead he just gripped my fingers in his palm, changing the gears with my hand on top of the smooth gearshift and his large one covering both me and the shifter.
I couldn’t stop staring at him or each small move he made as we drove, which meant I noticed when he tensed as we pulled up into a neighborhood street. And then he was stopping his car at the end of a driveway, his body like stone in his seat he was that tense.
He switched the engine off and brought my hand to his lips, placed a kiss on my knuckles, then pushed out of the car and met me at the passenger side. Cool air hit me in the face as he opened the door and helped me out. I sucked in a breath as I lifted out of his car, feeling the sharp pain in my ribs and the pull at my chest where Mr. Pozzi had sliced with his knife.
I was all bandaged up though, thanks to Peyton and her expertise—an expertise that could only have come from patching up her own wounds. But I hadn’t had the brainpower to ask her about that. One day I would though. One day I’d get her to confide in me.
He held my hand firmly in his, his thumb rubbing back and forth on my palm. “You sure about this, Bailey?”
I nodded before I’d even processed his words. “More sure than anything,” I answered, my voice small.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, his hand clutching mine a little tighter as he led me around to the back of a large house. A huge backyard complete with bright green grass and an old swing set made way for a small brick building at the bottom of the open space, a brick building that Romeo was leading me toward.
We were halfway there when the door opened and a large, imposing man appeared. I tensed, not realizing who it was until Romeo murmured, “It’s just Lorenzo.”
Lorenzo. The boss.
Blowing out a breath, I tried to calm my racing heart, but it was so difficult as Lorenzo stopped five feet away from us. I couldn’t look him in the eye, knowing that he would have known everything that happened to me.
“When you’re done here, The Enterprise wants confirmation that he’s dealt with.”
“Got it,” Romeo replied, holding my hand a little tighter.
“Once they have it, we can split the territories officially and finish shutting down all of his illicit businesses.” Lorenzo huffed out a breath and I managed to glance at him for the barest of seconds. He scraped his hand down his face, clearly stressed. I hadn’t thought about the effect that any of this had on all of them—but it had. “Dante is still in there.”
“Okay,” Romeo replied, taking a step away from him and toward the building. “I’ll be in touch with that proof The Enterprise needs.”
Neither of them said another word as we moved closer to the building, not until Romeo said, “Dante is getting his own revenge.” I glanced up at him, frowning, not understanding what he was saying. “Gio kidnapped Navy and baby Dario not long before he took you.” His chest lifted as his gaze slid behind me, staring off into the distance. “We got them both back, but your uncle found out that Gio was behind it all.”
I opened my mouth, not sure what to say to that. Everything was all swirling around in my brain, trying to process what he was saying but also what Mr. Pozzi had told me days ago while he held me down. “He was trying to take you all down,” I whispered, making the realization as I spoke the words.
“Yeah,” Romeo growled. “But he failed.” He paused, his hand reaching up and cupping the side of my face. “Last chance to back out,” he warned.
I didn’t answer him, my words trapped in the back of my throat. Instead, I just stared at him, letting him see that I was ready for this as I counted to ten in my head, and when I got to the last number, he pushed open the door, making me wonder if he’d counted too.
The edges of the room were dark, but right in the middle stood two large lights, illuminating what I was assuming was Mr. Pozzi, but I didn’t give myself the chance to look, too afraid of how seeing him right away would make me feel.
Had I made a mistake asking Romeo to bring me here?
“Having fun there, Dante?” Romeo asked, bringing me out of my own head. I couldn’t see the person he was talking to because I was still standing behind him, not looking around his body, not prepared to see what was in the building. Not yet anyway. I needed to build myself up to it. Needed to get ready to face the man who had caused me so much anguish.
