Page 65 of Joey

She blinks at him.

He sighs. “Your name?”

“Kristin. Kristin Campbell.”

“You said Max is missing?” I ask her, dispensing with any further pleasantries.

“Y-yes,” she sniffs.

“Why do you think that?” Dante asks.

“I know he is.” Her eyes fill with tears and she swallows. “He was supposed to go to New Jersey yesterday, but he never got on the flight. He never checked in with me, even though he promised he would.” She starts to cry again, fat tears rolling down her face.

Meanwhile I feel like I’m going to puke. Why was Max checking in with her? Who the hell is she?

“Why was he going to Jersey?” Dante asks, and I’m relieved that at least one of us is keeping their head. That’s his superpower—remaining calm when the world is in chaos. Taking a deep breath, I try to channel his energy.

Her eyes dart around the room. “He, uh, he was looking for his uncle Vito.”

Dante scowls. “His uncle?”

“Who? What?” I don’t recall Max having an uncle.

Ignoring me, Dante shakes his head. “Why the hell would he have any interest in that lying piece of shit?”

Kristin blanches at the venom in Dante’s tone, but she leans forward, chin tipped in defiance. “Because he went missing. Probably kidnapped too. Max was looking into it.”

“How do you know he didn’t get on the plane?” I ask her, my feet now rooted in place.

“I called the airline.”

Dante gives her a skeptical look. “Airlines don’t give that kind of information.”

“They do if you get a sympathetic mom of three and you cry and tell her you’re six months pregnant and your boyfriend and father of your baby has disappeared.”

No. That can’t be true. My knees threaten to buckle under my weight.

Dante shoots me a look of concern, then returns his attention to the young girl. “And is he? Your boyfriend? Your baby’s father?”

“Yes,” she says, her voice firm.

My whole world stops turning. I’m definitely going to be sick. I clamp my lips together because if I don’t, I will wail so loudly that the house will crumble to the ground. If I open my mouth, I will shriek and I will scream. I’ll call her a liar and demand she tells me the truth.

My legs tremble. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I can’t even be. Is Kristin thesituationhe was fixing? Bile fills my mouth. He fucked me and told me he loved me while he was with her. Did they plan a life together? Marriage and more babies while he was making me fall in love with him and promising me that I belonged to him?

Dante quietly says my name and pats the empty chair beside him. His eyes lock on mine and he gives me a subtle nod, letting me know that he has my back. Reminding me that I’m a Moretti, and this is not how we do things. I’m not going to show this complete stranger that she’s torn out my heart and smashed it into a million tiny pieces.

Swallowing down the hurt and pain and rage that wants to spill out of me, I suck in a breath. Tears sting my eyes, but I blink them away. Maximo DiMarco is a lying, cheating snake. I hate him. I hope he has been kidnapped. I hope he’s suffering right now.

Dante watches me until he’s sure I’ve regained control. With a satisfied nod, he shifts his attention back to Kristin. “You think the people who took his uncle also took him?”

My hands ball unto fist by my sides.

“Maybe. I-I don’t know. I know he worked for you, so maybe it was something to do with that?”

“Do you know anything about who he was meeting in New Jersey? Anything about who took his uncle and why Max is trying to find him? You know he hates his uncle, right?”

“I do know he hates him, but family is family,” she sniffs. “I don’t know who he’s meeting or who has his uncle.”