Clay sees the movement and grins at me before he looks over at Joshua, who smirks back at him. “You just filled my head with ideas, kitten.”
“Can you discuss your three or foursomes at home, please? I’m hungry,” Sophia chimes in, pulling on her cardigan before she walks over to the door.
“Someone is jealous.” Clay snickers. I push my elbow into his ribs, and he lets out an “Oomph,” shooting me a glare.
“Who has time for jealousy when there’s so much pizza to be eaten?” Sophia replies over her shoulder.
We’re walking down the hallway to the cafeteria, and I’m flanked by Joshua on one side and Clay on the other, with Sophia leading the way. They’re talking about what they want to eat while I am all deep in thought, still mulling over the information we’ve gathered so far and planning our next moves.
As we round a corner, Taylor and Del Moro walk past us in the opposite direction. I can’t help but stiffen at the sight of them, my heart rate picking up.
Del Moro smirks slyly as he passes me, a malicious glint in his eye. “Surprised to see you still alive, Costa.”
Before I can react, Joshua sees red. He pins Del Moro to the wall behind him. “What did you just say, you piece of shit?” He snarls.
Del Moro struggles to get Joshua off him, and as he does so, the sleeve of his cop uniform slides up his arm a bit. My eyes widen as I catch a glimpse of a cross tattooed on his skin, identical to the one on the back of Roberto’s hand.
Clay steps in, pulling Joshua back with a firm grip. “Easy, man. It’s not worth it.”
Taylor guides Del Moro away, the second man shooting us a warning glance as they disappear down the hallway. Joshua is still seething, his chest heaving.
I reach out and touch his arm, trying to calm him down. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”
He shakes his head, his jaw clenched. “It’s not okay, Carolina. Didn’t you hear him? He knows about the accident.”
I nod, my mind racing.
The tattoo on Del Moro’s wrist is a connection to my uncle that I can’t ignore. I need to find out what it means and how deep this rabbit hole goes.
THIRTY-TWO
Xander gothis truck back and insisted on bringing Roberto the money again. So, over the last few days, I’ve headed straight to the bar after my internship, where Sophia and I have brainstormed over my parents’ case, then returned to Sophia’s to sleep, which always ends with Joshua cuddling me in the morning.
It seems impossible to find out which paramedics were on the scene or where the car went. Somebody did a thorough job. And my gut tells me that somebody is connected to the Del Moros.
Today is Friday, and I am so happy to spend the day with Xander, or at least near him, tomorrow. And family Sunday should bring some hours with all of them. The three of them consume my thoughts, and I hate the current status quo since I have too little time to spend with them. We text a lot, but it is not the same.
Today, Sophia had a meeting to attend and told me I could leave an hour earlier than usual when she left, so I thought I would use the time to get to Howie and update him on everything. Besides, I haven’t seen him for way too long.
When I get there, I quickly find that he is not, so I walk over to the 7-Eleven, where I grab our usual burgers and Coke before rounding the corner to find him in our spot.
“It is freezing. What are you doing here?” I ask, tossing Howie his burger and sitting down. Then I hand him the Coke.
“Those people in there are driving me nuts. Someone always wants to talk,” he grunts out, his frustration evident. He glances over at me and adds, “Thank you.”
I chuckle, realizing the irony of our conversation. “Should I shut up, and we eat in silence?” I tease, opening my package too.
Fuck, I missed these cheap-as-fuck burgers.
His response, however, catches me off guard. “You are the only one who fills my battery and does not drain it.” He shrugs, taking a bite of his burger.
My gaze softens when I look over at him. “Right back at you, Howie.”
“Where were you anyway?” he asks. “Haven’t seen you in nearly two weeks again. You have to update me more often, kid. This worry isn’t good for my heart.”
I take a deep breath. “I am sorry, there is a lot that happened.”
“Well, I’ve got time.” He raises an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to continue.
