The corners of his mouth lifted in a cold smile. "It'll have more of an impact coming from you directly," he said. When I didn't respond right away, he continued, "We have a much better chance of finding him if the entire family puts their manpower behind it. I just need to convince them to do that, and you can help me with that."
I didn't know why I was arguing with him. I knew damn well it was only for show that he was giving me a choice at all. "All right," I agreed reluctantly. "Yeah, I can do that."
"Thank you." He paused, glancing at Logan before taking me gently by the elbow and guiding me over to the windows. The sun was out, glittering off the water, and the sky was big and blue without a cloud to break up the wide expanse. It was beautiful.
Luca cleared his throat to get my attention. "I've wanted to take Gino out for a long,longtime for what he did to Tristan. Unfortunately, I needed to secure my position in the family and collect more evidence before I could make a move without endangering any of our lives. My father's cronies never gave a shit about the history between them." The venom in his voice made chills run up and down my arms. "They knew what Gino did, and they didn't care. To them, Tristan wasn't a boy or a man, he was a machine. But to me, he's always been my friend. So I needed something else. Something that was a threat to the entire family and not just one boy whose life no one cared about. If you can prove Gino's not mentally stable, along with my proof that he's working with the Russians, we might have a chance. Do you understand?"
I nodded. I did understand. And I could see now that Luca wasn't uncaring. If he'd gone after Gino for what was considered a personal infraction, it would've come back on him, and he would've ended up in the ground right beside his father. Perhaps Tristan and Enzo, too. "I do," I told him. "But why are you telling me this?"
"I just wanted to emphasize how important this is." He paused, catching my eyes with his icy blue stare. "If you care about Tristan at all, even a little bit, then I beseech you to do everything you can to help me."
"I will," I said after a moment.
After a pause, Luca told me where everyone would be, then he left, closing the glass doors behind him. As soon as he was gone, I returned to Logan's bedside and gave him a smile. "Sorry. Do you want soup or the sandwich? Or both?"
Logan reached across with his good arm and grabbed my hand, his fingers digging into my palm, and I knew what was coming. We hadn't really had a chance to talk alone since he'd woken up.
"Seriously, Luni? You've got us mixed up with the fucking mafia?"
I started to shake my head, but then stopped. My brother wasn't stupid. "I didn't mean to."
"We need to get the hell out of here. I know someone from school whose father is mafia. I've heard stories, Luni. We need to go before we know too much. Go back to my dorm or the apartment or a hotel orsomething. This isn't a fucking joke. I mean,lookat me. These people are fucking dangerous."
I squeezed his hand. "I know what kind of people they are, but they're the only thing keeping us safe right now with Gino still out there." I refused to call him our father out loud. No father would do the things to us that he had. "They can protect us here." That was all true, but would I run if I could? Honestly, I didn't know. I hadn't had the energy to think about anything other than Logan getting well.
"I don't trust them," Logan insisted. "Especially not that Tristan guy. I don't like the way he looks at you..."
"Shh, it's okay," I soothed, brushing the hair back from his forehead like I used to do when he was little. "I'll keep you safe, I promise. We just need to lay low here a little longer. Once they find Gino, this will all be over, and we can go back to our normal lives." Whatever that may be.
"Stop it." He let go of my hand. "I'm not a fucking child anymore. I can walk. We need to go, and we need to do it now."
"We can't just leave, Logan."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because there are guards. And cameras."
He stared over at me in disbelief. "So, we're prisoners?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Then why can't we leave?"
I took a deep breath. "Logan, have I ever let anything happen to you?"
"This isn't the same, Luni."
"Have I?" I insisted.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "No."
"And I won't let anything happen to you now. You just have to trust me."
Logan didn't look convinced, but eventually, he sank back against the pillows with an impatient sigh. I hated seeing him so shaken and scared, but on this point, I knew I was right. Honestly, I didn't know if Luca would allow Logan to leave, but I did know Tristan would throw me back in his cell the moment I tried. I was kind of surprised he hadn't already. It made me nervous, and a little bit scared.
But all of that aside, it was true. Gino would find us again if we left the safety of Luca's. And I preferred to never see that motherfucker again.
I brought his tray to him, then leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Eat your lunch. I'll be back as soon as I can."
