Page 34 of The Forbidden Secret

“If the threat is imminent, do I have permission to take the shot?”

I wasn’t sure if I cared about his reply. If the threat was imminent, Iwouldtake the shot.

“Give me more time to consider.”

There was no more time, but I was quickly realizing that Giovanni and Enzo didn’t seem to care. Nobody cared enough to get the job done, so I would have to be enough.

And I didn’t particularly care what bridges I burned if it meant seeing Evelina happy and alive.

Chapter Thirteen

Evelina Bianchi

“The other safe houses in my arsenal are frequently used, so we can’t go inside and assume we’re safe,” Zeke explained as he pulled a car onto the street outside a large building full of apartment complexes. “Stay in the car, stay down. I’m going to check them out.”

“How will you know if they’re compromised?”

He lifted a small device. “I’ll scan for bugs and check the perimeter. It shouldn’t take long. If you feel like there’s a threat, drive away and go back to the last safe house. If you’re being followed, keep driving for half an hour through populated areas, and then go back to the safe house. I’ll be there waiting.”

I looked over at his stern expression and nodded. “I’ll wait here.”

He hesitated, looking between me and the apartment complex for a long moment before finally turning to the door and getting out of the car.

From what he told me this morning, Jaimie was deep undercover, trying to get more information on Clide Newton that neither Giovanni nor he could get himself. She would beon that cover for a few days—weeks if she found anything substantial enough.

God, I hoped she didn’t find anything that would keep her away for weeks.

As Zeke closed the door, my thoughts lingered around the situation and the utter hopelessness of it. There was no end in sight—no way to get out of this danger. It felt like it would simply never end.

I stared out the window and toward the apartment complex that Zeke was surveying, wondering how long it would take. If he was just scanning and surveying, I doubted I would be here long, but—

I saw it.

Right on the corner, beside a streetlight and right outside a vape shop, apayphonestood. Payphones were rare enough now that I had not hoped to find one, but this opportunity couldn’t be passed up.

It stood across the street from the apartment complex, and even if we were tracked to the area, they would assume we were passing through. They wouldn’t know that we stayed right across the street. Plus, in the time it would take for them to monitor hundreds of apartments, we would be gone.

I didn’t think it through.

I shuffled in the car for a few spare quarters before sprinting across the street, keeping my head down to avoid detection. I locked myself in the booth and put in all my quarters before dialing Maggie’s number by memory. It rang a handful of times before she answered.

“Hello?”

“Maggie, it’s me.”

She gasped audibly. “Oh my God, I had no idea how to get ahold of you,” she shouted. “You can’t do this to me. Beatrice was in the hospital a few nights ago.”

My heart skipped a beat as my palms began sweating. No. I couldn’t lose her. Panic filled my chest, and I found words nearly impossible to get out of my chest. “Where is she? Is she okay?”

“She had a case of RSV, and they gave her a breathing treatment. She’s doing much better now, but I needed you, Eve.Sheneeded you. This can’t continue. I’m going to give birth any day now, and I can’t keep her longer. I love Beatrice with my entire heart, but this is too much responsibility. With the people still watching, and—”

“They’re still watching you? Has anything else happened?” I didn’t even know which questions were most important. I fisted my hair in my hand in frustration. “Jesus, Maggie. I don’t know what to do. If they know she’s mine, she’ll be in danger. But she needs to go somewhere…”

“You need to tell me what to do,” she demanded.

That was the problem. She was myonlyoption—the only person who could keep Beatrice safe and out of these people’s hands.

“I… I don’t know,” I admitted.

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