39. Chapter 39
Dario
My irritation grows as I stare down at my phone, waiting for Jasmine to text me back.
She’s been out all morning claiming she has errands to run, and I hate that I’m away from her.
Even more, I hate the way she’s ignoring my messages.
Since she’s not answering, I type a text out to Tank to make sure everything is all right and she’s safe.
“Why are you pouting?” Gio asks, only worsening my mood.
“I’m not,” I insist, crossing my arms over my chest.
Luca glances over from the chair beside me, looking completely ridiculous and way too large for the piece of furniture. Now that I think of it, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him sit before in this office. He’s usually positioned beside Gio, ready to take on the world at a moment’s notice.
“Are to,” he says, and I roll my eyes.
I glare at Luca, but he remains unfazed. I don’t know if it’s because Gio has always been protective in his big brother role, or the fact that Luca will sit there and remain quiet, listening to every word you say, but I decide to confide in them.
“I’m worried about Jasmine.”
Luca reaches over and squeezes my knee. “We’ll find him.”
“When?” I cry out. “It’s been a fucking week, and we’re not any closer to him now than we were.”
“That’s not true,” Gio says. “While we’ve lost our connections at the law firm.
” He glares at me. I shrug with no regrets.
“We can confirm he put in for a two-week vacation the day after Jasmine found him at her place. I’m going to pull the men we’ve had stationed around the building since we won’t find him there. ”
“How the fuck does that help us find him?” I demand, and Gio’s eyes tighten.
“It helps us get more eyes on the goddamn city. We’ll find him, Dario. I promise.”
My phone vibrates, and I glance down, relaxing slightly when I see Tank’s message.
Tank
She's shopping.
The man talks about as much as Luca, and I wonder for a moment how the two of them are friends. What the fuck do they talk about?
Gio continues, “I’ve got Lincoln looking into things.
Delaney hasn’t used his credit card since the day she saw him, nor has he withdrawn money from his account.
No airline tickets have been purchased in his name.
Nobody in his building has seen him. The little shit is scared and hiding. He knows we’re coming after him.”
I stare at Gio, noting the wrinkles that have formed around my brother’s eyes and deepened in his forehead.
The man is still the second-best-looking son of the Caruso family, but either the weight of the responsibilities passed down to him or the fact he’s two years into his forties is beginning to take its toll.
“Thanks for helping me,” I say. “For helping her.”
Gio nods. “She’s part of our family now. We take care of each other.”
I let the words sink in, knowing he simply means she’s family because she is now an employee of ours. Anyone loyal garners the title. It’s all very Fast & Furious of us.
Still, I can’t help but hope that being our family attorney isn’t the only way Jasmine is connected to our family.
She’s tethered herself to me, and now there’s no way I will let her go.
From the moment I met her, I was instantly attracted to her curves and confidence.
I chalked it up to me being a bit of a manwhore.
I’m attracted to many women, or at least, I was.
Since Jasmine has been in my life, my eyes haven’t shifted to anyone else.
She’s the only woman I see in a room, and she’s the only woman I can see myself waiting at the end of an aisle for, standing beside a priest, as she walks toward me in a white dress.
Or maybe one of those jumpsuits she wears often. Fuck, she’s hot in those.
“He has help,” Luca rasps, breaking my vision of a life I can’t help but one day hope for.
Gio bobs his head in agreement. “It would make sense. If he’s working with one of our enemies, they’re likely hiding him, but why? What can Todd possibly offer them in exchange for his protection?”
We all grow silent, contemplating the question, and I pull up my thread with Jasmine again.
Dario
I hope you're having fun shopping today. I miss you.
My finger swipes over my words, realizing how much I mean that confession.
I do miss Jasmine. I miss the way her breath catches when my tongue swipes between her thighs.
I miss the way she looks up at me when my cock is in her mouth.
I miss her quippy jabs and her eye rolls.
Fuck, it’s only been a few hours, and I’m already a lovesick fool.
The word love repeats in my brain. Is that what this is?
The way I feel about Jasmine is different from any other woman I’ve ever encountered, but love?
That’s not something I’ve seen a lot of in this family, so I’m not sure I would even recognize it if I saw it.
Loyalty has always been valued over love, but have I somehow managed to find both?
“I think I’m in love with her,” I confess, shocking myself at hearing the words aloud. I look up to see Gio’s eyes narrowed and Luca with a small smile on his face. It’s terrifying.
“You think?” Gio asks, causing me to laugh.
I shake my head. “No. I know I do. I’m in love with Jasmine Baker.”
Confessing that feels so fucking good, but it’s not my brothers who need to hear the words. I’m on my phone, pulling up her number, ready to call when Luca abruptly stands and growls. “Something’s wrong.”
Gio stands with him. “What is it?”
“Tank,” Luca says, and I don’t miss the hint of worry in his voice. “His coms are down.”
Panic flares inside me as I realize the man I sent to protect Jasmine is the same man Luca is referencing. It’s my turn to pop out of my seat. “Do you know where he was?”
Luca nods, pulling something up on his phone and rushing for the door, Gio and I following.
“We have to get to him,” Luca says.
We have to get to her, I think to myself.
We pull into the parking lot of a strip mall about fifteen minutes from the casino and see one of our vehicles in a spot.
Parking beside it, we haul ourselves out in record speed.
There’s nobody around it, and there doesn’t appear to have been foul play.
I wrench open the backseat and find it empty except for a few shopping bags from Bella Noir.
Heat should be flooding my system, knowing what lies inside those bags and who was planning on wearing them, but instead, my stomach twists as I wonder where Jasmine could be.
My eyes scan the store names when Gio curses.
“Fucking Matarazzos,” he mutters, stomping off in the direction of a mattress store I hadn’t noticed.
The hairs on the back of my neck raise as we stealthily creep through the door, Luca leading the charge. We do our best to remain quiet, listening for any sounds over the humming of the fluorescent lights and the air conditioning.
My nose scrunches as the hospital smell hits my nostrils, and dust motes fly up into it. Several of the mattresses are covered in plastic wrap with a layer of dust on them, making the place appear abandoned. I know that isn’t the case, though. The Matarazzo men are here—and they have Jasmine.
Gio and I follow Luca as he slowly walks toward the back of the building. When we round the counter, there’s a cutout in the wall leading to a back room. That’s when I freeze.
Three brothers in tracksuits are standing in the middle of the room with guns drawn.
Lying on the ground is Tank, blood darkening the already dark fabric stretched across his abdomen.
A chair is tipped over beside him, where a woman is tied to it, but has gotten close enough to press her hand on the wound in Tank’s stomach. I look at the woman I love and take a deep breath before firing my gun and hope like hell I make the shot.