“Did you find out what’s wrong?” Brando asks as we watch the girls skipping down the steps in front of the school, searching for Natalia.
“She wouldn’t say. Fed me some bullshit. But I’m determined to get to the truth today.” I don’t know what happened yesterday, but Natalia was pale and shaking when she emerged from the school building, and she retreated to her room the second we got to the house, claiming it was PMS. My intuition says it’s more, and I’m determined to get to the bottom of it.
“Shit.” Brando sits up straighter in his chair, his brow creasing with worry. “She looks even worse today.”
Natalia barrels down the steps, visibly upset, and I’m out of the car, racing toward her before I have processed the motion. “What’s happened?” I ask, gently holding her arms and peering into her gorgeous blue eyes.
“Oh my God, Leo.” Tears fill her eyes, and her lower lip wobbles. “He’s the worst monster, and I’m just as bad.” Tears stream silently down her face as I take her bag and bundle her into my side, rushing her toward the car.
I should have known this had something to do with that bastard Greco.
If he has hurt her, I will fucking murder him. Consequences be damned.
Opening the back door, I help a trembling Natalia inside before climbing in after her. “Park around the side,” I bark at Brando, unwilling to talk while we are driving. “Nat.” I slide along the seat as Brando starts the engine and glides the car forward. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
Her hands are visibly shaking as she looks at me. An icy shiver tiptoes up my spine at the look of sheer terror on her face. Whatever it is, it’s bad. I curl my arm around her, pressing my lips to her temple. “I will fix this. Whatever has happened, I will make it all okay.”
A strangled cry rips from her mouth, and she jolts out of my embrace, fixing panicked eyes on Brando. Brando pulls the car around the side of the building and cuts the engine. Turning in his seat, he stares at Natalia with nothing but concern in his eyes.
Natalia audibly gulps, her gaze flitting between me and Brando. “I need to talk to you in private, Leo,” she whispers, pleading with her eyes.
I stare at her for a few seconds, wondering what exactly is going on. Silent communication passes between us, and I nod. I eyeball Brando. “Wait outside.”
He obeys without hesitation, getting out and shutting the door after him.
“Tell me everything.” I turn Natalia to face me, gently cupping her face. “Hold nothing back.”
She’s shaking and crying, and I’m petrified. With slow movements, I pull her onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her and dusting kisses on her face until she calms down a little. Enough to compose herself and put me out of my misery, because I need to know what that fuckface has done so I can plan creative ways to end his life. “Did you see the news?” she asks, and I arch a brow.
“What should I know?” I was on collection duty with Mateo this morning while Brando watched the school. I barely made it here on time, so I haven’t had any opportunity to watch the news. Though if it was something important, Angelo would have had someone call us.
“Nicole Chastain was murdered,” she whispers. “Her naked, mutilated body washed up on the shores of the Hudson, down at the bay, in the early hours of the morning. The police are appealing for help.”
“I thought you hated her?” I ask, confused and not caring even a little bit the whore is dead.
“I did! I despised her!” she blurts, her voice rising a few octaves. “But I didn’t want him to kill her! I thought he’d just fuck her, enjoy it, and maybe he’d forget about me.”
All the blood drains from my body. “Back the fuck up,dolcezza. Explain everything.”
It pours out of her like lava spewing from a volcano. All of it. Carlo’s assaults. His threats. The fact someone is watching us and he knows. I cling to her as she speaks, needing her touch and her body heat to stop me from self-destructing, as she cries telling me how he has violated and disrespected her.
“You should’ve told me immediately yesterday when I asked what was wrong.” It takes huge effort to keep my voice calm when I’m like a raging inferno inside. That bastard is a dead man walking. I am going to gut him from head to toe and feed his remains to the great whites in the Atlantic.
“I wanted to. So badly.” She sobs, swiping at the tears flowing from her eyes. “But someone is watching us, and he warned me he would kill you and Mateo if I said anything to anyone. I was so scared, and…” She releases a shaky breath. “What if it’s Brando? What if he’s spying on us? I couldn’t tell you in front of him.”
My Adam’s apple bobs painfully in my throat as I contemplate her words.
“Do you think it’s him?” she whispers.
I exhale heavily, tightening my arms around her waist as I stare into her eyes. “My gut says it isn’t. I trust Brando more than I trust most other made men. But most everyone can be bought or blackmailed, and until we know for sure, we can’t rule anyone out.”
“What are we going to do?” She looks to me for answers I don’t have yet.
I press a fierce kiss to her lips, drinking from her, needing her to ground me before I do something completely reckless like storm over to the Greco compound and blast the whole fucking lot of them.
“Leo,” she whispers against my lips. “I’m scared. And not just of Carlo. I’m scared for you if he tells anyone.”
“Shush, baby.” I rub at the moisture collecting on her cheeks before brushing her hair back off her gorgeous face. “I am going to take care of this. We won’t say anything to Brando. We’ll drive home and pretend like you are just upset over your schoolmate’s murder. Then I’m going to talk to Mateo, and we are going to deal with Carlo Greco, once and for all.”
