Page 28 of Ruthless Passion

Luca returns and so do a few other people. A doctor and nurse move over to Mojo to help her into a wheelchair as they take her away.

"I'm having her moved to the private wing for immediate treatment," Luca says as we follow the group of people taking over Mojo's case. Once she's settled inside the hospital room upstairs from the mayhem of the emergency department, he starts with the questions again. "What happened, Jo?"

"I was having lunch with Monique?—"

"Monique? But Jett called her Ma Mojo." Luca peers at Jett who's giggling from his chair in the hallway beside us.

"Monique's my best friend. We've been inseparable since the day we met. With everyone calling me Jo, it came naturally for people to call her Mojo, a little more Jo since we were practically attached at the hip. With Jett, it started as him saying My Mojo and morphed into Ma Mojo."

"Cute." He nods with a smirk, and glances over his shoulder at the team of people treating Mojo. "How did she get hurt?"

"Don't be mad," Jo begins.

"Any explanation which starts like that is bound to do exactly that. Spit it out, Josephine." Luca demands.

"I was having lunch with Monique when Duke showed up?—"

Jett mimics retching noises. "Duke the Puke strikes again."

I sigh and look at Luca, who's not amused. The corners of his jaw are rigid, clenching his teeth as I tell him what happened near the pier with Duke demanding answers about a car that isn't mine. He balls his fists with every word spoken about the incident that a stranger stepped in to help us resolve. But once he notices Jett paying attention, he unclenches his fists and shoves his hands in his pockets.

A handsome doctor comes out to speak to us. He shakes Luca's hand and there's some familiarity between them, but he introduces himself to me. "I'm Dr. Antonio Calisi. We're going to keep Monique overnight to run scans on her ankle to confirm what's happening. As of right now, it is a sprain, but we found a bump on the back of her head I want to look into and keep her under observation."

"Thank you," I tell the doctor. I pop in for a quick visit with Mojo to make sure she's set before we leave. Luca offers to drive us home, which I gladly accept.

"Is your ex following you?" Luca asks once he pulls up to our house. His eyes watch the street as we get out of the car.

"I don't think so. He's probably upset about this morning." I tell Luca with a look to Jett who's asleep in the back seat. He looks so small. A reminder that as big as his personality may be, he's still a baby in all of this.

"So why is he standing on your doorstep?" Luca snarls.

I turn around. "Jett. Wake up, kiddo. We're home."

Luca bristles, taking a deep breath, and opening the car door to get out. "You two, stay here. I'll get rid of him."

"I can't believe it's you again." Duke growls, walking toward us. "Why won't you leave my family alone?"

"Luca, get back in the car. Let me call the police to get him out of here." I call out to him, but Luca doesn't back down.

Duke is unstable. He doesn't actually care about me or Jett. He wants us miserable, with me desperately clinging onto hope he'll be a better father and human toward us.

"I'm pretty sure signing away the rights to your child announces to the world you no longer consider them family," Luca fires back at Duke.

"I'm trying to save my family. You need to leave and take your stupid car with you," Duke hisses back at Luca.

"This is exhausting," I murmur. Jett's eyes are glued to the interaction unfolding as the sun sets on this absurd day. The sky's a vibrant pink and orange, making me wish I were on a beach somewhere in a bathing suit, enjoying the peace and solitude. Instead, I'm in another standoff with Duke.

"You're not trying to save your family," I tell Duke, my tone low and weary. "You're mad someone else is paying attention to us. You can't have it both ways, Duke. You said you didn't want to be a father to Jett. You said you were leaving for Arizona. Go. I'm not stopping you and I don't care anymore. Jett, let's go inside. I'm sure you have homework and I need to get dinner together."

Luca's eyes are glued to Duke, but Jett getting out of the car has Luca's focus shifting between all of us. Luca walks back toward Jett, but I move to the front door. I don't want to be close to Duke, but I'm ready for this day to end.

"Get out of the way, Duke. Go home. No one wants you here. Hell, you don't even want to be here," I tell him, unlocking the door, but his hand on my shoulder stops me from going inside.

"Now wait a minute, Jo. I was hasty this morning. I didn't know that this guy was footing the bill?—"

I cut Duke off. "You're driving me crazy. Why are you only interested in your family when someone else picks us to be a part of theirs? Leave us alone. I gave you what you wanted and that's still not enough. Now, get your hands off me."

I shrug out of his grasp when Jett walks into the house and Luca approaches with anger radiating from his eyes.

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