Chapter 3
Iclutched my phone way too tight as I stared at the cryptic message from my little brother.
How many other secrets have you kept from me, Luna?
The text was so cold,so unlike Logan. He never called me Luna. He always called me Luni. Always. My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I read it again and again, trying to make sense of it, but knowing there was only one scenario that would have him sending me a text like this.
Logan found out something. But what? And how? There were a lot of things I”d kept from my brother. Mostly for his own protection, and some just because he didn”t need to know. All of which would only cause him pain, or, at the very least, change the way he looked at me.
And I think that was what I was most afraid of.
Instead of texting him back, I called his number with shaky fingers. It rang three times before the call was answered, but it wasn”t my brother on the other end.
”That didn”t take you long at all.”
Fear twisted my bowels as Gino”s overly friendly voice greeted me. ”Why do you have Logan”s phone? Where”s my brother?” I demanded. ”Let me talk to him. Right now!”
Gino chuckled. ”Patience. Patience, Luna. He”s right here. My long-lost son.” He drew the words out sarcastically.
I heard a slap and Logan”s answering grunt of pain. Anger and fear warred within me, making my hands tremble. ”If you fucking hurt him, Gino, I swear to fucking god?—”
He cut me off. ”I”ve been telling him all about our recent re-acquaintance, and what a whore his sister is.”
Oh, god. Oh god. My stomach churned and bile rose in my throat. ”It”s true then.” I had to force the words out. ”You really are my father, and you”ve known all along.”
I knew he was deliberately trying to provoke me, toying with my emotions by insulting and degrading me. But I also had no doubt in my mind that he”d done exactly as he”d just said. I swallowed hard, clenching my jaw as I fought to steady my breathing. I wouldn”t let Gino have the satisfaction of knowing how deeply his words had cut me. Not because I”d fucked him without knowing who he was, but because this was one of those things I never wanted Logan to know.
”Of course, I knew. Why do you think I allowed you in on the poker game, Luna?”
”What kind of disgusting piece of shit fucks his own daughter?”
He was silent on the other end of the line for so long I thought he”d hung up. ”Hello? Hello? Gino!”
”At first, he tried to defend you,” he said quietly. ”But when I laid the cards out on the table—so to speak—well, let”s just say he knows now that you”ve been lying to him all along.”
Gino”s mocking tone made my blood boil even as a shiver of dread crept up my spine. What else had he told Logan about me? How much did he know?
I gave myself an internal shake. It didn”t matter. What was important right now was getting him away from Gino and somewhere safe. ”Where do you have my brother?”
He didn”t answer.
”Gino! Where the fuck is my brother?”
”Meet us at the construction site on East 7th,” Gino told me. ”I think you”re right. It”s time for a little family reunion. And Luna…” There was a long pause. ”Be sure to come alone.” He inhaled loudly through his nose, his voice dropping. ”I loved your mother, and when she had you, a girl in her exact image, it made my heart swell with joy. But I never cared about having a son. Never wanted some kid growing up and thinking he could take what I”ve worked so hard to achieve. That it was owed to him just because he came from my cock. It would be no hardship for me to make him disappear again, only this time for good. Do you understand?”
The line went dead before I could answer. Horrified panic rose in my chest as I lowered the phone to my side and stood there staring at the open safe in disbelief. Gino had Logan. Logan was in danger because of me. I”d been so caught up in Tristan and our relationship…distracted by what was happening with me…
God, it was so fucking stupid of me not to see this coming.
Gino knew how much Logan meant to me. Of course, he”d go after him to get to me. Because he knew I”d come running to rescue him.
And he was right.
The thought crossed my mind to call Tristan. But then I looked down at the faded picture of me and my mother I still held in my other hand. My chest hollowed out and my throat was thick with tears as I slid it into the back pocket of my jeans. I returned the rest of the photos to the safe I”d found them and closed the door, then hit the lock button. Hanging the painting back where it was, I ran to get my shoes.
I couldn”t call Tristan in any case. Gino”s warning was quite clear. If I didn”t come alone, he”d kill Logan. If I could distract him, there might be a chance I could get my brother somewhere safe.
It wasn”t until I stepped outside that I realized I had no idea how I was going to get there. Running back into the house, I searched for the keys to the SUV but couldn”t find them anywhere.
”Dammit!”
Frantic now, I ran back outside just in time to see a car coming from Luca”s. I hesitated for half a second, then ran out to the main drive, flagging down the driver. I had no idea who was behind the wheel, but I”d have to take the chance it wasn”t Tristan or one of the other guys. When the car slowed down, I rushed to the passenger side door as the back window rolled down.
”Luna! What”s wrong?” Luca”s woman, Veda, was in the backseat. I didn”t know if she was aware of my situation with Tristan or if she was surprised to see me at his house, and at the moment, I didn”t care. I was just grateful to see her and a driver I”d never met before. If anything, another woman might be easier to convince to help me. And as it turned out, it took no convincing at all.
”I need a ride,” I told her. ”Please! I need to get to my brother as fast as possible!”
”Of course!” Waving me to the back seat, she moved over for me.
Getting in, I slammed the door shut and wrestled with the seatbelt. My hands were shaking so hard it took me a few tries before I could get it fastened. ”I need to go downtown to 7th street.”
”Go!” Veda told the driver.
But he was pulling up his phone on the touchscreen on the dash. ”I just need to tell Mr. Morelli we”re making a stop.”
I threw her a panicked look.
”No,” she told him firmly. ”We don”t. Hang up now and just drive. He knows I”m going downtown anyway. It”ll just be a quick stop.” Gesturing with her hands, she told him, ”Go! Or I”ll tell him it was you who made us late if anything happens to either of us.”
With an unhappy look, he put the car in motion.
Then she turned to me. ”Is your brother okay?”
”I don”t know,” I told her honestly, then added a half-lie. ”I got a strange text from him and now he”s not answering me.”
”Go faster,” she told the driver when we hit the road. ”But don”t get pulled over. I”ll call Luca and explain everything once we get her there.”
I didn”t know if she would really tell him or not, but I didn”t tell her not to, because I was fucking terrified. I had no idea what I was about to walk into, and if she called Luca after they dropped me off, Tristan would come for me. I completely believed that, because he told me he always would.
With a quick glance at the driver, I whispered, ”I was told to come alone.” I didn”t want to say more than that, but I hoped it would be enough to let Tristan know to be careful. And hopefully, we”d both still be alive when he showed up. I”d ask him about my mother”s picture once we were safe.
Veda”s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and then she squeezed my hand to let me know she”d heard me. She didn”t let go, holding it the entire trip. I appreciated that she didn”t force me to say any more or tell me everything was going to be okay. Instead, she just offered her silent support.
The neighborhood we drove through blurred past the window in a frenzy of winter grays and browns, but I barely noticed any of it. All I could think about was getting to Logan. He was my only real family, and I”d do anything—anything—to protect him now. Even if it meant going back to Gino, if that was what he wanted.
I told the driver to drop me off on the corner and I”d walk the rest of the way so Veda wouldn”t be late to her appointment, telling her I needed to walk off my panic before I saw him so I didn”t come across as a crazy, overprotective sister when it turned out to be nothing. She knew what I was doing, and she didn”t want to do it, but I finally got her to agree only when I took her number and promised to call if I needed her to come back.
Waving as they pulled away, I waited until the car was swallowed up by traffic before I turned and ran down the street toward the large construction site I could see two or three blocks ahead.
I slowed down as I approached, catching my breath and scanning the area for any signs of Gino or Logan. Other than the sounds of cars, it was eerily quiet as I ducked under the chain stretched across the entrance to the lot and headed toward the half-built concrete warehouse in the center, my hand up to block the bright sun. But it was still winter, and the wind was really blowing. I wished I”d remembered my coat.
”Logan!” I shouted as I neared. ”Logan, where are you?” Fear and panic made my voice abnormally high. I didn”t think about being cautious. I didn”t give a fuck who heard me. It”s not like they didn”t know I was coming, and I just wanted to see my brother and make sure he was all right.
I found an unfinished doorway and picked my way over some rocks to get inside. Once I was out of the wind, I turned in frantic circles, searching the cavernous room for any sign of my brother or Gino. ”Logan!” Birds flew from the rafters, startling me, and I watched them fly out through a hole where the roof should”ve been as I tried to get my heart to beat again.
A muffled shout sounded from my right. I hurried toward it, my sneakers slipping on the dusty concrete floor. Behind a stack of steel beams, Logan was bound and gagged, his one unswollen eye dazed with pain and fear. Blood ran down the side of his face from a wide gash in his forehead, dripping onto his white T-shirt, and one of his arms was twisted at a grotesque angle.
I dropped to my knees and pulled the gag from his mouth, then started fumbling with the ropes around his ankles, crying out when he jerked and moaned in pain. ”I”m so sorry,” I told him as tears blurred my vision. ”I”m so, so sorry, honey.”
”Luni,” he gasped. His speech was slurred, and he spit blood onto the floor. ”Get the fuck out of here. Before they come back.”
”I”m not leaving you,” I choked out. ”Can you walk?” I didn”t want to move his arm any more than I had to, so I left his hands tied in front of him for now.
His one good eye darted over my shoulder and he opened his mouth to try to warn me. But before I could turn, a massive force slammed into me from behind, catching me on my head and shoulder and throwing me to the side. Stars danced in front of my eyes as the left side of my face scraped along the gritty floor and a heavy weight pinned me down between my shoulder blades. I thrashed violently as I tried to get up, but a hand fisted in my hair, yanking my head back painfully.
Gino”s cold voice hissed in my ear. ”Welcome back, Luna. It”s so good to have the family back together again.”
His knee ground into my back as I screamed in rage and frustration. But it was no use. We were trapped. And Gino had won.