“Luca, you can’t be running around out there without protection. There’s a target on your head.”
But he just put his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll be fine. I won’t do anything stupid. And I’m trusting you not to leave any evidence that will lead anyone else who happens to be looking for Derek back to us. From what you told me about him, I’m sure we can’t be the only ones wanting to shut him up.”
I met his blue eyes. “There won’t be anything left of him to trace by the time I’m done. And I’ll call in Milo to clean up after me.”
“Excellent. Be careful.” Although I was only slightly taller than him, he took my face between his hands and pulled my head down, kissing me on the forehead. “Keep Tristan near you.”
“I will. And I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Tristan was waiting just outside the office door when I opened it. “I’ll go get the car,” he told me.
Luca followed me into the hall. “Call me when it’s done. I’ll need you both back here by Monday morning.”
“I’ll have her back by then.”
Luca grabbed my arm as I went to leave. “Enzo.”
“Yeah?”
“When you get Sera back, be careful with her. I’m sure she’s been through a lot, and it’ll take some time for her to adjust.”
My blood turned to ice at what he was subtly suggesting. But I knew he was right. The chances that Sera had gone untouched this long were nonexistent. “Of course.”
He looked out toward the hall, and I could see the concern on his face.
“What is it?”
His blue eyes met mine, and there was regret there. “I don’t know much about your relationship with this girl, but wewillhave to tell her father she’s here. At some point.”
I ground my teeth together until my jaw ached. He was right. We couldn’t hide her forever. And yet, I couldn’t bear the thought of sending her back there so she could be married off to the highest bidder.
“Enzo.”
“I know.” My voice was terse. “I know,” I said more evenly.
Luca stared at me for a moment. “We’ll talk when you get back and figure things out.”
I nodded and pulled my sunglasses out of my inside jacket pocket. “I’m going to run by the hotel and grab some clothes. I’ll let you know when we leave the city.” Leaving him to his work, I went to find Tristan.
At the hotel, I changed into a long-sleeved black shirt, a pair of black cargo pants, and black boots with thick soles. Tristan did the same with the clothes we’d stopped and gotten for him on the way. Forty-five minutes later, we were boarding a private plane to LA.
CHAPTER2
Enzo
Derek Jonak was staying at a ritzy hotel in downtown Los Angeles under an alias. But I knew his face, and within two hours of arriving Tristan and I were following him toward Pasadena.
“He’s pulling over.”
“I got him.” For someone who was trying to stay under the radar, Derek’s bright yellow rental car stood out like a beacon as he pulled off at a Whole Foods and went down into the covered parking lot. Or maybe he wasn’t trying to hide. Maybe he had actual business here and was too fucking full of himself to realize who he was messing with when he took a girl like Sera. Maybe he thought he was above any kind of punishment because he made so much money. But money wasn’t going to save him this time. I didn’t care jack shit about his wealth. No amount of money would make her any less important to me.
I pulled in behind him and waited until he parked, then slowly pulled the loaner SUV up in front of his car so it would be directly in his path. Turning on the blinker, I pretended to wait for a space to open up.
Derek locked his car, checked his hair in the reflection of the window, then walked toward the side of our vehicle.
“Not yet,” I told Tristan as I watched him approach from the corner of my eye. “Not yet…now!”
Opening the back door from where he was crouched on the floor, Tristan grabbed two handfuls of Derek’s sports coat and dragged him into the backseat. “Got him. Let’s get out of here,” he said over the shouts of injustice coming from our new passenger.
