“Ryan. He has a key to the front door. That’s how he walked in.”
His jaw drops, and I’m comforted to know I’m not the only one who finds this to be shocking. But the more I talk about what happened, the further the images I don’t want in my mind move.
“The others came through the back door. But it was unlocked. Not that it mattered. Ryan has keys to my bakery.”
“How’d he get a key?” Zep asks.
Tucker shakes his head. “No fucking clue.”
I can’t meet anyone’s eyes, so I fixate on Tucker’s chest. I imagine the scar beneath his T-shirt, and it grounds me. “I saw him on the cameras, and I climbed on top of the walk-in. There’s a small space up there.”
“That explains the dirt on your clothes.”
“My phone… It smashed onto the floor when Antonio pulled me down. They couldn’t find me at first, but I knew I had to buy time for you to get here.”
He tentatively reaches out to touch me, and I don’t flinch away when he cups my cheek. “You did good, baby. We’ll get you a new phone.”
“I can’t afford all the repairs,” I say, finally looking up at his face. “The holes and dents and the… hinge.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he says. “I’ll take care of it. We just need to get you home, get you a shower, and put you in a set of clean clothes. It’ll make you feel better.”
He says that, but I don’t think it’s true. I don’t think I’ll ever feel better. All I can focus on is what’s left of Joseph on my wall. And the fact I’ve seen this before.
The vault door has opened, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be okay again.
Chapter Twenty
Pacino
Phoebe hasn’t said much since we left the bakery, and I’m terrified. After all the time I wasted waiting for someone like Phoebe to push me out of my comfort zone, I’m worried I just lost her.
It’s bad enough that my family targeted her. That can almost be forgiven, but then we kill four men in her bakery, one of which she directly witnessed? I can’t say I’ll blame her if she tells me that it’s all too much for her. That she wants to run.
But I can’t let her. I can’t protect her if she’s not with me, and even if I’m not exactly doing a stellar job based on what happened today, it’s better than her being on her own.
Phoebe is everything I didn’t know I needed in my life, and I’m at a loss at what to do. How to fix this. How to make her see that it will get better, and she’s not in danger once my family’s taken care of.
We got back to my place, and she took a shower. I offered to help, but she just said she wanted to be alone. The look in her eyes scares the shit out of me. They don’t shine like normal. Dull and emotionless.
I sat outside the bathroom waiting for her to come out, and then she looked at me and said, “I want to lie down for a bit. Alone.”
She walked into her room and shut the door. Ten hours ago.
I’m losing my fucking mind. It’s dark outside, and she still hasn’t come out. I need to feel her. Talk to her. Kiss her. Promise to make it up to her.
The door opens, and I jump up off the floor. The light is dim, but I can see the surprise on her face.
“You sat out in the hallway?”
Swallowing, I nod. “I couldn’t leave you alone.”
I want to touch her, but I’m not sure if she’s receptive. She pushed me away at the bakery, and it almost killed me.
“We need to talk.”
Four of the absolute worst fucking words a woman can say to her man. “Okay.”
“Can we go to your room?”
