Page 66 of The Prices We Pay
Tears well in my eyes. “Youdomean something, Dante. Everything that you’ve been through. Everything that you are means something. I know you’ll do everything you can to keep me safe.”
And I know that, without a shadow of a doubt, Dante DeLuca would rather die than watch someone he cares about get hurt. All four of them would.
“From everything and everyone.” The unspoken words are evident. If the moment presents itself, he won’t hesitate to protect me from anyone who means me harm. My flesh and blood included. And there is not an ounce of my being that would be filled with regret if they removed my father from the face of the earth. He took my mother’s life. He almost took mine. He treated Jasper like he was nothing. He’s done everything in his power to ensure I know he’s right around the corner.
I’m done.
Totally and completelydone.
Bending over, I place a soft kiss on the top of his head and whisper, “From everyone.”
With the three of them hot on my heels, we make our way down the hallway of my apartment building to my door. However, I stop hot in my tracks when I realize it’s not latched all the way.
In one fluid motion, all three of them pull out handguns I didn’t even know they had on their person.
“Enz, stay out here with Joe. Luca, with me.”
Guns at the ready, Dante and Luca enter my apartment. Once they’re past the entryway, I can’t hear or see them any longer as they move through each room with stealth and precision. Enzo keeps me tucked in front of him, protecting me from anyone who might come down the hallway, and he is wrapped around me, his hand tightly clenching his gun, ready to shoot anyone who may run from my home.
But when Dante and Luca walk back toward the door, their guns tucked back into wherever they pulled them from and confused looks on their faces, I know that nobody is in there.
“How bad is it?” I ask.
“It doesn’t look like there’s anything out of place. Nothing obvious is missing,” Luca answers.
“Is it possible you left the door open?” Dante asks me.
“No. No way. I have the same routine every morning. There’s no way I’d forget to lock my door.”
“She’s right. I remember her locking it when we left for her kickboxing class this morning,” Luca tells him.
“Let me see.” Before any of them have a chance to protest, I step out of Enzo’s hold and around Luca and Dante. As soon as I enter the apartment, I see they’re right. There’s nothing that looks out of place. Nothing is missing. Everything is exactly as I left it. But something feels…off.
Don’t ask me how, but I know someone has been here. I can feel it.
Moving into my bedroom, I immediately notice something in my closet. “Hey guys!” I try to keep my tone neutral, but the three of them are in my room in a split second. “Did either of you move this, or was it there when you got here?” I ask as I point to my ottoman in the corner of my closet.
“It was there,” Dante replies.
“Shit.” Stepping up onto the ottoman, I reach for the shoebox I keep with all of Dad’s letters and immediately find it missing. “Fuck,” I hiss under my breath.
“What is it?” “Is something wrong?” “Josephine, what is it?” Enzo, Dante, and Luca all ask, respectively.
“Someone was here.”
I know they know it, too, but Dante asks, “How do you know?”
“The box of unopened letters from my dad. They’re gone.”
34
Luca
“Go put your stuff up in my room, Vita Mia. First door on the right. We will get something ordered for dinner.” I give her a quick kiss. “Feel free to wash up in the shower if you want. Help yourself to whatever you need.”
Josephine smiles, but it doesn’t reach her ears. And the four of us watch as she makes her way upstairs. The moment I hear my bedroom door open and close, I spin to look at Sebastian. “Anything?”
“The guy who delivered the letter to Dante worked for a carrier service. I ran a background check on him, and he’s just a nineteen-year-old from Idaho going to college. Called to ask where theletter came from, and he said he was running his usual route when a guy stopped him on his bike and paid him fifty dollars to drop off the letter. The only thing he could tell me about the guy was that he was big, blonde, and ‘talked funny,’” Seb emphasizes in air quotes. I nod in the direction of the kitchen and pour myself, Dante, and Seb each a glass of Bordeaux and grab Enzo a bottle of sparkling water from the fridge.
