“Well,Todd, put it on my tab.”
“Y-Your tab, sir?” he stammers.
“Scarano.”
Todd’s eyes dart wide, his lips parting in a small O as the name - and his mistake - sinks in. I’d like to enjoy the sight longer but the staleness of the shop and the desire to see Cara pulls stronger at my heart. I enjoy his shock only for a few seconds before I pocket the box, turn on my heel, and leave the building.
That’ll leave him to stew for a few hours. We’ll have to find a more respectable jeweler.
Habit has me reaching for my phone, wanting to tell Cara I’m on my way home but as my fingertips skim only the lining of my pocket, I remember I left it at Dante’s house. The thought causes me to pause, hand on the car and pocket weighed down by the ring.
Should I go back?
Fuck it, I’ve been away from Cara long enough.Someone else can pick it up.
Back in the car, I turn up the heating, switch on some music and pull into the road with the box resting against my chest, a quiet promise for the intended.
Fuck, I hope she likes it.
This is the start of finally being a family together. Once Dante clarifies who is behind the restaurant of course. As I dwell on it, a small bubble lifts in my chest as I consider Feliks. Dante and Sienna don’t see him as the culprit and the more I dwell, the more I don’t want him to be the culprit, which is a thought that surprises me.
While I don’t want to invite another demon into our war, having peace between the three families is desperately needed.
I want peace. I want to go home, love my wife and have a family,
Such a thing is not possible in war and we’ve been fighting for far too long.
Of course, my family deserves a home and while that safe house has served me well, it’s not mine. It’s notoursand I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t entertained the thought of Cara and I finally getting a place together. A smile pulls at the corner of my lips just at the thought.
Sienna and Dante’s house flits into my thoughts as I drive; I want somewhere like that. A place to call my own for myself and Cara. A proper home with a dining room like she’s always wanted, a large bedroom, and a garden. A large garden for our children to run around in and play.
Children. Hmm, more than one would be cute even with Samuel. A girl and a boy.
Samuel.His name sticks out like a thorn in my mind and I grip the steering wheel tighter as I drive. Blair’s darkness has swept that poor child into god knows what kind of situation. Sienna’s investigation will find him regardless, but I can’t decide if it would be kinder for Blair to be alive or dead. Can I really live my life with her there, attached to Samuel like a leech after everything she has done?
Explaining all this to Cara is going to be tough.
A worry that doesn’t soothe as I pull into the safe house and once again, habit has me lifting my head to greet the guard that usually stands by the gate.
Except, he’s not there.
I glance at the clock, seeing the late hour.
Maybe he’s on patrol?
Pulling up the driveway, it’s alarmingly obvious that none of the guards that have become staple decorations around the place are at their posts.
Oh no.
Cara.
While there’s nothing obvious to state a threat, the back of my neck prickles, and my stomach drops like a rock hurtling off a cliff as I turn off the car engine. Opening the glove box, I pull out the small silver handgun that hides in there and wrench open the car door. Blood pounds furiously in my ears as I sprint the rest of the way toward the house, unable to focus on anything other than getting to that front door.
The house lies in darkness, not a single light peeking out from any of the windows, as if the missing guards weren’t warning enough. After everything we’ve been through, Cara would have waited up for me.
Unless something has happened. Unless she’s not here and I don’t have myfuckingphone.
I take the steps two at a time, crashing into the front door in my desperation to reach the handle and get inside. The handle gives easily and the door opens instantly. Darkness and silence greet me.