I like this woman.
Lowering my hands, I turn my eyes on Lola. “I know all that. Which is why I came here alone. However, I need to call Dré for an update on Giovanni and to let him know I'm safe.”
Lola reaches into her bathrobe pocket, pulls out a phone, and comes closer. “Are you hurt?” Her eyes roam over every inch of me, concern replacing distrust.
“No.” I lie straight to her face. “And Leo… is he okay?”
“He’s fast asleep. I checked on him before I confronted you. The boy sleeps well these days. Giovanni was adamant your dog was not allowed in Leo’s bedroom. But as it turns out, Leo was quite the secretive mastermind. Daenis and he are the best of friends.”
Taking the phone from her, I force my shoulders back. “Good. He’ll need the distraction for a while.” I smile tightly at her and punch in the numbers, holding my breath as I hope for good news.
“Indy?” André answers.
“Yeah, it's me. I’m safe. Have you got him?” I hear him breathing on the other end and sense something is very, very wrong. “Dré… is he safe?”
“I don’t know,” he says, the words distant. My throat tightens and my heart hammers against my ribs. “When the team went in, the place was empty. Gio wasn’t there. My brother’s gone. And we’ve no fucking clue where they’ve taken him.”
6
INDIA
I’d spent the last three days with Leo, pretending everything was fine. We told him Giovanni had gone away on business. Thankfully, he believed the lie, because I’m not ready to discuss the possibility of his father never coming home. In fact, I won’t consider it at all.
Any day now, Gio’s going to stalk through the front door and throw his arms around the both of us. He has to come home.
Once the little guy falls asleep, I find myself alone and wandering past closed doors in the dark hallways of Blackwater, drawn to my favorite room—library.
I’ve grown to love this house, maybe more than the modern extension. It has character.
Last night, Lola had taught me how to light the open fire. I’d wanted to learn how to do it myself for the evenings when the library gets chilly. Somehow, I climbed the ladder to pick a book on the highest shelf under the twenty-foot-high ceiling, just for a rush of adrenaline.
But it was a waste of time. I didn’t feel a goddamn thing other than the discontent and bitter loneliness already inside of me.
Rather than return to his empty bed each night, I had chosen to stay on the leather couch by the fire where I could stoke the flames and keep them alive. I even set a lit pillar candle on the thick stone window ledge, stupidly hoping he'd see it. He wouldn’t. Beyond the restored window arch a cobbled courtyard and forest of wind-bent trees conceal the west side of the manor house. No one can see in.
I haven’t lost hope. Not when I feel him around me. Sense him close. On my skin, next to me in the shadows, under the soft knit blanket.
He fights to reach me from the depths of my nightmares and when I close my eyes during the day, he’s there too. All six-foot of his inked stature, godly in his haunting presence.
He’s alive. I know it in every cell within my body. So, why hasn’t he come home?
Today is the fourth day and I still can’t eat, because I’ve zero appetite and my stomach physically aches.
“You must have heard something, Dré?” I insist, moving out of earshot.
“Look… he’s a soldier. Tactical. We know he’s not dead, because Blanco would be gloating all over Colombia. He’d want everyone to know about it.”
“Right.” I pause in the doorway and watch Leo slurp his hot chocolate, completely clueless. “It doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t just disappear.”
André sighs. “You don’t know him, India. This is another reason you two don’t fit together. He’s not like the rest of us. Gio was programmed to delete emotions and push aside the people in his life who matter to him. Don’t waste your love on him.”
“He has too much to lose if he doesn’t come home.” I argue when Leo drops off his seat, gathers his mug, and plops down on the floor beside Daenis.
“Christ, kid. This isn’t a fluffy fucking fairytale.” The sound of a lighter sparking proceeds his grunt. “I love my brother, but he’s not the right one for you. Reno would try to kill me for this bullshit. Either you tell me where you are, or I’ll hunt you out myself.”
“Dré! Focus on finding your brother. Don’t worry about me.”
“We’re doing that.” His voice turns stern, almost glacial. “You're my priority too, India. This isn’t just about the promise I made to Reno. Even if he was alive, I’d still do everything to keep you safe.” He exhales and mutters something inaudible. “You’re completely alone, using a phone that has a CyberGhost VPN to block us from tracking your coordinates, and that puts you at risk. If someone came for you, how the fuck would we reach you? Anyway… we’re coming to Colombia.”
