Chloe jumped out of the car, running toward her front door.
“Fucking wait!” Amo ran after her. She had to listen. She had to stay!
“We’re friends, Amo. If I stay … I can’t. I will never be what you want. You need a girl like Elle or Lake. Even a girl like Cassandra would be better than me. You love being with your friends, and I like being alone. That’s why I’m leaving.”
It was an obvious lie. He knew it the moment it slipped from her lips. She was leaving because she was afraid. Afraid of this city. Afraid of whatever had happened to her four years ago. Afraid of him. Afraid that, for the first time in her life, she could be loved.
His voice went soft. “No one likes to be alone.”
“I’m not normal; I’m a freak.”
He could see it then. He had done the thing he had been afraid to do. He had scared her off.
“You said so yourself.”
Amo’s heart sunk to his stomach, thinking back to freshman year when she had come into the cafeteria with her fresh scars.
“Fucking freak!” he had yelled, making the lunchroom burst into laughter with the echoes of the word “freak.”
Now it was him who couldn’t look at her, too ashamed of the actions of his younger self. He hadn’t even realized she remembered it, or that it had been him who had yelled it out. She had trusted him; forgiven him for the sick comment when he had yet to forgive himself.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“What was I supposed to say?” Chloe began opening the door, ready to close him out. “Bye, Amo.”
He felt her slipping away.
With tears welling, he told her, “I didn’t mean it.”
“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.”