She rolls her eyes. “Fucking hell. Okay, I might have threatened to kill her. Well, not threatened, precisely. More like insinuated that I could.”
“That’s my girl.” I wrap my hand around the back of her neck and press my lips to hers. Hard. And I keep them there when I ask, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
She pulls back slightly, holding my gaze. “I didn’t want you to know. I was afraid you’d be upset about what she said or how I reacted or… I don’t know, Luca.” Then she pokes me in the chest. “And you didn’t tell me something big, too. So… call it a tie game?” The hopeful smile on her face is adorable. And ridiculous.
“That’s not really the right word.”
“I don’t know, sports are dumb.”
Dad’s laughter draws my attention. He and Lil are watching us like we’re a daytime soap opera. Lil’s even pretending to eat popcorn.
“Oooo, gimme some!” Ari reaches out and makes grabby hands at Lil, who holds the fake popcorn out to share.
My life is weird. But I wouldn’t change a fucking thing about it.
After lunch, Marco asks me to sit in on the conversation with my dad. If Dad’s going to be a part of the family and the crew, he needs to know about the threat to Ariana.
Which means Marco gives him a much more condensed version of what happened to Ariana. It’s still enough to make my stomach clench and my hands ball into fists.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Dad says when Marco’s done. He runs his hand down his face, and I see the resemblance between the two of them for a second. He looks at me, eyes glossy. “That’s why so many men went with to dance class and the grocery store.”
“Yes,” Marco replies. “Things were lax around here for years, but now this asshole’s back, and there’s no way we can let him get to her again.”
“He’ll have to go through me first,” I growl. “He’s not getting his hands on my wife.”
“Luca, that’s what terrifies her.” He holds my gaze across his desk. “She’ll never forgive herself if something happens to you. Any of us, but you especially.”
That panicky feeling is coming on again. The one that makes me need to see Ariana, reassure myself that she’s okay. “Are we any closer to finding him?”
Marco sighs. “Parker’s working around the clock, but no. Same as before. He’s not using any names we know, printing the photos from a personal printer, and sending the envelopes from three towns over. He’s demanding ten million be wired to him next weekend.”
I suck in a breath. “Ten million? Fuck.”
Marco shrugs, like ten million is chump change. “The money isn’t an issue. Ten million won’t hurt us. But he’ll never stop coming back unless we make him.”
“I’m in,” Dad says. “Whatever I can do. However I can help keep Ariana safe, I’ll do it.”
“Good.” Marco nods. “We’ll discuss this more later, Anthony.”
After we walk out of Marco’s office, Dad stops me with a hand on my arm. “Can we talk for a minute, just you and me?”
As much as I want to get back to my wife, this reconciliation is important. I nod and lead the way to the game room.
“Marco mentioned before that Ariana was bleeding when you met her, and I’m confused about how it works into everything.”
I tell him about that night behind the theater. We still haven’t found evidence that it was connected to Ariana’s biological father, but we’re also still not convinced it wasn’t.
“You knew that night? That you belonged together?” Dad asks.
“I knew she was something special to me, but I couldn’t put the feelings into coherent thoughts at first. It was like I stopped being the Luca I had been before. I became an entirely new Luca that night. She was a shock to my whole system.”
“Did you know about it then? About what happened to her?”
I shake my head. “No. It’s not something most people know about, Dad. It’s hard for them to talk about. Ariana is very careful about not letting those scars show. I knew that night she’d been through a lot, that she and Lil are closer than most sisters.”
“Well, they do seem attached at the hip,” he chuckles.
“Ari, she can’t sleep alone. Not for long, at least. Couldn’t even before that night because of how things were for her before she came here. She and Lil shared a room until she started sleeping in mine, and no, they don’t care if you think it’s weird,” I say with a smirk.
