Page 103 of The Temptation

“Fuck … how?”

As I’m approaching the car, I see the rear door wide open, and the window smashed in. The sight has me feeling like I’m going to hurl.

I slam it closed as I pass and move around the front of the car before slipping into the driver’s side.

“My mother,” I reply, because I’m not going to sugar-coat this. “She lured me to the park under false pretences. It was a trap.”

“And you took Lucia with you?” he bellows down the line.

“No. Yes.” I scrub my fingers through my hair and wince at the pain that shoots down my side. I flick on the interior light and lift my black T-shirt, which is now soaked in blood. “I thought I’d left her at home with the dog, but she somehow managed to sneak into the back seat when I wasn’t looking.”

I glance down and grimace at the large gash in my side. It looks deep and is oozing blood, but I don’t have time to get this stitched up. I need something to stem the bleeding, though. I don’t want to bleed out before I reach Lucia.

I flip open the centre console and grab a handful ofnapkins I shoved in there a few months ago. They’re crumpled but clean enough.

Wincing, I lean over to the glove compartment and fumble around until my fingers brush against the roll of duct tape I stashed there. It’ll have to do. Not ideal, but nothing about this situation is.

“Has something happened?” I hear Arabella ask in the background. “Is Lucia okay?”

“Everything is fine,Bellezza,” he lies. “Go back to sleep.”

I exit the car while he talks to his wife, resting the phone on the bonnet. Lifting my shirt, I press the stack of napkins against the wound, then begin wrapping the tape around my midsection to hold everything in place.

I snatch up my phone and slide back into the vehicle, tossing the tape onto the passenger seat.

Seconds later, I hear the click of a door closing before Dante begins speaking again. “Where are you?”

“Do you think it’s wise to lie to her, right now?” I ask because she won’t be happy when she finds out what’s happened.

“What I do with my wife is none of your fucking business,” he snaps, and I’m tempted to say the same thing right back, but I know my place. I’m also not going to poke the bear and tell him I married Lucia behind his back. “I’ll tell her … eventually. Now, where the fuck are you?”

“In my car. I’m going to try to catch them. I can only presume they’re taking her to Wyalong, so I’m going to head that way. I’ll call Dominic and let the guys know. Hopefully, they might be able to intercept them when they get there.”

“If they’re even going there,” he growls. “They could be taking her fucking anywhere.”

I lean my head back into the seat and blow out a longbreath. I can’t let my mind go there because I’ll fall the fuck apart if I do.

“I killed two of their men; they’re in the park near that new estate. You’ll find them by the swing set. You might need to get that cleaned up before daylight.”

“And your mother?”

“I left her here somewhere.”

“You know I’m going to have to deal?—”

“Yeah, I know,” I reply, cutting him off. “I’ll leave her to you; I won’t stand in your way. I warned her not to go there. They beat the crap out of her, and she’s fucking delusional if she thinks she’s going to see a single cent of that reward money.”

“Hmm,” he hums unimpressed.

I hate that she’s put me in this position, so I won’t fight him. That woman has betrayed me too many times in my life, but none of them hurt as much as this does.

Her fate is now in his hands. She knew the score when she made that call. Fucking me over is one thing, but interfering with theFamigliais a whole other story.

“Does Lucia have her phone on her?” Dante asks.

“I’m not sure. Why?”

“I put a tracking app on her and Arabella’s phone.”