Page 28 of The Pawn

I look down at the top of Allegra’s head. She’s got her face buried in my chest. I look at Jet. He’s standing shirtless in the middle of this mess. He’s always careful to keep a shirt on, so although I’ve seen the scars before, they still make me pause. Make me remember what he told me once, a long time ago over a shared bottle of whiskey. What we never again discussed. I shift my gaze back up to his.

“Go,” he says, jaw tight.

Allegra moves in my arms. “I’ll see you at the house. Bring that soldier.”

He nods and I carry her out of the room. One of the soldiers I pass sees my shoulder.

“Boss, want me to take her?”

“I got her. But I need you to drive.”

He nods, walks ahead of us to one of two SUVs with tires intact, still riddled with bullets, but not as bad as the others which are useless. I set her in the back seat and when I pull away, she panics, reaches for me, still shivering.

“Shh. I’m just getting you a blanket. You’re safe now. I have you, Allegra, and you’re safe now.”

She glances over my shoulder at the house then looks down at herself. Jet’s shirt is the button-down he was wearing to the event in Atlantic City what feels like a decade ago. She cradles her injured hand with the other.

I open the back of the SUV to take the folded blanket and hurry to Allegra. I climb in and wrap it over her shoulders.

“Better?” I ask her, hugging her trembling body close.

She doesn’t respond.

“I’m going to get you home. I’m going to take care of you now.”

When the driver starts the car, she panics, turns to the closed door. “No!”

“Allegra—"

“I need… I need…”

“What do you need?”

Her lip trembles and her eyes glisten with fresh tears. “The… ring.”

“The ring?”

She nods.

“I have it. It’s in my pocket.”

She’s visibly relieved. Nodding, she lays down on my lap, surprising me. I watch her close her eyes and squeeze her shoulder, unable to keep from looking at the bloody rag of my shirt.

She’s alive. That’s what I asked for. That’s what I got. She’s alive. What he did to her I’ll fix. It won’t matter. She’ll see. She’s alive and I have her and she’s safe. And I’ll fucking take Malek Lombardi apart limb by limb.

I tuck the blanket closer over her shoulder and keep telling her it’s going to be all right. That she’s safe. But she doesn’t react to any of it. She just lays there with her eyes closed and I hope she’s sleeping. I hope.

Night gives way to day and as we drive back to Devil’s Peak while I think. Malek Lombardi was in his car on his way off the property as I pulled onto the grounds. He was in a hurry, but my arrival was not a complete surprise. Who would know I was coming? That I knew where he’d take her? Richard Moore? No, I don’t think so. I believe that he didn’t know where Malek took her. I can’t imagine whyhe’d know about the existence of the house at all. He may have and probably did contact Malek to tell him about my visit, but that wouldn’t translate to my knowing about the house Allegra and her mother were taken to when she was kidnapped.

As far as the story of Sarah Moretti’s death, she died in a fire at the house of her piano tutor. A tragedy. Nothing more to it. The fact that Allegra and her mother had been kidnapped wasn’t public knowledge because it wasn’t truly a kidnapping. It was her father punishing his wife. Hurting her any way he could.

Who would know that I was coming here? Or did Malek just get lucky? But then why not take Allegra with him? Perhaps that is the more important question. Why did he leave her behind for me to find?

I dig my phone out of my pocket to find a text from Enzo.

Enzo: Cousin, I’m on my way to the house. Where do you need me?

Me: Why aren’t you at the hospital?