Page 27 of Don't Fall For Her
That’s another thing, no one’s afraid to say they love each other. And hugs are given freely and often. Because you never know what could happen. I walk over to Enea.
“I have to do something. Felicity is my world and sitting here makes me feel like I’m failing her,” I say softly to him.
“I understand. But you’re not one hundred percent yet, and because of that, you’ll slow us down. I can’t be worried that you’ll get hurt again. You need to be here for Felicity when we bring her home.”
We watch them leave, then I sit down and take a deep breath.
“Are we really going to just sit here and wait?” Rhett snaps at everyone.
“I wouldn’t go against Enea if I were you,” Armando says to him.
“Our sister is out there somewhere. With some psycho fuckers!” he yells at him.
“I get it. But how are you going to help? Do you think I want to be here? Sidelined because I let them get the best of me? Because I fucking failed her. So don’t act like you’re the only one who’s frustrated,” he snaps back at Rhett.
“Baby, stop, please,” Emiko says to Rhett as she steps into his view.
He looks down at her, and you can see his anger start to subside as he wraps his arms around her.
“We trusted our family before and no matter how hard it is, we have to do it again. They’ve never let us down,” Paxton says to his brothers.
For the next half hour, they keep grumbling. I feel so fucking helpless. If I wasn’t injured, I know Enea would’ve let me come with them.
“You okay?” Tristan asks me.
“No. I want to be out there.” I frown.
Tristan nods at me. “They’re gonna find her.”
“I’m a soldier, and I should be there rescuing my girl.”
“You think I’m happy to be sitting on my ass?”
“For fuck’s sake, you’re all grumbling and bitching like a bunch of babies. You all know that my papà would never ask any of you to stay here if he thought you could help. Have you ever thought that maybe he doesn’t want you guys there because if one of you gets hurt, that would hurt Felicity more?” Giovanna snaps at all of us.
I’ve never seen Giovanna yell at anyone…I look at Declan and he’s smiling at his wife. I bet he knows better than to piss her off.
“I’m sorry, Gia. I’m just frustrated and I want Felicity back.”
“We all know that and we all want her back. My papà isn’t an amateur at this, some of you know what happened to me and Lorenzo. And knowing that my papà had to go through that? He would never keep you away from her without good reason. And another thing—we don’t know who’s behind this. My brother and Franco are really frustrated that they haven’t been able to figure it out yet. So cut them some slack and try to be more patient.”
Declan goes over to Giovanna and holds her. We all look at each other and go in for a group hug. She’s right, we’re all acting like Enea’s punishing us. But he’s not, he’s trying to protect us the best he can. Everyone’s apologizing to Giovanna. And I feel like a complete asshole.
Waiting is always the worst part of situations like this. And the not-knowing.
Francesco: We’re tracking them, it looks like they’re headed back towards the center of town. Enea wanted me to keep you all in the loop. I’ll text when I have more information
Levi: Thank you
Lukas: Thanks, please tell Enea we’re sorry for making this harder than it needs to be
Francesco: He said it’s all good
I don’t know whether to feel relieved that they’re following her or scared about it. I just want to know who’s doing this. I feel my phone vibrate again. That’s pretty quick for them to have an update. But when I look at my phone, I don’t recognize the number.
Unknown number: You want your girl back? Then follow our directions. And don’t be a fucking hero. Or she will pay for your stupidity. Don’t tell anyone, we know who’s there with you. Tell them you’re going for a walk. Then come to the elementary school parking lot
Levi: How do I know you have her? And that you won’t hurt her?
