83. We ride at. whatever the fuck time it is
Chapter 83
We ride at... whatever the fuck time it is
Ariana
E very crew in the area has men out looking for Luca. Not only has Dad kept the peace between them for twenty years, but I’ve helped almost all of them out at some point. They’re contacting anyone they can find with ties to the two men who seem to be working with Fred. If a woman dated Gino or Wade in high school, someone’s talking to her tonight. Doc is here sleeping, ready to hop in a car at a moment’s notice.
I refuse to try and find a distraction. Lil has to be talked out of drugging me multiple times. I sit in Dad’s office, wearing one of Luca’s t-shirts over my tank top. It smells like him.
There’s nothing for me to do but sit and wait, and it’s driving me mad. Mom and Becca wander in and out of the room. There’s not really anything for them to do, either. Lil’s focusing her energy on me, hardly leaving my side. She makes sure I have something to drink in front of me at all times. She asks me if I’m hungry at least once every half hour. She brought down my favorite blanket and covered my legs with it.
I don’t need any of it, but she needs to do stuff, so I let her. I even try to take small bites of the food she brings me. Luca would want me to.
Dad’s phone goes off constantly, with both text messages and calls. It goes off so much I almost miss it when he gets something important. For just a moment, the mask falls, and fear mixed with anger shines through before he cools his expression once more. It’s fleeting, and I only see it because I know his face so well.
“Daddy.” His eyes snap to mine. “Tell me.”
He sighs. It’s no use trying to talk me into staying out of the mess.
“It’s a picture and a message that says, ‘I want one hundred million if…’” he pauses and waits until I nod, telling him to continue. “‘If Princess wants him back.’”
I concentrate on dragging air into my lungs. On the memory of Luca’s voice reminding me to breathe.
Money’s not a problem. It’s a huge jump from what Fred asked for last week, but we expected a jump. Maybe not that much of a jump, but still. I stand and walk to Dad, Lil’s hand in mine. “Show me.”
He holds my gaze for a moment but knows there’s no fighting me on it, so he turns his phone. Luca’s mouth is swollen, both from the teeth being extracted but also from a bruise on one side of his jaw. But he’s alive. And fuck does he look pissed off. Is it possible for a heart to break and soar at the same time?
Dad turns the phone back toward him and responds to the message. My grip on Lil’s hand tightens.
Because Fred’s an asshole, he waits at least an hour to send his next message. This one says he wants ten million wired to ten different accounts and an extra million in cash. There’s another picture of Luca, but now he has a black eye forming, and there’s blood on his shirt from what looks like a stab wound. I ball my fists.
Over the course of the next five hours, Fred sends more photos but doesn’t send a meeting place. It’s clear they’re using my husband as a punching bag and a knife block. I force myself to look at every photo. His eyes tell me more than anything. He’s in more and more pain each time. And he’s losing hope of getting out of there alive.
Mom and Becca have been going around to all the safes in the bedrooms and grabbing the cash out of them. It’s all wrapped and marked, and with Lil’s math skills, they’ll figure out how much we have on hand and if we’ll need to get more from the bank. It being a Sunday won’t matter, not when a DeVille calls the manager.
Every time we get a new picture, there’s another bloody spot on his shirt. His nose is broken, both eyes are bruised and swollen, and I’m pretty sure there’s a couple of cigarette burns on his neck. Dad’s mostly calm on the outside. But he opens and closes his fists over and over, fighting the memories of when he was getting pictures of me like that.
I’m silently freaking the fuck out in my head. I’m barely holding my shit together right now. The locket is constantly in my hand, sliding along the chain. I want to go grab one of Luca’s hoodies and drink in Lil’s closet until I pass out. But I can’t do that. Not yet. Once he’s back home, once I have him in my arms and know he’s okay, maybe. But until then, I have to keep grasping at the frayed threads I’m clinging to so I don’t unravel. I can’t unravel when he needs me to be strong. He told me that I don’t need to be strong all the time, but I have to be right now.
But it’s so hard to be strong right now. Even with Lil by my side. I need them both. We all need each other.
The sun is up when the money is ready to go in a bag. As it turns out, we had more than a million in cash stashed around here. Anything is possible at the DeVille house.
It feels like we’ve been waiting here for years. This time, when Dad’s phone dings, he looks at Anthony after reading the message. “Let’s go. ”
I jump up to follow, but he stops me. “Ariana, you can’t go, sweetheart.”
My heart throws itself into my throat, and I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach. “I have to go. I can’t stay here.”
“You’re not getting close to that man. You’re not putting yourself in danger. Luca wouldn’t want that, and if something were to happen to you, he’d never forgive himself. We don’t know what shape he’s in, Ari. We just… we don’t know, and you have to stay here where it’s safe.”
There are tears in his eyes as he brushes past me. Anthony stops and cups my wet cheeks in his hands. “We’re bringing him back to you, Ari.”
“Bring him back to all of us,” I whisper. He kisses the top of my head and follows Dad.
Lil appears at my side and hooks her pinky around mine.
My mind spins, thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. It’s not even a guarantee that Fred is going to hand Luca over easily. And what’s going to stop him from coming back someday? He needs to not be a problem ever again. Under different circumstances, I would be there with my sniper rifle, taking the bastard out myself.
Fuck. I could take the bastard out.
I understand why Dad can’t deal with the thought of me being there.
I know Luca would sacrifice himself to keep me safe.
But I can’t stand by and not put my fucking skills to use.
Tugging on Lil’s hand, I drag her behind me.
“What are we doing, Ari?” she hisses.
Shaking my head, I don’t respond until we’re in her closet. “Do you still have the tracker app on your phone?”
“Of course. Parker hasn’t realized we hacked into it yet.” The confusion on her face changes to disbelief. “No. Ari, we can’t. ”
“I have to, Lil. I’m not saying you have to go with me, but I need to know where they’re going.”
“You’re not going without me. When I say ride or die, I mean it.”
“You realize it’s definitely possible that tonight it’s not just ride, right?”
She nods, holding my gaze. “Yep. Let’s go.”
“Suit up, Robin,” I tell her.
“Why do you always get to be Batman?”
“Do you know how to drive our Batmobile?”
“…fuck. Fine, I’m Robin.” For the first time since Luca left the house, I smile. It’s small and bitter, like me.
After I grab the keys I have hidden, we head downstairs, but Mom and Becca are in the kitchen. “We’re going down to the range. I need to shoot something,” I tell them on our way through.
“Okay, sweetie, just let us know if you need anything.” Mom gives me a hug, and I feel like a bitch for lying to her. But I don’t feel bad enough to change my mind.
In the basement, I open the armory. Hannah is upstairs in Lil’s safe, but my second favorite rifle is here. “Your turn, Bailey,” I say as I grab the case.
Lil snags a bowling bag from the alley. “Albany, Cherry, Rhea, Anne… where’s Lorna?” I mutter as I load it with knives, handguns, and ammo. “Aha, there you are.”
“She can’t remember to eat breakfast, but hand her a weapon, and she can tell you its name.” Lil pulls a Glock down off the wall. “Who is this?”
“No clue, it’s Dad’s.” I take it from her, turning it over in my hand. “Hmmm. It’s nice, though. Feels like a Laura to me. She’s mine now.” I add her to the stash and zip up the bag.
We go out the hidden door and through the tunnel that takes us to the wall, then jump on the motorcycle and ride to the waiting Maserati, stopping for the key stashed in the shitbox on our way. We didn’t bother leaving our phones or jewelry behind. Today’s the day our secret comes out, and as long as I get my husband back, I don’t give a shit.