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“My brothers.”
“Noted.”
“My sister.”
“On the list.”
What had she done? Did she care? Her whole family had been more than willing to send her to Boone, knowing there was a chance he might kill her. They didn’t want to send Isabella, as she was too beautiful. No outsider of the Bonaldis would get one of their beauties.
Just Lucia. The ugly one.
“No one calls you ugly and gets away with it.” And with that, he gripped the back of her neck and showed her she had not been kissed properly at all.
This was not just a kiss, it felt like a possession. His lips were rough and gentle at the same time. She felt her body come to life under his lips, and she didn’t want him to stop.
This was the kiss that movies were made of.
****
“We have been invited to a family dinner,” Boone said.
Lucia looked up from the book she had been reading.
“What?”
“Your father sent an invitation.” He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. He noticed how her hand shook as she glanced over the invite.
“Why?”
Boone shrugged. “Does he need a reason?”
“Usually ... yes.”
She looked nervous and he noticed she went to her haircut.
“Don’t be nervous.”
“You want us to go?”
“It would be way too rude not to.” He leaned back against the tree, enjoying the shade.
Boone had decided to take Lucia to the park for lunch. They had already enjoyed their picnic, sat and watched people come and go with their families. He had a few emails to tend to while she read her book.
Since the kiss in the shower, neither of them had said a word. He’d kissed her like he had been wanting to kiss her, and then once the shower had run cold, he dried her, dressed her, and they went to bed. He had been the perfect gentleman.
This was nearly four days ago. Four days since he exposed the child labor warehouse. The detective he was using seemed to have his plate full. The men on Bonaldi’s payroll were also dropping like flies, and Boone had nothing to do with it. Their failure was getting them killed, bodies washing up in lakes, found on beaches, or dead in cars. All of them looked like suicide, but it was just another death in payment from Bonaldi.
No one had any way of knowing who was uncovering their operations. Jimmy’s information had been enlightening. It had also led them down another avenue he was currently working through. This next one he didn’t like. From what he and Ronald had uncovered, there was some dark web shit, which included snuff.
Boone didn’t like it. He had seen some of the women he knew were missing on the tapes. They were being raped and murdered for the highest bidder.
He had a guy currently trying to crack the codes that would give him access to the creators, buyers, and distributors. It had to be somewhere in the city. He just needed to find it. Bonaldi wouldn’t have any of that shit linked to him, so he was checking through Valdez. Something wasn’t adding up, though. There was a missing piece of the pie.
Ronald didn’t like any of it. In fact, Ronald had vomited at some of the shit they had seen. To Boone, it wasn’t even the worst he had seen. This is why he had no choice but to step out of retirement.
Lucia sat up. “I don’t think I should go.”
“Why?”