Page 128 of Ruthless Secrets
I gently stroke her back, inhaling the soft familiar scent of her.
“I’ll get her back, baby girl. We won’t lose her.”
Andre places a firm hand on my shoulder. “Marco. We need to act now.”
Before it’s too late.
“What do you suggest?” Having Zoe in my arms is helping to keep me from exploding, but I can’t hold her forever.
At some point, I am going to have to leave her behind and face the reality that I might not ever see her or her mother again if Tommaso has his way.
“I don’t like the idea of the girls staying here. Tommaso could decide to come back for a second look around.”
I sniff my baby’s hair to ground myself. “I agree.”
“We should take them back to the house and then go after Clara. Jax and Enzo have already prepped the rest of the guys to be ready for an ambush. They can meet us along the way.”
I turn to face my brother and note his grim expression.
He and I both know we could already be too late, but we have to at least try.
I attempt to take a deep breath, but my chest is too fucking tight.
I want to stay positive, not just for Zoe but for myself because god knows I’ll fall apart if I don’t. But I can’t help but think back to Melanie.
Losing her almost broke me beyond repair, and I never thought I was going to be capable of loving anyone again. Until Clara.
If I lose her…
I swallow hard as I hand Zoe back to Rosa.
My daughter immediately starts crying and I feel like my body is being torn apart by grief, but we can’t waste any more time.
“I can’t lose her, Andre,” I choke as I look at my daughter.
Despite the dark hair and eyes that are mirrors of my own, she has so much of Clara in her. It’s in the way herentire face lights up when she smiles and the slight dimple in her chin.
Zoe can survive without me in her life, but not Clara. She needs her mother, and I will do whatever it takes to bring her back.
“Marco.” Andre grips both of my shoulders and shakes me. “Look at me. You’re not going to lose her.”
“We played right into his fucking hand. I never should have left her here.”
“You didn’t know?—”
“Ishouldhave. I promised I would protect her, and I fucking failed.”
“Then you better make it right.”
It’s all I can do to nod, and Andre claps me on the shoulder, already moving into action.
“Lila, Rosa, Marissa, take the babies and get in the car. We’re leaving now.” His voice is calm but firm.
Rosa immediately gets to her feet, clutching both babies as they fight to break free from her hold.
Despite everything, I am proud of how well my sister is handling all of this. She is so much stronger than I give her credit for
Marissa hesitates. “What about Alio? We can’t leave him here.”
