CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO DAMON
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
DAMON
NOW
Ishouldn’t be here.
If there’s one place in this city I shouldn’t be, it’s camped outside the De Marco family estate hoping to catch a glimpse of Chloe.
But if I’m going to make this call anywhere, here is as good a place as any.
There are three guards doing a check of the perimeter, telling me I have little chance of getting past them without getting myself gunned down, but at least I can pretend to be doing recon while I brief my father.
The phone rings a few times before finally connecting. “Damon,” he greets. “I assume you’ll be headed home soon.”
I hesitate. As soon as I tell him we’ve found Chloe, everything changes. Ronan is already so fucking angry at me, is this just going to escalate things between us more?
But I have a responsibility to my father, to the family, to make sure we take care of any and all threats, even the ones that hurt.
“There’s been a…complication.”
“What kind of complication? I was led to believe Crew and the girl have been found.”
I roll my eyes. Camilla isn’t just a girl. She’s the head of a family just as large as ours, but Salvatore is nothing if not a misogynist. “They have,” I confirm. “But while we’ve been here, we found Chloe.”
Silence greets me for so long I pull the phone from my ear to check if the call is still connected.
“I’d hoped she was dead,” he replies.
“Well, she’s not. She’s alive and well.”
“And the child?”
“Apparently she didn’t carry to term, but I don’t have confirmation of that yet.”
He hums noncommittally. “Has she had a chance to poison your brother with lies?”
“Yes,” I reply, biting my tongue from reminding him that anything she tells him likely wouldn’t be a lie at all.
“That’s a problem.”
“How would you like me to proceed?”
“I’d like to have a little chat with her. Do what you can to recover the girl and bring her back to Miami, but if you must kill her, do so.”
“And Ronan?”
“He’ll get over it. He did the first time, and he will again.”
I press my eyes closed, pushing down the guilt that’s become a living, breathing being inside my chest. I hate lying to him, especially when it comes to Chloe, but nothing I say can change her fate, and arguing will only cause more problems.
“I’ll do what I can.”
“See that you do.” His tone leaves no room for argument. “She could be the key to finding Kingston after all these years.”
I end the call without bothering to reply. We’ve long since moved from a father-son relationship to boss and employee, and although I would like to think that will change when I take his place at the head of the table, it seems unlikely.
The day Mom died, he lost his ability to love, and that’s a reality Ronan and I have spent years coming to terms with.
Leaning my head back against the seat, I refocus on the front gate.
The guards have disappeared out of sight, but the lights inside the guardhouse are still on, telling me there’s likely someone inside.
Breaking in might be possible, but there’s no way I’m getting Chloe out of there without being shot, which means I’ll have to wait until she leaves the estate to pounce.
The next problem is going to be getting Ronan on board with this plan. There’s almost no chance he’s going to go along with kidnapping his childhood sweetheart, but he doesn’t have a choice.
One way or another, Chloe is coming back to Miami with us.