Page 48 of A Wife's Duty

Lucia knew for a fact the cops were not going to get that name. Boone was about to take care of this.

Had her father done this? Had he arranged for a hit to be put on one of Boone’s places? Or Bonaldi? She felt sick to her stomach, not because she didn’t have any food, but because of the reality her family was capable of.

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Nancy was a mess. Her face was covered in bruises and she was broken. They hadn’t raped her, but that was no consolation. The sight of her set Boone’s blood boiling.

Nancy woke up as he and Lucia sat there. Tears were in the one eye that was open. The other was swollen shut.

“It’s okay,” Boone said.

“Hey, you,” Nancy said.

“Don’t.” He reached for her hand and Nancy took it. “You’re going to be okay.”

“I know. Bruises will fade,” Nancy said. “How is Howard?”

“He is talking to the doctors.”

“We can’t afford this,” Nancy said.

“Stop it, you don’t have to worry.” He’d pay all the necessary costs. He didn’t know who had done this, but by the time he was through, they would all pay.

Nancy sighed and she saw Lucia. “Hey, you,” she said.

Lucia came in close. “You don’t have to talk. You just need to rest and get better.”

“They had baseball bats. Did they take the money?”

“Don’t worry about a thing.”

“I told them they could take the money. Just to leave the shop alone.” She sniffled. “They busted up the shop and then turned on me.”

He didn’t tighten his hold on her.

“I’ll fix this,” Boone said.

“I know,” Nancy said. “One of them, after he broke my hand, told me to give you a message.”

Boone leaned in close.

“Everything you love is going to die,” Nancy said.

He nodded his head.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

Howard came in, and Boone got to his feet.

“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ve got Ronald fixing up the shop.”

“Boone, you don’t have to do that.”

“I do and I will. Just get well.” He reached for Lucia and she took his hand. He needed to take care of business.

They left Howard and Nancy and made their way out of the hospital. The moment he was outside, he got a text from Ronald. The main security footage had been trashed inside the café, but the morons hadn’t figured out how to remove themselves from outside. There was an image, and he saw the two men. Ronald had also done the work and found where they were, and they were connected to Valdez. With all of that information, he waited for Lucia to get in the car.

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