With a hand protectively around her neck, she pushes past me, but then turns with a smile worthy of a snake. “Just remember I warned you.”
After she slides into her red Ferrari and peels away, I slam my fist into the concrete wall. Pain explodes up my arm, overriding the pain in my chest.
She’s going after Lennon.
I dig my phone out of my pocket and call Rocco.
“What’s up?”
Watching the blood bloom on my knuckles, I say, “I need you to put a guard on Lennon. And I want updates personally.”
There’s a brief pause and then he asks, “Where is she? What’s the threat?”
Big Tony walks up and side-eyes my injured hand as I follow him into the elevator. “At her apartment. Giada.”
“On it.”
***
At one in the morning, I’m sitting outside Lennon’s apartment.
Big Tony is in the driver’s seat, alternating yawning and smirking at me.
I’m twirling her apartment key on my finger. I couldn’t sleep. I need to see for myself that she’s okay. According to her tail, they haven’t seen her leave her apartment all day. My mind keeps conjuring up worst-case scenarios.
What if she’s not actually in there? What if she went out and they kidnapped her? Or what if someone’s already gotten to her inside and she’s in there hurt or worse?
I reach into the glove box for my Beretta. “Fuck it. Be right back.”
“I’ll be right here, Boss,” Big Tony says, his tone supportive but amused.
I hop out of the SUV and jog across the parking lot, up the stairs and to her door. My heart is beating heavy in my chest as I slide the key in, turn it and slowly push the door open.
I step inside and quietly snick the door closed behind me. It's dark. The only sound is the clicking and humming of the refrigerator.
So many memories rise up as I take in the apartment. They threaten to bury me, suffocate me. With effort, I shove them back down.
Crossing the small space, I pass behind the sofa and reach her bedroom door, which is slightly ajar. Pausing to listen for any signs she’s still up, I’m only met with silence. I rest my hand on the door, praying she’s in there safe and sound. If she’s not, I will let the Beast loose to destroy the Zerillis. Fuck the consequences.
Nudging the door open wide enough to slip through, I’m flooded with relief. Her body is sprawled out in the twin-size bed. My shoulders fall and my chest loosens as I quietly move deeper into the room.
She’s on top of the comforter, dressed in a black tank top and white boy shorts. Her hair is fanning the pillow, her mouth slightly open in a soft snore.
I curl my hands into fists to stop myself from sliding into bed with her and gathering her soft, luscious body into my arms. I do however, lose the battle of leaning down and pressing a light kiss on the edge of her lips. “Dormi bene mio angelo,”I whisper.
When I stand, something on her nightstand catches my eye and I freeze.
It’s the snow globe I gave her for her seventeenth birthday. She kept it.
I pick it up and shake it. As the sparkly fake snow swirls around the replica of New York City, our conversation comes back to me. Not just the words, but the heartache I was feeling at the thoughtof never seeing her again. I was desperate to find a way to be with her.
Such a naive kid.
Lennon shifts in her sleep, mumbling something and moving her hand to rest on her stomach.
I give myself three seconds to indulge in memorizing her, replace the snow globe and leave.
Chapter 29
