Riding Dirty: Luciotti Crime Family (A Bad Boy Mafia Romance) - Kara Hart Page 0,46

she said. Summer school? At her age? Shit, she needs a man in her life. She needs someone who can help take care of Jen.

“Let’s go find her, sweetie,” I said, holding my hand out to her. She grabbed it and I took her to my car. “Don’t you worry, the bad man won’t hurt you anytime soon.” Tearstains streaked down her cheeks. She wiped her nose and smiled.

I started the engine and headed towards her house. If she normally picked her up at this time, she would have already figured out Jen was missing. I had a feeling she was at home, talking to the police. I felt sick at the thought. Police. Sure, they protect people like Jen. As for me, I needed to stay as far away as I could from them. I wasn’t going back to prison. Not anytime soon, dammit.

“He wasn’t going to hurt me,” Jen said, looking more and more calm each second. I arched my eyebrow at her. Must be nice to be young and naïve.

“What’re you talking about?” I said. “He was abducting you, Jen. He was going to take you away from your mother.”

“No he wasn’t. He was taking me to play,” she said.

“To play? Why are you crying then? It doesn’t seem like you were having such a good time.” What kind of shit was this guy up to anyway? What was his plan of action? Clearly he knew I was looking for him. He was supposed to be hiding out in Detroit. Why would he risk everything to come back to Monroe, the town where his debt awaited him?

“He said Mommy was hurt and that I would need to come with him for a while. I was sad. Mommy’s never been hurt before. I wanted to protect her,” she said.

“You’re very brave, Jen.” I turned the corner to her house and, sure enough, the block was littered with cop cars. I drove past the line of them and turned into the driveway. Through the windshield, Dahlia saw us and ran toward the car, tears falling down her face. I watched the relief wash over her, followed by the anger flooding her bloodstream when she saw that I was the one who had Jen.

I parked the car and turned to her. “You’re safe at home now,” I said.

Dahlia nearly ripped the car door off when she opened it. “Jen! Oh, my sweet baby! Where have you been?” And then, of course, she turned to me. I got out of the car, raising my hands above my head. If she was going to tear my limbs off, like I thought she might, it would be better to haul me away to prison instead.

“You!” she spat. “What did you do to my daughter?” Her face was red and filled with hatred. Frankly, it wasn’t a good look for her. I remained calm, as always, and waited for her to calm down so I could tell her my side of things.

However, Jen was already itching to tell her everything. “Mom! Mom!” She tugged at Dahlia’s short red, white, and blue, dress. I wanted to tug at it myself. I wanted to tear at every last piece of thread until she was on the floor, begging for me. The way she looked at me, with such hatred. Oddly, it was a turn-on.

“I found Daddy! I talked to him!” she said. Uh-oh. Not good. I decided I had better jump in and explain things before Dahlia lost her mind and killed everyone in sight. A mother and her cub … how did the saying go?

“I found her sitting in the woods, near the road to my place. She’s okay though. I think he was just trying to scare you,” I said.

“Excuse me, but who is he exactly?” A female officer walked down from Dahlia’s house, clutching at her walkie-talkie, as if I was the culprit in all of this.

“Just a family friend,” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie. Cops made me nervous. I had half a mind to leave then and there.

“We’re going to need to get your statement on paper. You have identification?” she asked me.

Thankfully, Dahlia stepped in. “It’s, uh, fine. She’s safe and home now. I’d rather not file any charges. Thank you for all your help.”

The officer set the walk-talkie back in her jacket. “You sure? You’re all safe now?” She was eying me still. I got it the point –a big, scary man who looked up to no good.