Then, Lorenzo pulls her into his arms. “Dani,” he chokes out. “Fuck, this isn’t what Dad wanted for you. If you want to leave …”
I clench my fists at my sides, wanting to punch himin the face for even mentioning the idea of her leaving, but I stay where I am because if she wanted to go, I wouldn’t blame her, and as much as it would fucking suck, I wouldn’t stop her.
She pulls back and looks at Lorenzo for several seconds before her sad eyes meet mine. And my stomach sinks. I’m afraid she’s going to tell us that she wants to leave—but not because she’ll be leaving me … but because the thought of living without her is unfathomable. If she says she wants to leave, I’ll go with her.
“No.” She shakes her head, coming over to my side and sliding her arms around my waist. “I don’t want to go anywhere. Everyone I care about is right here.”
“C’mon,” Peyton says to her. “Let’s get you cleaned up. The guys have stuff to take care of, so I think a girls’ night is in order.”
Dani glances up at me, silently asking me if it’s okay for her to go, and I nod once before I capture her mouth with mine for a quick kiss, needing to taste her.
When the girls are gone, Lorenzo drops onto the couch and sighs. “This whole thing is fucked.”
“Yeah,” I agree, still standing because I have too much aggression built up to sit.
Not only did I not fight tonight, but there’s a piece of shit waiting for me to grill and torture at the warehouse.
“You’re going to stay here with the girls?” I confirm.
Dominick had to go back to The Underground to deal with the police after dropping Peyton and Bri off at home and making sure Bri’s new boyfriend got home safely.
Since Dominick owns the warehouse, he’s responsible for everything that went down tonight. Thankfully, the cameras show the gunmen coming in and going off, so we won’t be held responsible for what happened, but it still doesn’t look good. The spectators came to The Underground to have a good time, expecting to be protected while under our roof, and instead, many of them were injured or lost their lives. We need to figure out who the fuck is gunning for us—and soon.
“Yeah,” Lorenzo says. “I know the guards are here, but …”
“I appreciate it,” I tell him. “And I’m sure it will make Dani feel better to know you’re here as well.”
I’m about to head out when Dominick walks through the door, looking exhausted.
“How bad was it?” I ask.
“Surprisingly, not bad,” he says. “Most of the deaths were the gunmen. It’s almost as if they didn’t want to kill anyone.”
“The same way they kept Dani alive.” I nod thoughtfully. “They wanted to send a message.”
Dominick looks at me in confusion, and I tell him and Lorenzo about the call and warning.
“This shit is personal,” Dominick says with a tic of his jaw.
“Dani thinks it’s a woman,” I tell them.
Dominick whips his head around to look at me in shock. “A fucking woman?”
“Dani said the way she held herself, it felt like she was a woman. But she was under duress, so who knows?”
“Fuck,” Dominick hisses. “At this point, we can’t rule anyone out.”
“What about Hillary?” Lorenzo asks.
“Nah.” I shake my head. “She’s not smart enough to pull all this off.”
“We should still look into it,” Lorenzo insists. “She’s conniving enough, and she has it out for you guys.”
I nod in agreement, but don’t mention that I’ve had my guy check on Hillary to ensure she stays the fuck away from my best friend. She’s living in Georgia, working part-time as a waitress at some shitty breakfast joint while working her slutty body at night, trying to find her next sugar daddy.
“I think we should question the mayor again,” I tell Dominick. “He’s been linked to Anthony and Enrique.”
“You think he’s capable of all this?” Dominick questions.
