Chapter 17
Seventeen
Harper
Luca and Ashton have been gone for a couple of hours. Nova has been spending the afternoon entertaining Zeke and chatting with me in the playroom.
Zeke keeps showing us all the new toys that he’s discovered. Most of them look well-loved; I’m relieved Nikki isn’t going out buying dozens of new toys every time we come to visit.
“Do you mind keeping an eye on him for a few minutes?” I smile at Nova as she glances at her phone.
“Sure. Bathroom break?”
“How’d you guess?” The smile feels forced, but hopefully, she doesn’t notice since she’s a bit enthralled with her phone. Is she texting Ashton?
I give Zeke a quick kiss on the cheek. “Be good for Aunty Nova.”
He ignores me, pushing me aside for the train set that has stolen all of his attention.
I hurry out of the playroom and down the hallway, searching for Dante. I breeze past the bathroom when Moreno makes eye contact with me as he approaches from the far end of the hallway.
“Looking for the restroom?” Moreno raises an eyebrow.
It’s no surprise that he won’t tolerate snooping.
“Actually, I wanted to speak with Dante. Can you show me to him?”
“He’s busy at the moment.” Moreno sighs and gestures to the playroom. “You should go and keep your son company. This place isn’t for you to run around in like a child.”
My gaze narrows as I glance him over. “I wasn’t running.” I clear my throat, stepping closer. Moreno hovers above me, but he doesn’t scare me nearly as much as his boss. Moreno doesn’t have the same authority. I ball my hands into fists, my teeth clench, and I growl up at him, “Take me to Dante.”
“Your funeral,” he mutters and leads me down the hallway to a closed door, the window made of frosted glass. “His office.”
Moreno knocks against the glass door.
“Come inside.” Dante’s rough voice sends a shiver down my spine.
I can’t back down. I need answers.
Moreno opens the door for me. “Harper would like a word with you.” They exchange a silent glance between one another. “I warned her that you were busy.”
“I am, but I will make time for my daughter-in-law. Come in.” Dante gestures me inside, and I step foot inside his office, the door closing abruptly behind me.
The room is far cooler than I expected with the heat blasting the house.
Perhaps he likes it chillier, or maybe his heart truly is made of ice and freezes over his office.
“Have a seat.” He points to the chair across from his desk, the leather vacant, waiting for me.
Slowly, I approach his desk and then take a seat. Sitting at the edge of the chair, my hands fiddling in my lap, I meet his heavy stare.
“What can I do for you, Harper?” Dante’s gaze tightens.
“I need to know what’s going on with Luca. The bruises on his chest, the broken ribs. Whatever you’re sending him into—an ambush, or whatever it is—you need to keep him safe.”
He doesn’t smile.
He stares right through me, giving no hint of emotion at all.
Silence fills the space between us, and then there’s a slight boom when the heat kicks on, and I nearly jump out of my seat.
That seems to amuse him.
A crooked smile reaches his face. “What has my son told you?”
“Absolutely nothing!” I stand, finding it impossible to sit and yell at him.
“Luca won’t tell me anything. He tried to hide the bruises from me.
He pretended to be sick. Do you know that?
He missed the last game of the hockey season.
But maybe that was your point all along.
Rough him up. Hurt him. Then, he can’t play hockey. ”
“Watch your tone, and I don’t like what you’re insinuating, little girl.”
I huff and fold my arms across my chest.
“I’m not some little girl. I’m your son’s wife.”
“Precisely. You are only a part of this family because he married you out of protection.”
My gaze tightens.
“I love your son. Whether you see that or not, Luca is the world to me. Which is why I’m in here, demanding to know what the hell you’ve gotten him involved in!”
Dante straightens his back. His hands clasp the wooden desk in front of him. “That is none of your concern, Harper.”
“It is my concern when you send my husband home nearly beaten to death. I thought, as his father, you would have his best interests at heart, but you only care about your own self-preservation.”
My gaze darts across the office, not wanting to meet Dante’s stare any longer. My breath catches when I see the same gray dragon that Zeke has on his bed. Luca gifted it to him a few months ago.
But this one is damaged.
Ripped into with … a knife of some sort.
The stitching and stuffing fluffs out with no attempt to fix. It’s shoved into the corner of the room against the wall, tucked next to the filing cabinet.
How peculiar.
Dante’s gaze sweeps over me, and when he catches me staring at the corner, he turns, glancing over his shoulder at the dragon.
I want to ask, but think better of it.
Was he angry with Zeke and took it out on the stuffed toy?
Why does he have the same toy that Zeke does? Did Luca have one as a child?
Or could it belong to the little boy who had been here last winter?
Dante is infuriating, and I pace the space in front of his desk. My mind is reeling with all the possibilities, and my silence might cause me more trouble. “I’m worried about Luca. I’m sure you can understand why I’m concerned, given what happened the last time he followed your orders.”
“Luca is capable of handling the mission. In fact, he volunteered to be first in line today.”
“What?” My voice catches in my throat. “No. I don’t believe you.”
Luca never wants anything to do with Dante. There’s no way he offered up himself to get involved in a mission run and orchestrated by his father.
“Believe it.” Dante doesn’t so much as blink.
I don’t know if the man has any tells, but I can’t read him. He’d be a great poker player, not a great opponent.
“Tell me what you’re involving him in. Is it drugs? Weapons? Why is he willing to suddenly do your bidding? Did you threaten my son? Me?”
“You did that yourself when you went into that basement.” Dante offers a sinister smile, and my stomach sinks. I stop pacing and fall back into the leather chair.
My head swims with regret all over again.
I bite down on my bottom lip, using the pain and strength to refocus as I glare across at Dante. I came in here demanding answers. I’m not about to stop now. If he had any leverage to hurt me, he’d have done it already.
He can’t.
Because I’m married into the family.
A Ricci.
I jolt out of the chair and stare down at him. Towering above him makes me feel powerful, in control, and I notice a fancy blade, a dagger, on his desk. I reach for it before he has time to blink. “If Luca won’t tell me what the hell is going on, I expect you to give me answers, Father.”
“It’s father-in-law to you,” he corrects me.
With the blade poised in my hand, I circle his desk, and Dante holds up his hands as he stands, forcing me to lose my leverage.
He’s a hell of a lot taller and more intimidating when he’s standing and we’re face-to-face.
Dante grabs my wrist, yanking it upward so the tip grazes my neck. His strength overpowers me, and I’m forced to drop the hilt. The blade clanks to the floor.
His breath hits my ear, and I shiver. “Try that shit again, I dare you. Next time, I won’t be as forgiving.”
He pushes me backward.
I stumble a couple of steps, my heart pounding in my chest as I catch myself from falling.
“Sit.” Dante points at the empty leather chair.
I’d rather leave, but it seems I’ve gotten my audience. I retreat to the chair, and he stalks around the desk, towering over me.
“What is it you want to know?” He perches himself on the edge of his desk, waiting for the barrage of questions.
“Tell me everything that Luca won’t.”
Dante smirks. “We’ll be here all day, and I need to check on my son to make sure he hasn’t gotten himself killed.”
I launch up from the chair, and his hand comes to find my shoulder. “You should be seated for this.” He pauses and strokes his jaw. “On second thought. Moreno!” he shouts.
It turns out he’s standing on the opposite side of the door, waiting for Dante.
The door creaks open, and Moreno pokes his head into the office. “Yes, sir.”
“Bring me Nikki.”
Moreno shuts the door behind himself.
Dante’s eyes bore into mine. “You will have your answers, but not until I’m satisfied.”
“Satisfied?” I whisper.
What is he talking about?
A heaviness falls between us, and Nikki comes striding into the office. She glances from Dante to me, and her brow pinches. “What’s going on?”
“Harper would like answers, and as much as I’d love to entertain the idea of giving her those answers, I need you to search her. Thoroughly.”
“Excuse me?” My eyes widen, and I glance between the two of them.
“You could be wearing a wire.” Dante gestures to my clothes. “Seeing as how I’m your father-in-law, I’m not getting my hands dirty with the search. Nikki, search her.”
“Are you sure that’s—”
“Search her,” he bites out between clenched teeth.
“Got it. Would you give us some privacy?” Nikki escorts Dante out of his own office and shuts the door behind him.
She glances me over, perhaps waiting for me to undress. I don’t budge an inch.
“Do I need to strip-search you, or can we do this like adults, and you fully undress for me?”
“I’m not taking my clothes off for you. I’m not taking my clothes off for anyone in this house other than my husband.”
“Do you understand that if I’m not satisfied that you’re not wearing a wire, then Dante will have his men do it?”
I lift my sweater, showing her my lace bra. “Satisfied?”
Nikki shakes her head and leans against the door. “All of it, off. And this isn’t about satisfying me. I need to know you’re to be trusted, and you haven’t exactly exuded that level of confidence, have you?”
I scoff. “It was one time that I was snooping. Put it to rest.”
“That would be easy if we could trust you. We’ve bent over backward for you and your son. Now, tell me what brought you into Dante’s office.”