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“Okay,” I say, my gaze bouncing over all of them as my heart hammers against my ribs. I hate this. They all know exactly what is going on and instead of giving me the information I need all at once they’re drip feeding it to me like too much might kill me. “And do we know who it is?”

Logan nods. “We do.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, you guys are killing me!” I exclaim, ripping my hand from Diego’s and crossing my arms over my chest as I sink into my seat, glaring around the room. “Just tell me, goddamn it.”

“The man Luca and Gio work for is Dominic King,” Tate says, sparing Maverick, her twin brother, a look packed with emotion. “Our father.”

I frown, my head jerking back as I stare at the two of them and try to connect the pieces in my mind. Should I know who their father is? Am I supposed to be gasping at this revelation because now it all makes perfect sense?

“Izzy,” Logan says, his voice full of the concern of a friend and fear claws at my chest. I’m missing something here, I know I am but fuck, I need them to spell it out for me. Logan sighs, running a hand through his dark hair. “Dominic King is…”

“A mob boss, for lack of a better word,” Streak supplies when Logan can’t force the words out and my eyes widen. “He runs a very large, very successful criminal enterprise.”

What?

I heard the words but my mind refuses to accept them. They don’t make sense to me because this is so insane, so far out of the realm of things I was imagining that I can’t wrap my mind around it. This is Baton Rouge, for fuck’s sake, not New York City - we have small time, low-life drug dealers but nothing on this level.

“Why have I never heard of him?”

Tate’s lip curls back in a snarl. “Because he’s not supposed to be here. He lives in Chicago or he did until nine months ago apparently.”

My mind is racing but my thoughts are frozen, iced over in shock so it just feels like I’m spinning out of control as I stare down at the table, trying so fucking hard to understand what this all means.

“I…uh,” I whisper, each breath ringing in my ears. My body tingles like every inch of me is going numb and I glance over at Diego for some fucking help. He grabs my hand again and rolls my chair closer to his. His proximity calms a small fraction of my rioting mind and I turn to Logan. “What does all of this mean?”

He grimaces. “I’m not going to lie to you, Iz… it’s bad. Dominic King is one of the most ruthless, vile men I’ve ever met in my life and you saw something you weren’t supposed to. Something that could mess with whatever he’s trying to build here.”

“But, he got rid of all the police reports, my statements at the hospital, and the nine-one-one call. I have no proof that anything happened that night.”

“You’re still an eyewitness, Darlin’,” Streak says, sympathy lacing every word that tumbles out of his mouth. The gravity of my predicament shines in his usually playful eyes and I pull my hand from Diego’s again, wrapping my arms around myself as I shiver.

“Why is he even here? Why not stay in Chicago?”

Maverick clears his throat and shifts in his seat. “We can only assume that he’s here because of Tate and me. We’ve never had a relationship with him but the last time we had a run-in with him, he made it clear that he wanted to build one.”

“Did you know he was here?” I accuse and Tate shakes her head, meeting my gaze dead-on. I’ve always liked Tate because she’s very much a take no shit kind of girl but I have never appreciated it more than I do now.

“No. Not until Smith showed us the photos.”

Why the hell would he come here to win over the hearts of his kids, only to not reach out to them over nine long months?

What the fuck is he waiting for?

“What do we do then?” I ask, scared to hear their answer but I need to know. Hiding from this isn’t going to make it go away. Logan sighs, shaking his head.

“Right now? We go home and get a good night’s sleep. We aren’t going to solve this tonight and we’re all fucking rattled. In the morning, we can talk again and try to come up with some kind of game plan.”

I don’t like it but he’s right. My mind still feels incredibly foggy and I wouldn’t be able to come up with a smart strategy right now to save my life. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what I need. Logan dismisses all of us but Diego and I remain in our chairs until everyone else has left the room.

“Tell me what you need, Mama,” he whispers and his voice pulls me in, provides me with a feeling of comfort that I need more than my next breath. Turning to him, I reach up and cup his cheek, craving the connection.

“I need you, Diego,” I tell him, an ache in my chest that steals the air from my lungs. “Take me home, please.”

He nods, grabbing my hand again as we stand. As he leads me out of the room, Ali and Carly try to make a beeline for me but he puts himself between us and they stop, glaring up at him as he shakes his head.

“What the hell are you doing, Diego?” Ali growls, arching a brow and crossing her arms over her chest as she challenges him.

“Look, I know you guys just want to make sure she’s okay but she’s not okay right now and this…” He gestures to everyone standing around, talking and sneaking glances at us. “Is all too much. I’m taking her home and you can come over in the morning to check on her.”