but I couldn’t swear any of them would take a bullet for me the way Phoenix, Luca, and Ciro would take one for Frankie.
It was enviously incredible.
I smiled, trying to cover up that envy. “I bet,” I chuckled.
With Luca having the key and Phoenix having the thumb drives, they started getting ready to leave. Ciro leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Robbie, how are you supposed to contact them when you find the box?”
I shook my head. “I…I don’t know. I…I imagined they were just going to show up when my time was up.”
“Frankie packed you a bag,” he said, throwing me off.
“What?”
“I can’t leave you here, Robbie,” he said. “I have no idea if this box is theirs, or someone else’s. You might trust Gary and Merrick to keep their word, but you’re not safe as long as we’re not sure if someone else is in the picture. Their boss, perhaps.”
“But if I leave…they’ll know,” I pointed out. “They’ll really come after me then.”
Ciro’s nostrils flared, those golden eyes alight with fire. “Do you honestly believe I’ll ever let anyone hurt you again?”
“Ciro-”
“You’re mine, Robbie,” he barked. “And, honestly, I hope those two motherfuckers do come after you. Because I’ll be the one waiting for them. Me.”
“Ciro, I…how long will have to stay in Morgan City?” I wasn’t sure, but I figured that’s where I was going.
Ciro looked me right in the eye as he said, “You’re never coming back to Cedar Creek, Robbie.” He took my face in his hands and placed the softest kiss on my lips. “I’m never letting you out of my sight ever again.”
Chapter 23
Ciro~
Robbie was asleep in my bed, and I felt a peace I haven’t felt since the night Frankie was taken.
The drive home had been fraught with anxiousness with what Luca would find in that safe deposit box and what Phoenix would find on those thumb drives. At the end of the day, I couldn’t care less what was in that box or on those thumb drives.
I only cared about Robbie and getting my hands on Gary and Merrick.
It also wasn’t lost on me that I still had some groveling to do, but I had the rest of my life to convince the woman she loved me. At the very least, get her to like me a little, so I wasn’t overly worried about that.
It was past nine when I heard the door to my apartment open. I sat in the kitchen and watched Luca and Nix make their way through the living room. The layout of my apartment was the mirror image of Phoenix’s, so he knew his way around my place as well as I knew my way around his.
“What’s up?” I asked the both of them. Luca took a seat as Nix went to the refrigerator to get something to drink.
“The safe deposit box was full of money, a list of deposits and withdrawals, and compromising pictures of Cedar Creek’s finest with girls who looked of questionable age,” Luca announced.
Phoenix took a seat next to Luca while I remained standing on the other side of the kitchen island. “The thumb drives were more of the same, except those pictures featured the more prominent citizens of Cedar Creek. The photos were more graphic, and the thumb drives included videos, too. The box was basically one huge blackmail jackpot.”
“There’s no way mid-level thugs like O’Malley and Spencer could get their hands on all that information,” I pointed out. “They had to have been keeping it safe for someone higher up.”
“Way high,” Phoenix added. “There were pictures of the mayor on the drives, for fuck’s sake.”
Luca nodded. “I agree. They were keeping that shit for someone with power. No way Cedar Creek street thugs were organized enough to get all that information.”
“So, how did those two fucks get their hands on it?” I wondered. “By accident?”
Nix shrugged a shoulder. “The only way to know is to ask them,” he replied.
“How do you want to do this?” Luca asked. Luca believed if a woman belonged to a man, the privilege to avenge her belonged to him. It was archaic, and modern women everywhere would be burning their bras in protest, but Luca believed in ownership. If a woman was yours, then…
She. Was. Yours.
She was yours to love, protect, cherish, support, and avenge if necessary. And, make no mistake, Robbie was mine.
“I want to go back to Cedar Creek and drag those two motherfuckers back to Morgan City,” I told him honestly.