Episode Twenty-Four
I read the message from the unknown number over and over again.
Unknown:
Do you want to play a game?
I haven’t responded. The only person who ever asks me that question is Dante. And I know this text didn’t come from him. He’s currently sitting on the sofa waiting for me to return from the kitchen. I had to walk out of the room to read the message. I know my boyfriend, and if he saw the unknown number pop up on my screen, he would have snatched the phone from me.
He’d also lose his shit over some random person asking me this question. His question . I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one is watching, then type out a reply.
Me:
Who is this?
My hands shake. You know that feeling you get when something bad is about to happen? Yeah, I have that now. Pocketing my phone, I open the fridge and pull out a bottle of water. Only to jump ten feet in the air as soon as I close the door again.
“Holy crap, you scared the shit out of me!” My palm rests on my chest, my heart beating a million times faster than normal.
Dante doesn’t budge. He doesn’t move an inch. He just stands there with his hands in his pockets and a look on his face I can’t figure out. And I know all of his looks. And then, in a split second, he smirks.
“Sorry,” he says, reaching out, wrapping his arms around my waist, and pulling me into him. “You were gone too long.”
“I wasn’t even gone a minute,” I murmur, snuggling into his warmth.
“Five seconds away from you is too long.” His lips press against the top of my head. “I need to go talk to Zio Theo about something. Wait for me in your room?”
“Sure. I’ll just lounge around and wait for you like a good little wife.” I roll my eyes and push him away. “I’ll be around here somewhere. I’m sure you’ll find me when you’re done.”
“He’s messaged her.” The door to my uncle’s office slams shut as I storm inside. Zio Theo looks up from his computer, glaring at me. If I were anyone else, I’d probably be shot by now.
“What he say?” he asks.
I open my laptop and pull up the program I used to clone Josie’s phone before turning the screen around to show my uncle the message. Then I turn it back to myself and my fingers start tapping, opening various programs that will tell me exactly who the fucker is that’s trying to get to my girl.
My uncle was shot a few weeks ago when he was on his way to find Josie, in the apartment I bought for us. How he found out about that, I still don’t fucking know.
What bothers me is that whoever it is, he’s been close. How else would he know the game Josie and I play? I don’t like it. I’m going to find him and I’m going to fucking enjoy watching the life drain from his eyes.
“Can you trace the number?” Zio Theo asks.
I look up at him, not stopping the coding I’m currently doing to do just that. I raise a brow and smirk. I don’t say a word. I don’t need to. He knows I can find him.
“No need to be a cocky shit, Dante. It didn’t suit your father and it doesn’t suit you,” my uncle grunts.
My phone pings at the same time a pop up on my computer shows the message. It’s from Josie’s phone.
Unknown:
Let’s pretend I’m the guy who’s going to kill your boyfriend, and you’re the girl who’s going to do what I tell you to do in order to save him.
I see fucking red. “Where’s Josie?” I ask my uncle, turning to the wall of CCTV monitors making up most of the wall behind him. I find her in the living room. She’s staring at her phone, no doubt reading that same message. “She’s going to do whatever that asshole tells her if we don’t stop her,” I hiss under my breath before jumping up and storming out of the office.
When I make it to the living room, Josie is shaking. She has tears running down her cheeks.
I sit next to her and take the phone out of her hands. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
“I… What?” She looks up at me.
“Ignore them. Those messages are a fishing game, Josie, and it’s a game you’re not playing,” I tell her.
“How do you know?” she asks me.
“We don’t have secrets, right?” I remind her, and she rolls her eyes.
“You hacked my phone?”
“Zio Theo and I are handling it,” I tell her instead of answering.
“How?”
“Easy. I’m going to find whoever this asshole is and kill him.” I shrug.
“I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.” She sniffles while wiping at her cheeks.
“You are the best reason I’ve ever had for getting into trouble, babe.” I push to my feet and hold out a hand in her direction. “Come with me.”
I take Josie into my uncle’s office. I don’t want her to be alone. Most of all, I don’t want to give her the opportunity to sneak out and do something stupid, like follow some psychopath’s instructions in the hopes of saving me from… something.
“You doing okay?” Zio Theo stands up from his desk. He walks around the other side, shoving me away to position himself in front of Josie.
“Seriously?” I growl.
My uncle ignores my protest. “Whoever is doing this, I’m going to find them. I don’t want you to do anything but stay in this house until I know the threat is gone.”
Finally, something we can agree on.
“Okay.” Josie nods her head.
While my uncle is hogging my girl’s attention, I pick up my laptop, open the app that has Josie’s phone cloned, and fire off a response.
Josie:
What do you want me to do?
The ass takes the bait. Josie’s phone pings with an incoming message and I see her flinch.
Unknown:
Meet me at ten pm. Don’t be late. I’m dropping you a pin. And Josie… come alone.
“Got him!” I call out, turning my laptop around to show my uncle the messages.
“Wait a minute… Why do you have my phone on there?” Josie asks.
“Because he’s a grade-A stalker, Josie. I’ve been trying to tell you that you could do better,” Zio Theo says.
“Because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe,” I counter. Josie could do better than me. I’d just never let her leave me long enough to try.
“That’s creepy, Dante, even for you,” she says.
“Okay,” I agree before closing my laptop and turning to my uncle. “What’s the plan?”
“The plan is for you to stay here with Josie while I go and handle this fucker,” he tells me.
“I’m coming.” If someone is threatening the woman I love, I want to be the one to pull the trigger.
He lands me with a glare. “No. I need you to stay here with her. There is no one else alive who will protect her like you will, Dante.”
I nod. I may not like it but he’s not wrong. Because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect this girl.