“It’s okay, Amo. We’re even. I called you a beast.” Her voice came out calm as she went inside, even though he could see the tears beginning to touch her own eyes.
When she started closing the door, he knew deep down that it was going to be the last time he would see her. However, what he didn’t know was that it would also be the last time he would hear her sweet voice.
“I can’t be fixed. Not by you. Not by anyone. I’m just broken.”
Shutting the door on him was her shutting him out forever.
As the tears fell down his cheeks, he didn’t know who he was crying for more: himself or her because he hadn’t been able to save her…
Amo refused to let the tears fall from his eyes like they had that night. She’s gone, but she’s not gone forever. I will save her.
Twenty-One
Her Body Had Been Claimed by the Boogieman
Chloe sat there, frozen in place, as her world slowly came crashing down around her. She knew she had been missing something over the past seven months, and now it all made sense. It was like a puzzle she hadn’t been able to solve because she had been missing the final piece, and Maria had just given it to her.
She knew everything. How it all started with Elle, colliding them into the mafia world.
“This whole time, everyone knew but me?” she whispered, betrayal smacking her across the face. “Amo knew …? Elle knew, and she didn’t tell me?”
“She was protecting you. We were all trying to protect you, Chloe. We weren’t sure if you would be able to handle it,” Maria told her.
Hearing a door slam from downstairs, Chloe jumped.
Maria stood from the edge of the tub. “Lucca knows I told you, and by the sound of that door slamming, he’s not happy.”
The underboss …
Her body was now shaking as she tried to stand. “Don’t leave me alone with him.”
“I told you, he won’t hurt you, Chloe. I don’t think you understand what you mean to him.”
They could hear him coming up the steps now, only making the fear course through her faster.
“You have to tell Elle he’s keeping me.” But hell, after hearing what Lucca was, Elle wasn’t going to be able to save her. “Amo, tell Amo. He will save me. Please, Maria!”
Shaking her head, Maria didn’t give in to her pleading eyes. “I can’t.”
Yes, you can! She wanted to shake her. This was supposed to be her friend, but the girl before her wasn’t.
“W-What do you mean, you can’t? He’s keeping me hostage.”
The door handle began to jiggle.
“It’s not what you think. You’re here for a reason, Chloe,” Maria whispered.
“Open the door, Maria,” Lucca’s dark voice came from the other side of the door.
“What does that mean?” she whispered back.
His voice turned dangerously darker. “Open this door now, Maria.”
“I’m sorry,” was all Maria said as she went toward the door.
Please, no.
Maria’s hand twisted the lock, and the door began to slowly open.
His eyes landed on Chloe, his voice coming out in a commandingly low growl as he said, “Go downstairs and wait in my office.”
“She deserved to know. She wanted to hear it from a friend. You should have told her by no—”
He shushed his sister and growled, “Now, Chloe,” a bit harsher.
It was impossible not to obey him, and she hated that her feet began to take her out of the room.
Holding her breath as she passed him, she stared at his cold, blue eyes that made ice run through her veins. How did I not see it? The mafia practically oozed off him. The underboss screamed from him. The boogieman … Now she knew why they had given him that name.
When he finally moved his eyes from hers to Maria, she was able to pick up her feet faster.
Running down the steps, she was prepared to run out the front door, when an unhappy Drago blocked her way.
“Office,” he snapped at her like he knew exactly what she was thinking.
With nothing left but to accept her fate, she headed toward Lucca’s office, hoping he wouldn’t hurt his own sister and would let her go. Then maybe, just maybe, Maria would take pity on her and tell Amo about her kidnapping.
In his office, she sat down and began to wring her hands. Her hands were almost raw by the time the office door opened a while later. She didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. You didn’t need to see him to feel his presence.
Lucca took a seat behind his desk, silently staring at her.
Looking at the hands, she squeezed them with all her might. “D-Did you h-hurt her?”
“I thought about it,” he revealed. “But no. Drago is taking her home.”
Relief flooded her that Maria was okay. At the same time, she was terrified to hear him be so honest that the thought had occurred to him. She now only had one last hope, and it depended upon Maria. Please tell Amo. He must save me.
He leaned back in his chair. “Tell me, darlin’, why are you more scared of me now than you were before?”
“B-Because now I know the real you,” she whispered.
He raised his eyebrows. “Have I not shown you the real me from the moment I met you?”
Her eyes drifted up to look at him. His eyes had returned to the blue-green shade that had captivated her since their first meeting in the gazebo, just like his rough appearance had. He was unlike the others; darker than the others, and yes, she always knew that.