Lucia could hear the rattle of Francesca’s breathing.
“Did it make you happy?”
“No, but it was something.”
“And now? Did you…destroy it?”
“What? No. Of course not.” Varnelli sighed. “I really hate you.”
A soft chuckle spilled from Francesca. “I gathered. I never did.”
Could have fooled me.
“Yes, well, you had no reason to hate me.” Varnelli sniffed. “That said, I never hated what we had. I suppose I wanted to see…”
“What?”
A beat of silence, then shuffling, creaking sounds. A metallic click. The sound of something being set down. Then a knock, followed by a gasp and the sound of a door unlatching somewhere behind the storage shelves.
Footsteps fading into silence.
Lucia’s entire frame stiffened, ready to pounce and dart back into the storage room.
A choked noise, too broken to interpret. Was that crying?
Lucia burst into the room. “Are you all right?” She froze at the sight that greeted her, speechless, unable to react to Jules’s frantic questions.
The door swung open, and Skye ran inside.
“What is…” She careened to a halt. “Is that—wait, what the fuck?”
In front of them stood Francesca, crying, holding theMadonnain her hands with no sign of Varnelli.
“What happened?” Lucia asked.
Francesca raised her head. “We have to go.”
“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Jules almost shouted.
“We’re all good. Got it. We’re coming back,” Lucia said.
They headed out of the room and retraced their steps.
The warehouse had fallen completely silent, and they made it to their van without any incident.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe we made it!”
“Not without help,” Skye said, eyeing Francesca in the passenger seat. “What happened in there?”
Lucia bit her lower lip. She wasn’t going to say anything. While she had so many questions, she’d rather bite her tongue off. She’d never heard Francesca sound as broken as she did during that exchange with Varnelli.
“Valentina decided to see reason and return theMadonna.”
“She’s Valentina now?” A beat. “Just like that?” Skye asked.
Francesca exhaled. “Let’s just say some debts can’t be collected. Only settled.” Her tone permitted no further questions, so Lucia kicked Skye’s foot when she opened her mouth again.
Skye glared at her, mouthing,What?
