“Are you hurt?” I cut her off and tried to pull away to take a better look, but she held on tighter, like she didn’t want to let go. I felt her shake her head.
“Tell me what happened,” I said as she melted even more into me, her body weighing against my chest.
“Someone chased me, and I ran until I found a cab. But a car was trying to catch up, and I saw the forest leading to the safehouse. I figured I’d outrun them, so when they were stuck in a red light out back, I ran out and through,” she whimpered in my chest, then looked up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “How’d you find me?”
“You dropped your phone,” I explained everything that happened that night. She gasped in shock when I told her about Anton, but in that moment, while I worried for my brother, I also felt utterly relieved at seeing her safe. “Do you know who was chasing you?”
“No.” She shook her head and gave me a small, brave smile. “But I knew you’d find me.”
Chapter 22 - Beatrice
We got in the car, and I was still trembling with fear, even though I knew that I was now completely safe. Arko had one hand on my thigh, and I saw him clock a worried look in my direction more than once.
“Are you okay to go to your brothers first?” he asked. “They’ll be worried sick about you.”
“You told me I’m safe, haven’t you? And what about Anton?” I asked, turning to him.
“My family is still working on leads. Caspian said he’d like to see you in person,” Arko said with a clenched jaw. I knew what he was thinking. He hated that Caspian didn’t trust his word about me, when in fact, it was clear as day that Arko would have burned the world down to see me safe.
“Sure,” I shrugged, settling back into my seat. A while later, Caspian’s compound came into view, and I felt myself getting on edge, prepared for the cold treatment Arko would receive, the accusations of him putting me in danger, and the demands for me to stay back home.
But when we reached the house was already buzzing with chaos, which made no sense since they knew I’d been found. Arko, when he helped me out of the car, looked equally confused at the men shouting orders and pulling up convoys.
“What’s going on?” I asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said, leading me toward the front steps with a hand to the small of my back.
But before we could even reach the door, my brothers tumbled out of the house, each one rushing toward me. I could barely catch my breath as Caspian pulled me into a hug.
“Thank god you’re okay,” he said.
“Beatrice!” Dante was the last to run out toward me. He held me by the shoulders, taking a good look at me. “Christ, where were you?”
“We were worried sick!” Achille said as Giovanni turned to Arko.
“Thank you,” Giovanni said, and I saw the surprise I felt on Arko’s face. “For getting her back to us.”
“I had no other choice,” said Arko, his voice hitching in his throat. A small silence fell over the group, and call me crazy, but it almost felt like peace.
“What’s up with all the action?” I broke the silence, pointing around us.
“Right. That. There’s something you need to know,” Caspian said to Arko. “Let’s head inside.”
I couldn’t believe my brothers were ushering us in, Arko included, like he was a wanted houseguest. We walked into the living room, and Federico and Achille passed around some scotch before we settled in.
“We were coming up with a game plan,” Caspian explained. “We know where Anton is.”
Arko lurched to the edge of the couch just as I felt my heart stop. “What are you saying?” he asked.
“Before you called us to tell us you had rescued Bea, our men were out scouring the city. We had all our operations on lockdown and our properties guarded, in case another attack occurred. In the process, we got a call,” Caspian sighed.
“About twenty minutes ago, they spotted suspicious activity at one of our old properties. The distillery on the east side that we shut down last year,” added Federico.
“The Franklin Street location?” I asked.
Caspian looked surprised as he turned to me. “You know it?”
“I know all our properties,” I said simply. “I was always curious about the family business, even though you all preferred I stayed out.”
