“The lock’s still working but we’ll get it replaced obviously just to be sure. No other damage to the door. I’ll get the security footage from the building and I’ll check the feeds from anywhere else around her that might help us.”
He nods his agreement and then he turns back to her. “What happened to your face?”
She brushes her fingertips over the cut on her lip. “That was just Toni.”
“Oh, yeah. Jax told me you were great,” he says proudly.
“He did?” She glances at me but I don’t meet her eyes.
“Yeah,” he says but then seems to remember why we’re here. “Now you’re coming home with me.”
“No. Matthias is asleep. He doesn’t even know anything happened. I’m okay now. I overreacted. I just got so scared. I heard him breathing at the door, Papi.” She shudders. “But he was probably just looking for something to steal. If you could just check around outside and downstairs, then I’ll be fine.”
“But what if he wasn’t just looking for something to steal?” I ask.
Alejandro shoots me a warning look but Lucia is a grown woman and this is the reality of our world. We have many enemies.
“You think he targeted me?” she whispers.
“It’s a possibility,” Alejandro agrees but we both know it is way more than a possibility.
“Has anything else strange happened?” he asks her.
“Like what?” she shrugs.
“Anything weird or unusual. Meet anyone new?” I ask.
She scowls at me.
“No. I haven’t met anyone new.” She folds her arms over her chest.
“Have you upset anybody? Rejected someone’s advances?” I probe further.
“No.” She shakes her head but then her expression changes.
“What?” Alejandro snaps.
“There’s this guy on a social media app. He keeps messaging me and I keep blocking him—”
“Lucia! What have I warned you about social media?” Alejandro barks.
“It’s one app, Papi. I don’t put any personal information on there. There are billons of users on it. It’s probably just some creep.”
Alejandro glares at me and I nod my understanding. “I’ll look into it. I’ll need all of your passwords, Lucia.”
“Okay,” she swallows.
Alejandro rolls his eyes in frustration. “Right, well if you won’t come home tonight, I’ll stay here.”
“No,” she shakes her head. “Mom will be worried about you. Nobody is going to come back here tonight. I’ll be fine.”
He stares at her—Lucia is right that Alana will worry if he stays out all night—then he looks at me.Fuck! “Okay. Then Jax will stay, right?”
“No,” she snaps. “I’m fine, Papi. I’m sorry I called you.”
“Hey.” He takes her face in his hands. “I am your father. You always call me. No matter what. You got that?”
“Yes.”