Riding Dirty: Luciotti Crime Family (A Bad Boy Mafia Romance) - Kara Hart Page 0,45

the car is?” he asked, looking at two sets of keys.

“The Cadillac,” I said, pointing at the keys in front of him.

“Oh! The Cadillac. That’s right. Yeah, it’s been ready since yesterday. How will you be paying for it?” He opened the door to the noisy garage. My car was on the ground and ready to go. Finally.

“Cash,” I said, throwing him a wad of that smooth green paper. He almost dropped it out of shock.

“But you don’t know how much it cost!” He shouted. I got in the car and started the engine. Fuck. This was what I needed alright.

“Don’t worry. It’s all there. Give the rest to your workers as a tip.” I shut the door and peeled out of there. Of course, now there was an even bigger decision to make. Did I get coffee and grub from the café or did I head home?

For once in my life, I chose the responsible route. Dahlia clearly didn’t want anything to do with me and I felt like I had to respect her on that. After all, it’s her life. Who was I to ruin it more than it already had been? So I drove on home, to look at the destruction I had caused myself.

I checked my watch. Two P.M. Damn, I could use some coffee right about now. I turned the corner, right past the café. It was booming. Customers waited for tables outside, conversing and having a day of it. I imagined Dahlia behind that espresso machine, tamping the coffee and pouring those shots. I could just imagine that sass, with her hands on her hips and carrying that chip on her shoulder. It was odd how much things could change in such a short time. Two weeks ago, that attitude would have annoyed the hell out of me. Now I found it endearing. What the hell was wrong with me?

I took another left and passed the school that Jen went to. Another series of rights and lefts and I was finally close to my house. When I finally turned into the woodland area, I felt at ease. But of course that didn’t last too long.

“What the—” I stopped the car immediately. In front of me was Jen, sitting on a stump, behind a bush. She was crying and looked about ten shades redder.

My adrenaline immediately kicked in and I ran out of that car as fast as a bullet. “Jen!” I cried out. “Are you alright?” Out of the corner of my eye was another figure. It was a man, about five foot ten in height, thin. He was already ahead of me, maybe 200 yards. I got out my gun and chased after the son of a bitch.

“Hey! Stop or I’ll shoot you dead!” I aimed my gun, but he already started to run. There wasn’t anything I hated more than a runner. Soon enough I was darting through the woods, stepping on leaves and trying my damned hardest not to lose sight of the guy. But he clearly had a leg up on me. Without the knowledge of the area, I was useless. The trails all blended together and I was eventually forced to go back to Jen. I had to make sure she was okay before taking secondary action.

“Jen!” I put my gun away and jogged back to the place I found her sitting. “You alright?” I asked her, as I got close, choking on air. It had been a long time since I chased a man and clearly being in Monroe had taken its toll on me. I swear, I needed to cut down on those quiches if I was going to get myself back in shape.

“Lucas? Where’s mommy?” she asked me. I had her near me now. She was safe. Somebody was playing games with Dahlia. It had to be somebody close to her. I had feeling I knew who it was too.

“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. I looked around us. There was no one in sight. No sounds except for the high-pitched chirping of the birds around us. Somewhere close was the man who took her, Cade. I was sure of it. He was watching our every move. He might seem menacing today, but sooner or later he was going to slip up and I was going to get him. He’d be the Luciotti family’s burden then, and the family business could decide what to do with that trash.

“Mommy always picks me up from summer school now,”