“New Jersey. We’re going somewhere Victor won’t think to look for you. Because when he finds out you’re gone, he’s going to come looking for both of us.”
“And he’ll find out when I don’t show up at auction?”
He nodded and turned the SUV onto a lonely paved road. I saw a sign for a highway twenty-six miles away.
“Franco Benedetti promised my father he would protect Mateo and I when my father died.”
“Did he?”
Dominic didn’t sound surprised. “Maybe I should go to him.”
“Because he did a bang-up job protecting your brother?”
“You have a point.” I was silent for a moment. “How many days until I would have gone to auction?”
“Eight.”
“What’s the date?” I didn’t even know that.
“Eleventh of January.”
“They killed Mateo the day after Christmas.” They’d come for me that same morning. That meant I’d been held captive for more than two weeks.
Dominic didn’t respond. We rode in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts, until we merged onto the highway. It was still early morning, and there were only a few other cars on the road besides us. A sign told me there was a McDonald’s at the next rest stop.
“I’m really hungry,” I said. “Can we get some food?”
He glanced at me like food was the last thing on his mind.
“Please?”
He put on his blinker, and we took the exit. He rode slowly up to the drive-through window.
“If you try anything, Gia—”
“I won’t. I already told you at the cabin. I want Victor Scava. I’m not fool enough to believe I can get to him on my own.” It was true. I had to be realistic. Dominic’s hatred of Victor meant we had a common enemy. He was taking me away from Victor. I didn’t fool myself into thinking Dominic was good, not by any means, but as long as our goals lined up, Dominic was the lesser of two evils.
He nodded. “What do you want?” he asked when we got to the menu board.
“Everything.” I felt greedy as I scanned the options. “But I’ll settle for a sausage egg McMuffin and a big cup of coffee.”
Dominic ordered, taking a sandwich and a coffee for himself as well. He gave me one more warning glance as we drove to the drive-through pick-up window.
I just held up my two hands and shook my head. I wouldn’t do anything. Getting away from him may have been smart—getting to the police even smarter—but if I wanted revenge for Mateo’s death, I needed to stick this out. I needed Dominic.
I watched the girl in the window when she saw him. Saw how her eyes widened and her smile grew, and for reasons I could not understand, I felt a jealousy in my core. An anger at her boldness. But when Dominic then began to flirt with her that anger boiled. I roughly grabbed the bags from him, and he made a joke to the girl as she handed him our coffees.
“I don’t mess with her when she’s hungry.”
He winked at her as she gave me a sideways glance.
“She has sharp teeth and a sharper tongue.”
The girl giggled like a fool. I only glared at him. Finally, we drove off.
“Why did you flirt with her?”
He bit into his sandwich. “Why do you care?”
