12. Family First
twelve
Family First
Romeo told Mo to wait out front with the car and stormed up to his mother’s manor. He was in no mood to take his goddamn time, and he paid no mind to the fluttering staff he startled on his way through to the back reading room where he finally found her. “Mom, I need your help,” he said as he barged into the room.
His mother, Eleonora De Salvo, nearly dropped her Kindle as her head whipped around to face him. She pulled her bejeweled reading glasses from her face and frowned at him. “Romeo, sweetheart, what could be so—”
“Amber’s at Lucy’s school, trying to take her. That’s what.” There was so much more, really, but that would get his mother moving. He could tell her the rest in the car. Or later. Telling her what he had hoped barely an hour ago would be good news suddenly felt like tempting fate.
His mother jumped up, leaving the Kindle on the sofa, and rushed forward. “ Amber ? You must be mistaken. That woman disappeared years ago!”
Romeo felt his lip curl at the reminder. “You don’t have to tell me. But it’s her, all right, and this is not the fucking day for her shit. I need to get Lucy out of that school and I need to make sure she’s safe before I go back to work.”
Eleonora clamped onto his sleeves. “Of course I’ll go with you,” she said, “but you can’t be thinking about going back to the office with that woman running around. I’m sure Dante would understand.”
Romeo blew out a breath, forcing himself to settle a degree, and moved a hand to his mother’s shoulder. “You know how it is, Mom. Nothing ever happens one-at-a-time. I was in the middle of something that’s also very important.”
“More important than your own daughter?” Eleonora asked, brows dipping in a disapproving frown.
“No, Mom.” He turned, trying to get her at least walking and talking at once. “Can we have this conversation in the car, please? And have your men follow us, I want you taking an escort home.”
She was still frowning, but she obliged him by pulling out her phone and making a quick call to her usual chauffeur. “They’ll follow us out,” she said when she was done. “Now tell your mother what could even be occupying your mind when something might be endangering my granddaughter.”
Romeo waved away the butler and reached for the door himself. “You know Grace?” It was a rhetorical question. All of the immediate family had met Dante’s assistant, by carefully crafted design, in the time since she’d taken up the post. More so, of course, since Grace and Iris had become genuine friends.
“Dante’s assistant?” his mother echoed. “Of course. A very nice girl, smart as a whip, though I don’t know how she hasn’t at least come to suspect something a little off about you two.” Eleonora buttoned up the coat she’d hastily grabbed from a closet as they’d walked, allowing Romeo to lead her toward Mo and the Navigator.
Mo pulled open the door for her and Romeo helped her in.
Romeo nodded to Mo before jogging around to his side and sliding in. Only once all the doors were shut again and his mother had buckled herself in did he continue the conversation he’d have preferred to have under better circumstances. “There was an incident—which was not my fault, Dante and I have already hashed everything out—and Dante told her the truth this morning.”
Eleonora turned widened eyes to him. “Was that wise?” She waved a hand. “I’m sure he had reasons. I just mean, that girl isn’t from this world. Was it necessary ?”
Romeo ground his teeth. “The Ink Blots went after her, Mom. Because of us.” He paused and finally met her stare. “Also—” He did his best to soften his tone a little, though the words and his mood didn’t match. “I’m going to marry her.”
Eleonora stared at him, mouth slightly agape, for at least fifteen seconds. Finally, she asked, “We are talking about the same Grace, aren’t we? Modest, level-headed, law-abiding business woman?”
A smile threatened, just for a heartbeat, and Romeo looked away. “Dante’s ordered me to keep my distance up to now,” he said, quieter. “But with his reason out the window, he backed off. She’s the one I want, Mom.”
Eleonora hummed. “You tried to marry Amber once.”
Romeo winced. “You raised me to have some morals,” he argued. “I got her pregnant. I wanted to give my child a good foundation. When we had a few months of not having a terrible relationship, I figured we could grow together into something real.” He paused, trying to figure out the mess that had been his head eight years prior. It hadn’t been the best time of his life. “It wasn’t like you were in love with Dad when you got married.”
Her hand shot out, smacking his arm. It might have stung if not for the thick winter coat. “Never compare what I had with your father to what you had—even at its best—with that woman-child.”
Romeo sighed. “I was just trying to help you understand why I thought marrying Amber wasn’t the worst idea.”
“And now you think marrying Grace is better.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I love Grace. I never loved Amber. That’s a big damn difference.”
Eleonora’s eyes widened again. She held his stare for a beat, released a slow breath, and asked, “Have you talked about what you want? How you’ll work? Marrying a man with a child isn’t the same as simply starting a life together. And already you’re dumping your responsibilities with Lucia onto me to go, what, celebrate this engagement? Have you even talked to Lucia about this?”
Romeo cut his gaze out the window. They had one intersection and about two blocks to the school. Not enough time. “We’ve talked. Grace loves Lucy, and we both want more. That’s not the issue. No, I haven’t told Lucy. I will—and I need you to let me—but more importantly, you misunderstand.” He looked toward his mother again as they crossed the intersection and rounded the last curve between them and campus. “The other problem right now is that Grace has been kidnapped. I don’t know where the hell she is, but I do know she was hurt when she was taken.”
Eleonora lifted a hand to her lips. “Oh my…”
“I have to help find her, and bring her home safe,” Romeo said. “There’s no point telling Lucy about all that if—” His throat constricted and he dropped her gaze. He couldn’t finish the thought. Earlier that very morning, his daughter had let slip that she wanted someone in her life to call mommy . He hadn’t realized yet, not entirely, how close he was to having that for her. For them.
The idea that he might already have lost the woman he’d been waiting so long for hurt more than he was prepared to deal with.
“Sir,” Mo said, interrupting his surging emotions. “Did you get that code?”
Shit. Romeo dug out his phone and swiped open his email. Sure enough, the headmistress and sent over a private, one-time-use entrance code to allow them to drive onto campus through the rear gate. He held his phone out. “Here. It’s the back gate. You won’t get to accidentally run her over. Sorry.”
Mo glanced down at the screen, then set the phone into the cupholder at his side. He grunted. “Shame.”
Eleonora turned to look out the window as he adjusted course to drive around campus. “I always did like you, Mauro.”
“Means a lot, Mrs. De Salvo.”
Romeo lifted his gaze, looking over his mother’s head, and easily spotted the hysterical blonde who appeared to be trying to wedge herself through the bars at the front gate. As he watched, she paused and turned, eyeing the passing SUVs with blatant suspicion. She certainly knew enough about his life and his connections to have reason for that suspicion. She knew too much , if she knew where Lucia attended school. But he would worry about that later.
Mo drove up the faintly slanted back drive, punched in the code, and parked as close to the entrance as he could. Eleonora’s people parked at the farthest back spot, positioned to cut off any unwanted latecomers.
“Keep the car warm,” Romeo said to Mo before popping his door open. He helped his mother out of the SUV, noted a text from Enrico confirming that he was parked and waiting in the non-gated pick-up lot, and led the way into the building.
Eleonora squeezed his hand as they climbed the steps. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “You are having a day. I’m sorry I hit you.” She pulled him to a stop just inside the hall. “I’ll take Lucia over to Dante’s, maybe we can have some bonding time with Iris, and Felicity if she’s available. We’ll be perfectly safe. That way you can focus on the other thing you have to do.” She smiled, her eyes watery. “I like Grace. If she makes you happy, I like her even more. But once she’s safe, you need to talk to Lucia.”
His chest hurt again and Romeo squeezed her hand back. “Thanks, Mom.” He tipped his head, and they continued walking as the bell rang out to signal the end of classes.
Expensive private school or not, at the end of the day, it was an elementary school with excitable young children all eager to be anywhere else. In seconds even the back hall echoed with youthful voices prattling about too many things to make any sense of. Laughter and shouting dominated the rest, and by the time they reached the headmistress’s office, multiple small bodies had darted by. It amused Romeo that the tallest of them nearly reached his mother’s shoulders.
Romeo pulled open the office door and guided his mother inside, shutting it again directly behind them.
The office assistant looked up, mouth already open to tell off whoever had walked in, when she realized they weren’t students. She popped to her feet. “Right this way, Mr. De Salvo.” She led him through a side room and up to a door very helpfully labeled with the headmistress’s name, tapped once, and pushed it open.
Lucia sat in a chair off to the side, kicking her feet, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Her eyes lit up when she saw them. “Daddy! Grandma El!” She hopped up and bounded over before the door was even shut again.
Romeo scooped her up in a crushing hug. “Hey, princess,” he whispered into her hair. The pain in his chest eased at knowing at least one of the people he loved, one of the people he wanted so much to protect, was still safe. Still well.
“Thank you for coming, Mr. De Salvo,” Mrs. Sunter said from somewhere deeper into the room.
Lucia burrowed under his chin and whispered, “I don’t know what’s going on, Daddy, but I promise I didn’t do it!”
He smiled. “I know, Lucy.” He kissed her hair and set her gently back on her feet. “Would you mind waiting with Grandma for a minute while Mrs. Sunter and I have a talk?”
Lucia pouted. “Am I in trouble?”
Eleonora nudged her arm. “No, darling. Go grab your backpack and come with me. Daddy just needs to do some daddy things.”
“Okay,” Lucia said with a dramatic sigh. She returned to the bench, lifted her backpack, and faced her headmistress. “Have a good day, Mrs. Sunter.”
The older woman offered a cool smile. “Thank you, Lucia. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Romeo watched as his mother and his daughter walked back into the outer room, shut the door, and stepped closer to the desk. He kept his voice low to minimize what little eavesdroppers might overhear. “You already have the documentation that proves my custodianship on file. It hasn’t changed. I’m going to take Lucy home, but that woman outside isn’t to have any contact with her. I don’t care how you make her leave.”
Mrs. Sunter frowned. “I would have preferred if you had spoken to her.”
Romeo snorted. “If we could communicate like healthy adults, this wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen her face in seven years.”
“Seven—” Mrs. Sunter’s eyes opened wide for a beat before she regained her composure. “I understand. We’ll remove her from the premises. If she returns tomorrow, or in the future, we’ll let you know immediately.”
Romeo’s phone chimed again. He ignored the headmistress’s disapproving frown and opened the message.
Enrico: She’s repositioned to the back gate. Blocking drive.
He had the strongest urge to instruct the men on scene to just grab her up, broad daylight be damned, and haul her off to one of Dante’s favorite warehouses. He had more than enough muscle on site to get it done. It was so fucking tempting. But the last thing he wanted to do was petrify or permanently scar a bunch of innocent kids in the process.
Romeo tucked his phone away. “She’s moved to the back gate. I’m going to be calling my lawyers to get her served with a restraining order, so any evidence you can offer to prove her behavior will be useful. I’ll have them get in touch.”
Mrs. Sunter sighed and nodded. “We’re happy to cooperate as long as everything is in Lucia’s best interests. I’ll send security out to chase her off, and have copies of today’s external footage delivered to your email by tomorrow.”
“I appreciate it.” Romeo nodded and turned. They would have to stall for a couple of minutes, to give the school’s security team time to work. But he had an idea for that.
Lucia looked up at him expectantly when he joined them in the larger waiting area. “Can we go home now, Daddy?”
Romeo sat on her open side and smoothed his hand down her hair. “Did Grandma not tell you?” He arched a brow.
“I thought it best not to be presumptuous,” Eleonora said as Lucia shook her head.
“All right,” Romeo said, pulling out his phone again. “How about we make a quick call, then?”
Lucia frowned. “Can’t you call from the car? You’re being weird, Daddy.”
Romeo debated for a moment who to call, decided not to bother his brothers directly if he could avoid it, and pulled up his sister-in-law’s number. He moved his phone to his outer ear and bopped Lucia lightly on the nose while it rang.
Lucia was still protesting the gesture when Iris answered. “Hi, Romeo.”
“Hey, Iris. I was hoping you were home?” Normally Romeo would never be so bold as to make this request directly. But these weren’t normal circumstances. He had to trust Dante would understand that.
“I am,” Iris said, speaking almost cautiously. “Have you found Grace? Dante hasn’t called with any updates.”
The little bit of lightness he’d found threatened to blink out again and Romeo closed his eyes for a second. “No. Not yet. Not that I’ve heard, at least.” He took a deep breath, and Lucia’s little hands curled around the fist he’d closed over his knee. He offered his daughter a smile and kept speaking. “If you’re feeling up for it, I was hoping I could bring Mom and Lucy by.” Over Lucia’s head, his mother mouthed Felicity’s name.
Iris’s voice brightened. “I would love the company. Do you know what Felicity’s up to? Maybe we can have a ladies’ afternoon.”
He smiled a little easier. “I only know that Cris is busy.”
“Then I’ll give her a call and we’ll figure it out. Gives me something to do while I wait,” Iris said.
“Thank you, Iris,” Romeo said. “We’ll see you in about twenty minutes.” He disconnected and tucked his phone away. “Now it’s settled, Lucy. You’re having a carefree ladies’ afternoon at Uncle Dante’s house.”
Lucia’s eyes widened and she looked over at Eleonora. “All of us?”
Eleonora chuckled. “All of us ladies , of course.” She patted Lucia on the head.
Romeo stood and lifted Lucia into his arms, backpack and all. “Come on, let’s not keep Aunt Iris waiting.”
His chest tightened with apprehension as they neared the exit, because he didn’t know if they’d stalled long enough. We probably didn’t. All he needed to do was get Lucia into the Navigator with him and his mother, then it wouldn’t matter if Amber was still outside, they could slip past. The woman could scream at them as they went by, hurl stones, even pull out a gun. She was too slight to be carrying anything that could penetrate the shielding and that was what mattered.
Visions of Grace’s overturned, bloodied SUV haunted him. He had no way to know how badly she was injured. He had no guarantee that he’d ever see her again.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to keep trying. He’d find every single piece of shit who’d been remotely involved in the assault on her apartment, and everyone who’d been part of the attack on the SUV. Dante had been spearheading the war against the Ink Blots since the beginning, but it was personal for Romeo now. And where Dante had a tendency to torture and delay the deaths of his victims, Romeo was more about the swift kill.
He would find Grace, or he would find out what had been done to her. And every man who got in his way would die.
He just had to get his daughter somewhere dependably safe first, and the best place for that was Dante’s home. So he buckled her into the SUV, backpack tossed to the floor, and helped his mother clamber in once more. This time he sat up front beside Mo, and they waited only until the other car started moving to swing into motion.
Campus security had Amber on the grass, off to the side, surrounded by four men armed with stun guns. She appeared to be on her ass and Romeo felt no shame in hoping she’d had to be tazed, even though he doubted they’d have actually used the things. He saw her head turn their way as the SUVs rolled by, saw her move as if to stand, and saw the security team tighten in around her. Effective enough.
They managed to slip out without incident, and the school was already behind them when the first of two police cruisers passed by. At least they were responding, he supposed. Another thing to look forward to.
Romeo pulled out his phone to text Dante. He needed to let his brother know the new plan. He was just about to send the message when the screen changed and Dante’s unique ringtone filled the air. A strange sense of apprehension filled him, but Romeo swiped to connect the call and brought the phone to his ear. “I’m not in the mood to guess.”
“I just got off the phone with the chief of police,” Dante said. The irritation in his tone was understandable, then. Neither man cared for the other, but Dante’s overall love of dealing even with the members of law enforcement he effectively owned had shrunk to nearly nothing in the wake of everything that had happened with Iris. “A woman identifying herself as your fiancée was just pulled from the trunk of a car out past the east side of town.”
Romeo’s heart leapt into his throat. The visual—the thought —was enough to make him be ill, to say nothing for his temper, but if she’d identified herself that meant she’d been conscious.
“She’s en route to Saint Michael’s now,” Dante continued.
He let his eyes close, the first true flickers of relief igniting in his chest. “It’s gonna take me some time to get out there. Tell me they’re setting up some kind of protection detail?”
Dante scoffed. “Make an effort for an unconfirmed member of our family? Not a chance. I’ll be having a word with the chief about that later.”
“We can’t just—”
“Ryōma’s taking a team. They’ll keep her safe until you can take over the scene, or until you can get her out of there altogether. Your call.” Dante paused. “Lucy’s welcome to stay the night if that’s necessary. Her room’s always ready.”
Romeo almost laughed. It bubbled up like a snort in his throat, but fizzled out on his tongue. “Let’s just see how the rest of the day plays out,” he said. “Thank you, brother.” He disconnected and let the phone drop to his lap with a hard breath.
“Everything all right?” Eleonora asked.
Grace was being taken to a hospital, because she’d been found in a goddamn trunk.
Conscious. Alive. Coherent, even.
“Yeah,” Romeo said slowly. “It might be.”