Page 35 of Ruthless Passion

"This is MY family!" Duke stammers, grabbing his mouth and holding up a hand to tell Luca to back down.

"Wrong," Luca replies, coming to me where Jett's shaking with anger in my arms. "As long as I'm around, Jett and Josephine are under my protection. If you come near them again, you're going to regret it, Duke."

"No, you're the one who's going to regret this. Just watch." Duke snarls with finality as he gets into his car to drive off.

Luca kneels down to look at me and Jett. "Are you two okay?"

"I'm okay," I mumble, but Jett is still red with anger.

"It's not fair. I can't—" Jett stammers and trips over his words. "I hate him. You keep letting him come around and do this bad stuff to you."

That throws me for a loop and my heart breaks as Jett storms off back inside the house.

14

LUCA

The light bruising around Josephine's upper arm shows a very distinct thumbprint. Anger surges through me, but even more, regret. I should have never left them alone.

"Thanks again, Luca." Josephine says it, but there's something different in her voice. There isn't any gratitude as every syllable is exploding with contempt.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong, here?" I ask her. Anxiety ricochets around my body as I wonder what I could have possibly done differently.

"No, you're perfect and I'm the fuck up. I need to get Jett. We're going to be late." Jo walks toward the house when she stops, eyeing me from over her shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong, Luca. I did. I should have never brought you around Duke. He'd be in Arizona by now if he didn't know who you were."

"What do you mean 'if he didn't know who you were'?" I'm uncertain if she means my ties to Don Marzano, or my position as CEO and owner of Luca Brisco Studios.

"He's only popping up now and being a nuisance because he thinks I'm going to be famous. He's a parasite, looking to use his position as Jett's father to suck whatever else he can out of me."

"I thought he filed those documents to sever the relationship?"

She raises her shoulders up and down. Defeat ripples across the soft features of her beautiful face. "They have forty-five days to finalize it and I think he's going to find a way to un-file them. I wish he had never seen us together."

Her breath hitches as she swallows the tears she's holding back. "Jett's right."

I rush to her, holding her as she lets the dam of emotions break. "He's a kid and has no idea how truly dangerous Duke is. You don't let a guy like that do anything. It's clear he's used to taking what he wants. But now that I'm around, I can help. Let me help, Jo."

She cries softly into my chest. I scoop her delicate frame into my arms to carry her inside, hoping too many people aren't watching this catastrophe unfold.

Inside the house, I don't see Jett as I lower Josephine onto the sofa. Sitting with her until she composes herself and stares back at me with red rimming those gorgeous brown eyes. I swipe my thumb across her cheek.

"I want to file a restraining order," Jo says after a moment. "You and Jett are both right. I can't stop Duke from being the chaotic asshole he is, but I can at least have something in place to try and keep him away from us."

"I might be able to help with that," I tell her, reaching for my phone. Her eyes fill with hope as I pull up a few files from my email. "The spot where you parked yesterday happens to be near the parking garage entrance to Nuvola. My friend owns that company and his security team sent me this footage."

"Is that Duke? Why isn't anyone stopping him?" She pushes the phone away to stop looking at the father of her kid ram steel rods through her tires.

"If you see someone the size of that guy hauling rebar and taking it out on a car, the last thing anyone wants to do is stand in his way. The audio isn't great, but it's something."

"What can we do with this? Can the police arrest him?"

"Maybe, if it's even worth it to them. He'll probably get a fine, a night in jail or two. I came back because Julian sent this to me and I wanted to ask your neighbors for the doorbell camera footage. If I can get Duke vandalizing my car, the police can tack that on to the charges. Assault on you and Jett? Monique?"

"Technically, Monique assaulted him because he was being an ass. I don't think it would go any further than the police advising us to stay away from each other. I should go check on Jett."

As soon as the words leave her lips, we hear several large thuds coming from upstairs.

"What now?" She huffs, taking the stairs two at a time. Instinct pushes me to my feet to follow her up the stairs.

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