“What about us? We were there. We knew her. Why isn’t he concerned about us?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because he doesn’t plan on us being around long enough to out him. Or he thinks we weren’t around her enough to remember. I’d only ever seen her once before I was ordered to kill her. Probably the same with you and Enzo.”
Luca stared at me. “Perhaps you’re right.”
“I know I’m right. What I don’t understand is why we’re still standing here discussing this.”
He held up a hand, palm out. “Before you go running off, tell me, has he hurt her in any way?”
“Hefuckedher. More than once. And he hit her.”
“But did he seriously hurt her? Luna is a grown woman who has been a sex worker for a long time. She knew what she was getting herself into when she made this deal.”
“SHE DIDN’T KNOW SHE’D BE FUCKING HER OWN FATHER!” Pain shot through my head, and I squeezed my eyes shut and slammed my hands to my temples. Jesus fucking Christ. Why was he arguing with me?
Luca didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I knew he was as shocked as I was at what I’d just done. Although he and Enzo often got into heated arguments when they disagreed, I always did what I was told and never gave him any shit about it. However, that was because I never cared one way or the other about what he was asking me to do. This time, though…this time, I cared. I didn’t know why. Didn’t know what it was about her that brought this out in me or how she managed to burrow so deep under my skin. And I didn’t fucking like it. Or know how to handle all the emotions spinning around inside of me. But it was what it was. And I couldn’t leave her there so Gino could do to her what he’d done to…
I cut off the thought.
When Luca did finally speak, he kept his tone calm and even. “Even if that were true, it’s not our concern. What Gino does or doesn’t do with his long-lost daughter is his business. Not ours.” As I stared at him in disbelief, he began to pace again. “But perhaps we can use this to draw him out. You know as well as I that he’s just biding his time. He’s up to something. And I believe he’s planning to come after me. After us, Tristan. We have to be prepared. And going after Luna all half-cocked will only give him the upper hand.” He stopped pacing directly in front of me and looked me in the eye. “Do you agree?”
Logically, yes. He was right. Gino was playing the long game. “Yes. Gino wants to remove you, but he needs to do it the right way so the family won’t dispute his claim to be boss.”
“Are you willing to let that happen?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Good. Then Luna stays with Gino. For now,” he added. Decision made, he walked around me and headed to the door.
“I could kill him.” It was an easy solution.
He stopped and turned back toward me. “You could. But I don’t think Gino is acting alone in this. I need him alive, for now, to draw out whoever the hell has the balls or the stupidity to team up with him. She’ll be okay, Tristan. She’s a smart girl. A survivor.” With those parting words, he was gone, feeling confident that, as always, his order would be followed.
I waited until I heard the front door open and close, and then I put the picture of Luna’s mother back in the safe. I didn’t want her to find it. Not just yet. Although I would show it to her, eventually. I didn’t want there to be any secrets between us.
Walking over to the camera feed, I watched Luca walk back to his house. When I was sure he was inside, I took out my cell phone and called a contact of mine. “I need something that will knock someone out for at least a few hours. Yes. Yes. A woman. And I need it tonight.” I gave him her approximate weight.
Once we had a meeting place, I ended the call and left my office. I needed to change and prepare the spare bedroom.
I would deal with the consequences when they came, but Luna was not spending one more night in that place.
CHAPTER 17
Luna
Irose from the depths of a sticky black bog in gradual waves, like I was swimming through molasses, but I couldn’t seem to open my eyes. They were so heavy, like they had weights on them or were taped shut or something.
My heart sped up, and I touched one eyelid with my fingertips just to make sure I could still move. I could, and there was nothing over my eyes.
Giving in to the blackness, I drifted back to sleep.
The next time I woke, a bright light burned through my eyelids, hurting my eyes. I rolled over onto my back with a groan, my right hip and shoulder aching. When the hell did this bed get so hard?
“Don’t panic. You’re alright.”
The voice came from my right, startling me. My eyes flew open, and I blinked rapidly, trying to focus as my pupils adjusted to the light coming from a lamp in the corner. I struggled to sit up, but the muscles in my arms and legs didn’t seem to want to work. I rolled back over to my side.
“You’re groggy because you were drugged. The effects will wear off completely in another hour or so. I had to do it in order to get you here safely. I couldn’t take the chance of you alerting Gino or his guards, even accidentally. Luca would be angry with me if I killed him. At least right now. And if he’d seen us, he would’ve left me with no other choice. So I had to drug you to bring you here.”
