Page 64 of His Assistant

“I’m already moving.”

I hang up and look at Tomasso.

He looks back at me. “I didn’t know the real location.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“You’re thinking it. It’s why you’ve been babysitting me all night.”

“I’m thinking about a lot of things.”

“Dominic.”

“Not now.”

He leans back, jaw clenched, and says nothing else.

Smart.

Sofia calls twice on the way there.

I don’t answer.

I can’t tell her this over the phone. I can’t listen to her voice break when there’s nothing I can do to fix it. I can’t do any of it right, so I do the only thing I can.

I let it ring, knowing it will cost me later.

When we reach the safe house, the street is already full of my men. Bradley stops hard at the curb, and I’m out before the car fully settles.

Blood runs dark on the pavement near the side entrance, smeared toward the alley. Joey is covered with a tarp. Vince is a few yards away, one arm still visible beneath another sheet. Sal is sitting against the wall with blood soaking the sleeve of his jacket, trying to wave off a man wrapping his arm.

“Where was Marco?” I ask.

Sal points with his good hand. “There.”

A half-crushed cigarette lies on the pavement. Rafe arrives seconds later. He takes in the scene fast, then comes to stand beside me.

“They had the real location,” I say. “Who had it?”

“It was a very short list.” He sighs, giving me a dark look.

Tomasso pulls up behind us and gets out of the car. Rafe glances at him, just briefly, but it’s enough for me to see the suspicion there. Tomasso sees it too. His face hardens.

Before I can say anything, my phone rings again. It’s Sofia. I stare at her name on the screen, debating if I want to have this conversation. I can’t keep anything else from her, though. It’s now or never.

“What the hell is going on?” she asks immediately. “Tomasso called me to tell me you were moving my dad into a safe house. How could you not tell me that?”

I glare at Tomasso before I turn away from the bodies and walk a few feet away to give our conversation some level of privacy.

“I didn’t want to mention it to you until I was sure it would work,” I tell her quietly. “No matter what, I need you to stay at the penthouse and trust me.”

“What happened?” she asks, her voice going up at least an octave. I don’t even have to tell her how badly tonight went for her to know.

“Everything is going to be okay, I promise you.”

“What the fuck happened to my dad?” she screeches. “You tell me right fucking now.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. Tomasso way overstepped by calling her, but I’ll have to deal with him later. Right now, I have to tell the mother of my child that her father was kidnapped by a very dangerous man. This isn’t going to be pretty at all.