“Phoebe and I had a nice little chat,” he calls out as they begin to carry him away.
I hold my hand up. “Stop! What the fuck did you say to her? And where the fuck is she?”
The triumphal smirk makes me clench my fists at my sides. “I told her how she’s not your type. And she told me you’re using her just to fuck her.”
“Bullshit.”
“Swear to God. Now that I think about it, I guess you really aren’t the man I remember. The Tucker I knew would never have fucked a hooker, either, but I guess you’ve turned out more like your old man than you thought.”
Phoebe believes I’m using her? We already talked about how she’s not temporary. And I promised I’m not going to throw her to the curb once this is over. I can’t.
Fuck. I know I should have told her I loved her before now. That this love is bigger and more intense than anything I’ve had before. But I thought she felt there was more than just fucking between us.
Or maybe Father’s twisting everything like he always does. He loves to piss me off. Always has. “I’m nothing like you. Never have been and never will be.”
“She said you can’t love her because you can’t let go of Joanna. She seemed so sad when she said you wouldn’t even miss her. Guess we broke you, huh?”
“Is she alive or not?” I ask through clenched teeth.
“Get them to let me go, and I’ll tell you.”
This is getting me nowhere, and he’s buying time. If he and Ryan hurt her, she may need medical attention. The longer he stalls, the greater the chance that she’ll be dead when I finally find her.
Assuming she’s not already dead.
Nodding, I let Joanna’s brothers carry him away. He kicks and fights as much as he can, and I want to tell them to let him go. Let me lock him in a room with nothing but a hard floor and take the fucking oxygen tank away. See how long he lasts.
Hell, I could set up a camera to watch. It would be a drawn-out and painful death to slowly suffocate. Exactly what he deserves.
“I have to find Phoebe,” I say to Zep and Capone.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Pacino
Everyone spreads out, but John catches my arm. “Jo wouldn’t want you to be alone forever. If you love this woman, fight like hell to keep her.”
“John—”
“Live for my girl. Live life to the fullest because she can’t. Nothing that happened was your fault, Tucker. It was mine, and I’m paying for it every day.”
Frowning, I nod. I’m not sure how it was his fault, but it doesn’t matter. I need to find Phoebe.
“You grew up here?” Rooster asks. “Damn. This place is a mansion. Like a legit mansion.”
“Your house makes sense now,” Penn says. “You used to live here. Where would they keep her?”
That’s a good question. Father never kept anyone at the house. All his work was done at warehouses or various business backrooms.
His condition probably changed things. He doesn’t have the mobility he used to, so he would need to keep her close. There’s a garage and a shop out back, but he wouldn’t be able to go far.
And they showed up shortly after we entered the house. She’s in here. Somewhere.
Screaming and the sound of metal clangs fills the air as Zep opens a door down the hallway. I gasp and run towards it. “Not the basement.”
Of course they’d put her down there. Zep looks concerned as I push past him and take the stairs three or four at a time.
Everyone follows behind, and I’m sure they’re expecting some type of torture scene. They don’t understand the pain she’s been through. The sheer panic of basements.
