36. Lennie
THIRTY-SIX
LENNIE
Something was off. And it wasn’t the puppy.
It had been a month since I brought Georgy over to Dante’s, and even though the pup had had a couple of accidents, everything with him seemed to be going fine.
But Dante was acting strange. I had stayed at his place every night so I could help out with the dog and because I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from my boys longer than I needed to.
I even moved more of my stuff in. It seemed like Dante didn’t mind seeing my belongings mixed in with his.
At night, when Dante thought I was asleep, he would leave the bed and not come back for hours. I always knew when he was back because Georgy would let out a whine or a little yip.
After the first week, I noticed that he kept looking at his phone as if he were waiting for something. When I tried asking him about it, he’d just say he was waiting to hear back from Toby if some forensics had come back or something else work-related.
I could tell by the way his eyes moved and the way he fidgeted with his fingers that he was lying to me. He was lying to me after he told me he loved me not even a month ago.
I decided that tonight I would follow him wherever he went. Tomorrow was Evelyn and Kade’s wedding, and I had to be up early to get ready since I was in the bridal party. However, I needed to know what was going on with him. I needed to make sure that my gut was wrong.
After we completed our evening routine and got Georgy settled on his bed, we went upstairs. Dante was quiet tonight, but I also knew he had worked a long day and clearly hadn't been sleeping well, being out every night. Was it another woman? Surely not. But I couldn’t be certain.
We got into bed and I pretended to fall asleep. After an hour of waiting, Dante finally left the bed and tiptoed out of the room.
I waited a few moments before putting on my sweatpants and a sweatshirt and creeping down the stairs.
When I got downstairs, I heard the garage door open and cursed myself for not having my car here today. But thankfully Dante had another vehicle in the garage. Moving as quickly as I could, I took the keys off the hook and waited until I heard the garage door close to go out and jump in the Subaru.
It didn’t take long for me to catch up to Dante in the Jeep.
I made sure to stay far enough away that he wouldn’t notice me as I followed him to the outskirts of the city to a warehouse district.
My heart began to pound in my chest as he pulled into an area of dilapidated buildings.
I idled, waiting until I saw him get out of the car and walk into one of the buildings before I parked in an alley.
I was thankful that the Subaru was black so it blended into the darkness.
After taking a deep breath, I climbed out of the vehicle and walked toward the building Dante had entered, sticking to the shadows.
My chest felt tight as I approached the warehouse, anxious about what I might discover.
If he was in this area at this time of night, he was most likely doing something illegal.
Which wasn’t foreign to me due to who my best friends were, but still.
My polished boyfriend was not someone I would expect to be involved with illicit affairs.
I peeked through a cracked window and saw the main entry was clear, and Dante was headed toward the furthest wall of the building.
I crept inside and tiptoed along the decaying walls.
I followed through the threshold and down the long hallway.
When Dante stopped abruptly, I covered my mouth and hid behind a beam.
After a few seconds, he continued down toward a more well-lit area.
I tried to calm my racing heart and found the strength to keep walking. Finally, I mustered up the courage and continued down the dim hallway. From the next threshold, I could hear Dante talking to someone.
“Someone needs to clean up your and dear ol’ Dad’s fuck-ups,” I heard him say as I noticed the medical bed in front of him and a woman lying there. From my vantage point, I could see messy brown hair, and I knew in that moment who he was talking to.
It was Sarah.
I turned around, not needing to see more, and returned to Dante’s home as quickly as possible. I couldn’t be gone when he got back, and I certainly couldn’t leave Georgy home by himself for who knew how long.
My mind raced as I replayed his words in my head.
He’d said “Dad.” My heart dropped to my stomach as the ramifications sunk in. Dante must be Anthony Ricci’s son, and he was absolutely talking to a very-much-alive Sarah.