Page 92 of Stolen Kisses
I never realized why at the time when I was telling Franco about Ohio, but now I could see my brain must have gone into defense mode.
The door opened and Dante came in followed by Gio and Alex. They had blood all over them.
Luc got up to get some cleaning stuff.
Dante was completely covered and all I could do was stare.
“You take care of it?” Luc asked him.
The look on Dante’s face told me it wasn’t all taken care of.
“One got away. One fucking got away. They came through the sewer up into the cellar. I tried to follow him, but I was too late. He must have taken one of the secret tunnels.”
Oh God. If one got away then he’d go report back to Franco.
“I’m gonna go search the streets,” Alex stated, wiping his face.
“I’ll back you up.” Gio offered.
“Luc can you take Maria home, I need to get out there.” Dante offered glancing at me.
Luc shook his head. “Nah, you take her home and cool off. I’ll be going with the guys.”
“I need to be out there looking for that bastard.”
“D’Angelo fucking listen to me. You need to take her home. She needs you right now. She needs you.”
Luc was right. I did need Dante.
He must have taken two steps to me before I flew out of that chair and into his arms.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised, keeping me close to him. Holding me close to his heart. “I won’t let anything happen to you or Flynn, you hear me?”
He lifted my face and cupped my cheeks.
I nodded believing him. I knew he wouldn’t. I just wished I could make the same promise to him.
I knew these guys were the best at what they did.
Still Franco was on a whole other level, so much like the Antonellas
Above everyone.
* * *
“You sure you’re up to this? I can do it and you can catch up with Ma.” Dante asked.
We’d been with his mother for about an hour. It was enough catching up when you were eager and antsy. Mostly after last night, I’d had to put on a brave face. A face I’d plastered with a lot of concealer to hide my bruises.
“No, I want to come with you. I want to look and see what we can find … if there’s anything to find.” I nodded.
He pulled me close for a quick kiss.
I knew when he was worried and this wasn’t the best of things we could be doing either. I knew why he asked if I wanted to basically pass on the task of looking through Christina’s stuff. It was the same reason why his mother had excused herself to go looking for some important documents she had to find.
It was all very emotional—all of it. After last night I felt weak. Mostly I wanted to take Flynn and hide away in a cave somewhere.
“If at any point you don’t feel like you can handle it, I’ll understand if you walk away.”
