Page 51

My eyes flutter closed at the tiny hint of a growl in his voice and I fight back a smile. Only he could get away with ordering me around the way he does and if I was in a more amicable mood, maybe I would challenge him just for fun. But now is so not the time or the place. When he pulls away, I sigh.

God, I hate that instant longing I get deep in my chest the moment he releases me.

Diego leads me into the entryway, which is separate from the rest of the main floor, and the damage is not as bad as I was expecting here. But when I glance through the glass of the second door, all I can see is charred remnants of what used to be my home. Everything is black and it feels like there is a fist wrapped around my heart.

“You want to stay here?”

I glance up at him, ripping my gaze away from the devastation. “Sure…”

“Are you okay?”

“Not really,” I mutter, scoffing at the ridiculousness of his question as I turn back to my home. “But I’ll manage for a few minutes by myself.”

“I’ll be right back,” he vows, going in for a quick but fierce kiss before he releases my hand and moves farther into the building. My hands shake violently as I follow after him, stepping out of the entryway and into the hallway. Right across from me is a bathroom - one I spent countless hours finding just the right fixtures for. When it was first designed, it was a gorgeous all white space with hints of gray veining in the marble tiles I chose for the walk-in shower but now it’s burnt beyond recognition and I turn away. It’s not like the rest of the house is any better, honestly. The hallway from the bathroom leads into the living room and kitchen and just like Captain Grier said, everything is trashed. I kick stuff out of my way as I walk farther into the space.

My foot hits something heavy and I look down, tears welling up in my eyes when I see the sand jar I picked up on a spring break trip to Cancun with Ali and Carly. Remembering that wild week brings a smile to face every time I think about it and we got our names written in the sand in the jar so we would never forget. Pain claws at my chest as I crouch down and try to brush the vase off so I can see the design inside again but the glass remains marred by the fire and a sob bubbles out of me. All around me, the pieces of my life lay in ruins - some of it turned to ash by the flames and the rest of it, singed too badly to ever be saved - and all I want to do is sit in the middle of the room and cry until it doesn’t hurt anymore.

“Iz,” Diego calls, coming down the stairs in a hurry. “I think I found it.”

I stand up, reckless hope churning my insides as he comes closer. He stops in front of me and presents my Lita’s ring to me, a proud smile on his face. Gratitude surges through my body and a sob is ripped from my throat as I throw myself into him and cry. His strong arms wrap around my body, holding me, supporting me, as I try to release some of the agony bottled up inside me.

“I’ve got you, Mama,” he whispers and I bury my head into his chest, letting his scent comfort me. One of his hands slips into my hair and he holds the back of my head as he presses his lips to the top, whispering that everything is going to be okay and he’s got me. Slipping the ring onto my finger, I stare down at it, sending up a prayer of thanks that it survived the inferno. “I found the letter, too.”

I jerk back. “You did?”

He nods, handing me the familiar pink pieces of paper with a smile. The edges are worn from all the time I’ve sat up at night and read her last words to me, over and over again, and I can’t resist doing the same now. A feeling of comfort washes over me as I open the letter and stare down at her elegant handwriting.

My precious Isabelle,

You may still be too young to understand this but when your time is coming, when death is closing in on you, it’s something you can feel, deep down in your bones. Ever since Papa passed, I’ve felt it and I know my time on this earth is short. Yesterday, it occurred to me that once I’m gone, there will be no one left to tell you the story of Papa and me. I know how much you love hearing it and I couldn’t stand the idea that you’d have to go the rest of your life without it so I wrote it down for you here…

“Thank you, Diego,” I whisper, tears in my eyes again as I rip my gaze from the words and look up at him. He can’t know how much these little pieces of paper mean to me and if I had lost them, the pain would have been astronomical. His brows knit together and he cups my cheek, dragging me close to press his lips to mine. I sigh. The kiss is soft and sweet, exactly what I need in this moment, and I grip his forearm as I try not to melt into a puddle on the floor. And just as I wonder if that’s a real possibility, he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer, pressing his forehead to mine as he looks into my eyes.

“I’ve got you, Izzy.” The way he says it makes me think there is something deeper there, something that he’s trying to tell me that he can’t just come right out and say. My heart gallops in my chest as I stare up at him. Is this more than just the father of my baby looking out for the both of us? Have I completely lost control of this situation?

“Miss Hutton,” someone calls, dragging our attention across the room as Diego and I break apart from each other. Captain Grier is standing in front of my fridge with the door open and a weird look on his face. “I think you need to see this.”

With a scowl, I pick my way across the room, avoiding all the debris on the floor and my heart thunders in my chest as my mind spins. What could possibly be in my fridge that I would need to see? I study Captain Grier as I approach him and his gaze keeps bouncing between me and whatever is in the fridge that made him call me over here. Sucking in a breath, I turn.

There, on the middle shelf, is a large slab of meat. Someone put it on one of my dinner plates before shoving it into my appliance and the blood fills the entire dish, making it look like something out of a horror movie.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, unable to stop myself from taking a step forward. The more I look at it, the more the particular slab of meat looks familiar to me but my mind is blank. After trying to process everything that has happened this afternoon, I have no brain power left for anything else.

“Is that a fucking heart?” Diego asks, his large frame positioned behind me as we both stare into the fridge.

Captain Grier nods. “That’s what it looks like.”

“Is it human?” I hiss, an image of the man from the alley racing through my mind and I stumble back, into Diego’s waiting arms. Captain Grier shakes his head.

“It’s hard to tell at the moment. It’s possible but we’ll have to get the police down here. The lab should be able to test it though and give us some answers.”

“How long will that take?” Diego asks but if Captain Grier answers him, I can’t hear it. Static fills my ears and all I can think about as I stare at the organ in front of me is that it could belong to the man whose death I witnessed. Hell, if I had been just a second slower, it could have been mine. My stomach churns and my chest aches as images from that night assault me, reminding me of the fear I felt as Luca chased me down that alley. A shiver runs through me and I swear I can feel his hands on me, tackling me to the ground. I can feel his weight on my body as he held me down and the cold blade of the knife against my throat.

My knees give out as I remember the way he tried to slice my neck open but I don’t fall. Diego wouldn’t ever let me fall. Instead, he sweeps me up into his arms and I bury my head in his neck, closing my eyes. I wish it gave me some relief from the memories but not even the comfort he gives me is enough to force them from my mind. They torment me on a regular basis and I’m barely still clinging to the hope that one day this will all be over and they will just be a part of my story, not the end of it.

Chapter Nineteen

Diego