“Did you sleep at all?” I asked.
His smile was fleeting, but my insides warmed regardless. I could live in that smile for the rest of my days and be perfectly content because it wasn’t the smile he hid behind when he was Don. No, this was the grin of the real Lucas Valentino.
“I’ll be fine, Leda.”
He didn’t look fine. He looked exhausted.
“I’ve got breakfast,” Lucas continued. “It’s not much.”
I took in the bagels on the island, along with a carton of juice, and felt like bursting into tears right then and there. Who would have thought the man who had bought me for his own revenge would be ensuring that I was taken care of now? I didn’t care what anyone else had to say about Lucas. He had this amazing soft spot inside him. “Thanks.”
His jaw clenched. “There’s more. One of the guards brought this over earlier in the morning.”
I watched as he pulled out a manila envelope, dumping the black object into his hand. It was a cell phone, and my breath caught as I realized it was Nico’s. “That’s my brother’s,” I said, struggling to get the words out.
Lucas held it out to me. “I have a guess where it came from.”
Yeah, me too. I took the phone from him and opened the lock screen, the picture causing me to gasp. It was my brother, his face bruised and battered as he stared defiantly at the screen. I could see the arrogant look on his face despite his injuries, but the most important part was that he was still alive.
That, and there was no doubt as to who had him. Our father stood behind him, a hand on his shoulder and a smirk on his face. “Fuck,” Lucas breathed as he looked over my shoulder.
There was an icon indicating a new text message, so I opened it, finding one from an unknown number. Come alone, or you will never see your family again.
I was glad that Lucas was standing near me because my knees buckled, and he had to catch me to keep me from sliding to the floor. “It’s going to be okay,” he said roughly, nearly crushing me to his bare chest. “He’s alive.”
That was true. Nico was alive, but as I pressed my cheek to Lucas’s chest, I couldn’t help but wonder for how much longer.