Chapter 2
Two
Luca
The gunfire above has silenced, and I can’t help but wonder who won the fight and who lost.
If it’s Massimo’s men, I’ll be dead in a matter of seconds, maybe minutes if I’m unlucky enough to suffer at their hands.
I’m careful not to alert anyone I’m alive until I know which side won.
Massimo grunts beneath me. His face is battered, his body pummeled, but he’s still alive, for now.
“Luca!” Ashton’s voice echoes in the distance.
My best friend is still alive.
Nova would kill me if anything happened to Ashton.
“Down here!” I shout. “I’ve got Massimo!” He’s pinned under me, my weight pressing him into the earth, keeping him from bolting.
“Like hell you do.” He grunts and pushes me forcefully off him.
I go stumbling backward, smacking my ribs into a rock.
“Fucking asshole!” I shout and ignore the searing pain as I throw myself at him and catch a glimpse of the gun in his hand.
We wrestle with the metal, and he discharges the gun into the forest. I knock it several feet away and grab a nearby rock, smacking him over the scar on his face, where Ashton had previously shot him.
I swear the man is a cat with nine lives.
Not if I have anything to say about it.
The trauma to his head knocks him unconscious.
He’s still breathing, for now.
Blood drips down his eyes and across his cheek.
Catching my breath after the jolt of pain to my chest, Ashton finally makes it down the mountainside. “Is he still alive?” Ashton nods toward Massimo, whom I have pinned beneath me once again.
I’m not taking any chances.
“He’s got a pulse.”
“Luca, you down there?” Halsey shouts at us.
“Yeah! I’ve got Massimo pinned and unconscious.”
“What the hell are you waiting for? Finish the job!” Halsey’s voice echoes through the forest.
I glance at Ashton. “That would be murder.”
I’ve never killed anyone in my life.
“Do you think he’s going to stop coming after your family?” Ashton snaps at me.
He’s right.
Massimo doesn’t make empty threats.
My mouth is dry, and I want to kill the man who has been threatening my family, but how will I know the threats end with him?
Footsteps crunch over dried leaves and branches.
Halsey slides a few feet down the mountainside until he comes to tower above me with Ashton at his side.
“What are you waiting for? He threatened your wife and your son.” Halsey’s eyes tighten. “He kidnapped those children!” he shouts and points up toward the top of the ridge where this all began.
I grab the gun from Ashton. It’s the only way to know Harper and Zeke are safe—my wife and son.
Heat and anger surge through me as I unload the clip.
There’s zero chance Massimo survived the stream of bullets to his head.
Halsey smiles.
His sinister grin makes my stomach flip, and I climb off Massimo and hold my stomach.
I will not vomit on the dead body.
Ashton offers me a hand.
I’m covered in blood, it’s smeared on my hands, but my shirt is caked in splatter. It’s not a great sight.
“We’ll dispose of the body,” Halsey says. “Ashton, take Luca back to the compound.” He tosses him the car keys.
My mind is in a fog, playing over the events repeatedly. “What about the girls?” My eyes widen in horror. If we did this for Dante so that he could traffic them, I’ll kill my father myself.
“We have a contact who can help them.”
“Please tell me it isn’t the police.” Ashton’s brow is furrowed.
Is he worried for me because I killed Massimo, the fact that I just used his gun, or for the other men who were killed?
“Of course not. We have a few officers on our payroll, but not to worry. Dante will reach out to our source. He’ll get the girls new identities and arrange for their safe travel out of town.”
Dante, a good guy?
I’m not sure I believe it.
My head swims as Ashton and I head up the mountain, a difficult terrain to climb, and we reach the awaiting vehicle.
I shut my eyes, trying not to replay Massimo’s threats and his death over in my head.
It’s a bad movie that I can’t erase.
The ride between us is quiet as he takes the wheel, and I eventually stare off into the distance.
My clothes will have to be burned, as will all the other evidence.
Ashton glances at me as we reach the house. “You’re one hell of a sight. Try to sneak inside and go shower before anyone notices.”
I glance down at my hands. My knuckles are covered in dried blood. My shirt is gross, and I haven’t so much as looked at my reflection in the mirror. It can’t be good.
Ashton parks in the garage around back, and I hurry in through the side entrance of the house. I leave my shoes by the door, as if that’s the worst thing I’m bringing inside.
I have to walk the long corridor to head upstairs to shower.
I try my damndest to be quiet, but Harper somehow catches sight as I walk by the playroom.
“Luca?”
I freeze, doing my best not to move. Worried that if I turn around and face her, she’ll see all the crimson staining my skin.
She’s swift, jumping the baby gate, which was helpful when Zeke was smaller, but he’s learned to climb it by watching Harper.
Hopefully, he won’t try that right now.
I hide along the other side of the wall, making her step fully out into the corridor to see me.
Harper’s eyes widen, her breath catches in her throat, and she runs her fingers over my cheek and down my chest. “Are you … hurt?”
“It’s not my blood.” I shake my head, trying to ease her of any and all concerns.
Her brow is pinched as she stares up into my gaze.
“I’m fine. I just … let me go shower. We can talk after.”
I pull away from her, not wanting her to be covered in Massimo’s blood as I retreat for the stairs.
Dante’s office door swings open and he steps out, glancing me over. “Luca. After you clean up, I’d like a word.”
“Of course.” I expected nothing less. I’m sure he wants to be caught up on the situation and the news about Massimo.
I head upstairs for the shower, and now I’m beginning to understand why the floor is marble. Perhaps it’s to keep blood from staining it.
I step into the bathroom, grimacing at the splatter of blood covering my cheeks.
I strip down. My clothes are going to end up in the trash, no sense in trying to remove the gore caked to the cloth.
I turn on the shower and wait for the water to heat before I step under the spray and rinse away the death and filth that covers me.
There’s a soft knock on the bathroom door.
“It’s occupied!” Does the sound of running water not make it clear that someone is in here already?
A small gust of cold air hits me, and I turn the shower hotter.
“It’s me,” Harper’s voice fills the small space of the bathroom.
“I’ll be done soon.”
I scrub at the blood that I can see—on my hands, knuckles, beneath my fingernails. I shove my face under the spray and rub at it, hoping to remove any trace remnants down the drain.
“I stole something today.”
Harper’s soft voice catches me by surprise. I pull back the shower curtain and glance at her. “What’d you steal?” I can’t imagine Harper ever doing anything illegal or bad.
She’s practically a saint compared to me.
Harper gestures at my face. “You still have some—”
Sighing, I shut the shower curtain and shove my face back under the spray, scrubbing more at my cheeks and nose.
“Do you want my help?”
“I’d love for my wife to join me in the shower, but not when it’s a bloodbath in here.” I glance down at the floor.
The water is running clear, but just the thought churns my stomach. I still see blood from the splatter of bullets into Massimo.
Harper pulls back the shower curtain, and she’s got a white mini washcloth. She douses it under the spray and then reaches up to my face to scrub the last remnants of blood away.
Her touch is warm, strong, comforting.
I’m shocked that she hasn’t run away after seeing me covered in blood.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” She douses the washcloth under the spray again and grazes my cheek with her hand.
“I’d rather talk about what you stole. Was it from my father, or did you leave the house today?”
Harper inhales a breath. “Did Dante speak with you already?”
“No.”
What’s she talking about?
I inhale sharply, my gaze sharp and threatening. “What’d you steal, Harper?”
“It was nothing. I mean, hardly anything.”
“Out with it,” I bite, my tone short and clipped. I don’t like Harper hiding things from me.
“There was a stuffed animal in your father’s office, a dragon. The same one that Zeke has, and it had a gash in its—”
I shut the shower curtain.
“I can’t deal with this right now!”
She found the dragon from Massimo. The threat to my family.
Tears burn my eyes.
“Luca,” her voice is soft, filled with concern.
“Give me some time to finish my shower. I’ll talk to you after. Please.” My voice cracks, and I cough to clear my throat, not wanting her to hear the pain in my tone.
Silence fills the space. I turn the shower hotter, letting it scald every inch of me.
Finally, she relents. “Okay. We’ll talk after.”
The bathroom door opens, and once again another chilly breeze hits me from the air conditioning before I hear the click.
I swear I locked that door, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she knew how to pick a bathroom lock.
It’s not that difficult.
Finishing my much-needed shower, Ashton offers to discard my clothes, and he bags his own dirty ones from today, letting me know all evidence will be erased.
There was too much evidence today, it’s a bit unsettling. But I trust Ashton and I have to trust my father.
I head down to Dante’s office. I’m not exactly looking forward to the conversation he wants to have.
Harper came clean, she confessed about stealing the stuffed dragon. I’m not sure why she stole it or what she planned to do with it, but I’ll find out eventually.
As it is, she doesn’t know about the threat from Massimo, and seeing as how he’s dead, there’s no reason to worry her.
It’s all in the past.
I head to my father’s office. Moreno stands outside the door. “He’ll be back in a minute, but go ahead inside. I know that he wanted to talk with you.”