I kept the gun pointed at him and lowered my free hand to search out the doorknob. I’d go back to Violet’s room and call for Ronan. He’d end this and no matter what it cost me, I’d beg the man to help me with figuring out how to keep Violet safe.
I closed my fingers around the knob at the exact moment that Luca reached into his pocket. The move startled me so badly I nearly pulled the trigger by accident. “Don’t!” I shouted. Luca hesitated, but continued to pull something from his pocket at an almost glacial rate.
His phone.
Not another gun.
I felt like a fool.
And I could barely breathe.
I lowered the gun so I wouldn’t risk accidentally shooting it. I hated Luca, but the gun wasn’t who I was. I’d only ever wanted to protect myself, not seek vengeance for what had been done to me.
Luca hit something on his phone, then put it on speaker.
“Where are you?” was the first thing the voice on the other end said.
“I’m safe,” Luca said. “Vaughn, put Aleks on the phone.”
There was a beat of silence, then I heard some muffled voices on the other end of the phone.
“Luca? It’s Aleks,” I heard Aleks say. I could tell he was still on speaker on his end. “Are you all right? Vaughn and I have been trying to reach you for a week… you switched hotels—”
My friend sounded almost frantic. I wanted to tell him that he should save his concern for someone who deserved it, but my eyes were fixated on Luca.
Who was watching me just as intently.
“I’m sorry, Aleks. I didn’t mean to worry you. I just needed some time to myself.”
Had Luca’s voice really gone a little softer just then?
“Aleks, I need you to tell Remy about Gio,” Luca continued.
“What? Remy? Are you… are you with Remy?” Aleks asked, his voice full of confusion.
“I am. He’s okay, Aleks,” Luca said. “Will you tell him about Gio for me, please?”
There was a definite tremor in Luca’s voice this time and I felt my heart begin to pound even harder in my chest.
“Remy?” Aleks said softly.
I needed to yell at Aleks to call Ronan or the cops or something. I needed to tell him that Luca was… what?
What was he doing exactly?
The gun was in my hands. I could easily call out for Ronan. Hell, there was a landline half a dozen feet from me on a small table. I could call the cops myself.
“I’m here,” I said.
I heard what sounded like a half sob followed by a beat of silence. “Gio, um, he got taken, Remy. Like you and me.”
I shook my head in disbelief because I knew Aleks would never lie to me. It wasn’t in his DNA. And if he was telling me the truth, that meant what Luca had said was true.
My pounding heart suddenly seemed to seize in my chest and I felt lightheaded. I leaned heavily against the door in the hopes of staying upright, but my knees wouldn’t support me. I let my back slide clumsily down the door but before my ass hit the floor, Luca was there. He caught me under the elbow with one hand while his other hand took the gun from my grip. In my confusion, I’d slung the thing across my own midsection as I’d tried to keep myself upright. Luca supported some of my weight as I sat down on the floor.
“Gio was eight,” Aleks continued, oblivious to what was happening. Luca had left his phone on the back of the couch. “He was with his mom when they took him, so they… they shot her.”
I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to hear this. I didn’t want to be here.
“Luca and Vaughn and their brothers have been searching for Gio for years—”
“Stop!” I called. “Aleks, please stop.” My head hurt so bad I was sure it was going to pop right off my fucking body. “Please,” I croaked.
I didn’t realize I was hanging on to one of Luca’s hands until he loudly said, “Vaughn.”
“I’m here,” Vaughn said. I was sure I heard crying in the background. I wanted to apologize to Aleks for snapping at him, but I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.
“I’ll call you later,” Luca said.
A beat of silence followed, then Vaughn said, “You’d better, brother.” Then the call disconnected.
“Remy,” Luca began, but the second he touched my cheek, I jerked away from him. I ended up hitting my head on the door in the process. And then the damn tears returned with a vengeance and I knew I was fucked.
There was no game.
There were no winners.
Or losers.
Just the truth.
And that was one thing I’d never truly figured out how to fight back against.
Chapter Eight
Luca
My plan had been to give Remy what he wanted.
Me as a punching bag… both literally and figuratively.