“Good idea.” She places the call, her shoulders sagging with relief when her mother answers. “Hey, Mama. You guys doing okay?” She sits taller in her seat until her spine is rigid, every ounce of relief erased. “Where is she? What do you mean you don’t know? How long has she been gone? Oh God. Okay. We’re coming to get you and take you somewhere safe. No more arguing.”
I listen to her half of the conversation with growing unease. Something’s clearly wrong. I start to weave more urgently through traffic, knowing exactly where I’m going after memorizing the address that first day when I snagged her ID.
“Already headed that way,” I say as soon as she disconnects the call.
She doesn’t ask how I know where to go. She simply nods and wills the car forward.
Two hours later, we arrive back at my apartment with her mother in tow. The two women console one another despite obvious signs of worry. Gran hasn’t been seen or heard from for four hours. She’d gone out for her daily trip to the market to pick up food for dinner and never came home. She isn’t answering her phone, and from what I’m told, this behavior is very unusual. There’s little doubt that Biba has followed through with his threat, likely even before he ever called me. He better hope for his sake he’s only taken her hostage because if he hurts her, there’s going to be hell to pay.
“I’m goingto arm the alarm—donotopen the front door for anyone. I’ve got a man guarding the hallway. Don’t even let him in. No one. I’ll only be gone for an hour or so.” I speak softly so as not to be overheard even though we’re alone in the primarybedroom. Danika’s mother is settled into the guest room across from what has become Danika’s paint studio, hopefully just for the night.
“We won’t go near the door, I promise. And thank you, Tommy. Just saying thank you doesn’t feel like enough, but I have no other way of repaying you for all this.” Her teeth give a worried graze over her bottom lip.
I’d love to tell her she can thank me by wrapping those fuckable lips around my cock, but we don’t have time for that right now. Plus, she may not feel so inclined when I tell her what I’m about to say.
“I’m happy to do it, but there’s a price, Danika,” I tell her in cool, simple terms. It could be a defense mechanism in anticipation of her refusal, or maybe I’m just as heartless as some people say, but I don’t sugarcoat my demands. I want her to know I’m deadly serious. “I will get your grandmother back and keep the two of them safe, and you will marry me immediately after. Those are my terms.”
It’s simply too good an opportunity to pass up. She’s expressed reluctance at the idea of marriage from the moment I mentioned it. If I don’t take advantage now, she might never agree to marry me. I can’t risk it. I must make Danika mine, no matter the cost.
Shock registers in her wide eyes, shining an emerald green thanks to shafts of sunlight streaming through the windows. “You’re serious,” she whispers.
“I am.”
“But why? I still don’t understand, Tommy. Why would you do all this for someone you hardly know?”
“Because I don’t have to know every little thing about you to knowmeand know I willneverstop wanting you.” I stand stock-still, waiting for her to tell me what I said doesn’t make sense. It’s what a rational person would do, which is why my heartstutters when I hear her gift me with the most perfect single word anyone has ever spoken.
“Okay,” she says in a soft but firm voice. “I’ll marry you.”
CHAPTER 22
TOMMY
She said yes.Danika said yes—it’s all I can think about on my way to Renzo’s place. Was her response coerced? Sure. Does it still count? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Danika is going to be my wife and sooner than she realizes. But first, I need to get her grandmother back. To do that, I’ll need help.
I’ve always hated asking for help. Admitting a lack of knowledge or ability only reinforces the doubts others have about me. If at all possible, I try my absolute hardest to handle things on my own, but that simply won’t work this time around. I reached out to DiAngelo to get help locating Gran. He insisted on looping in my brother. To keep the numbers even, I roped Sante into joining me for our little sit-down. I can face my brother on my own, but having Sante beside me makes it a hell of a lot easier.
I wait out front of Renzo’s place for Sante to arrive so we can enter as a united front. DiAngelo’s already inside when Renzo opens the door with a thunderous expression.
“Get in here and tell me what the fuck is going on.”
We head into his brownstone home, following him to the living room like two kids sent to the principal’s office, takinga seat and awaiting our lecture. Sante sends me a questioning glance, wondering what bug has most recently crawled up my brother’s ass. Now that we’re all here, I’m thinking I probably should have told Sante about the engagement before we arrived.
Renzo stays on his feet, hands propped on his hips. “Want to tell me why the fuck I’m hearing from my best friend that you’re getting married?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sante’s head perform anExorcist-style swivel in my direction.
Yeah, I’m definitely going to get my ass chewed out when this is over.
“Things have moved quickly. I haven’t had a chance to tell you.”
“Bullshit,” he barks at me. “You have a goddamn phone.”
I swallow down the argument I’d like to shoot back in my defense, knowing it would only make things worse, and try to move the conversation in a more productive direction.
“As you know, Biba wants Danika back. When I informed him that wasn’t happening, Danika’s grandmother went missing. It’s safe to assume Biba’s taken her as leverage after roughing up Danika’s mother didn’t get him the results he wanted. We’ve yet to hear from him, though. I’ve got her mom over at my place to make sure she stays safe, but we need to find an alternative place for her to hole up until this all blows over. You know I don’t do houseguests.”
