I run.
16
RICCARDO
Valerio’s call cuts off so abruptly that for a moment I think I imagined the whole thing. One second he’s talking, his voice tense and too serious for a casual update, and the next the line goes dead. No static. No background noise. Just silence.
I call him back immediately. He doesn’t answer.
I try again. Straight to voicemail.
By the third attempt, my pulse is pounding hard enough that it rings in my ears. I’m already out the door, crossing Matteo’s garage with fast, heavy steps. I don’t even bother saying goodbye.
I slide into the driver’s seat and dial again.
On the fourth ring, Valerio finally picks up.
“Boss—”
“Where are you?” My voice comes out sharper than I intend. “What happened?”
There’s a short pause, like he’s forcing himself to speak clearly. “We’re at St. Mary’s.”
The hospital name alone makes my stomach drop, but I keep my tone steady. “Why?”
“It’s Savannah,” he says. “She’s here with her mom. The nurse called her. The woman collapsed.”
I grip the wheel so tightly the leather creaks. “Collapsed how?”
“Her heart.” He sighs, frustrated. “I think she was worse off than what Savannah made it sound like.”
I exhale once through my nose, hard.
I knew it.I knew she wasn’t telling me everything. I saw it in her face every time she said her mother was ‘fine,’ every time she changed the subject or smiled too fast.
I should have pushed harder. I should have made her understand she didn’t need to hide anything from me.
Instead, I let her pretend she could carry it alone.
“And you didn’t call me the second it happened?” I demand.
“I tried.” He sounds exhausted. “She grabbed my phone and hung up on you.”
That stops me for half a breath.
“She did what?”
“She was panicking,” Valerio says quickly. “Begged me not to tell you. Said she didn’t want to be a burden. Something about how you’ve already done too much for her.”
I close my eyes, and the anger that hits me is sharp and sickening. Not at him—at myself.
I now know without a doubt that Savannah thinks she’s trouble. That she’s a weight I’d eventually resent. She thinks I’d walk away if I knew how bad things really were.
She has no idea the lengths I’d go for her.
I start the car, slam the door shut behind me, and pull out so fast the tires screech.
“Anything else I need to know?” I ask.
