Page 48 of Ruthless Passion

Luca's hand on my shoulder stops me. "Don't touch anything. Leave it all as is. Even though we're sure Collin didn't do this, that doesn't stop this from being a crime scene. Duke was found here. He probably fought here too. It's the most probable reason for this place looking like a tornado hit it."

"Collin, hurry up and grab whatever you wanted to get," I tell my brother.

Collin disappears into the house as I step over the debris of things my parents bought. This was, and technically still is, their home. How the hell am I going to tell them about this?

"I can't bring Jett home to this," I whisper as I make my way into the kitchen. The stains of blood on the floor make me turn away. One of the dining chairs is in pieces. "It wasn't much, but it was ours. Why was he here?"

"Does Duke ever do anything that makes sense to you?"

I run my hands down my face. He's been honest with me. It's only right that I'm honest with him. "I've never questioned Duke. I met him when I was fourteen and he was seventeen. He was a dick back then, but that's what I wanted. I wanted him because every other girl did, but out of all the girls, he wanted me."

Luca gives me the same silence I gave him to tell me about his mother.

I press on. "I guess, he never had to make sense because I thought he was the person I wanted. When it all went to shit with him, I finally saw the kind of vile human being he was. He convinced me, at fourteen, to be with him, only him, while he had to date other girls. I agreed and was too ashamed to tell anyone else about it."

"At least you have Jett out of this."

I laugh to myself. "I thought having Jett would make him want to be with only me. He told me from day one that if I ever got pregnant, I wasn't allowed to keep it. I should have believed him."

Luca pulls me into his arms. "No, he shouldn't have gotten a teenage girl pregnant. Fuck Duke. I don't care how he ended up here or that he's in the hospital. I'm going to make sure he never bothers you again."

20

LUCA

We arrive at the hospital and that feeling washes over me again. Dread.

"I hate being here," I mumble to myself. Jo silently holds my hand, a tenderness in her eyes as Collin walks in ahead of us. Unspoken grief settles over me as we stop at the reception desk, where a nurse pages Antonio for me.

It doesn't take long for him to join us, but I can sense the apprehension from Jo as she glares at him.

"You're the one who stood my friend up to extract a bullet, right?" she asks him. Her tone is accusatory, but the look on Antonio's face is one of shock.

"Uh, I'm sorry. What did I do?" he asks, the doctor's eyes darting between the three of us.

Jo huffs. "You scheduled a date with my friend Monique, and then gave her some lame excuse that you had to treat a bullet wound or something like that."

He closes his eyes, running his fingers through his hair with a soft chuckle. "That would be my colleague, Ronan. I warned him about dating patients, especially mine. If it makes you feel any better, he did have to make a house call."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jo says, smoothing a curl behind her ear. Collin looks at her shaking his head.

"Listen, Antonio," I interject, gesturing toward Collin. "We need a workup on his bruises, cuts, and defensive wounds. The report has to go to the police to show the damage wasn't done earlier tonight."

"I got it." Antonio nods and signals to a nurse to take Collin into an exam room. Jo goes with him while Antonio hangs around with something obviously on his mind.

"What's wrong?" I ask as soon as Jo and Collin are out of earshot.

"Bash is coming," he says in a low tone, his eyes looking around nervously.

"Is it just Bastian? Or are his brothers coming too?" I ask.

Antonio pinches the bridge of his nose. "They're all coming. Bash is my best friend, but when he's in charge, bodies drop. Ronan's already running around patching up guys Vito's putting holes in. There's some internal fight going on in his crew."

I nod. "That makes sense. Vito's shooting his own men. I saw him do it right in front of me. With Don Marzano in Sicily, it's only right he sends his cousins here to make sure the family holds onto their territory. Does Julian know?"

Antonio shrugs. "I have no idea. He's not enthusiastic about shouldering Armande's responsibilities, so he'll probably be happy to have someone more dedicated to the family come in and run things."

"Who would be enthusiastic about running a criminal empire when they have a multibillion-dollar corporation to maintain? Oh, and if possible, can you find out what room a Duke Everett is in? I'd like to have a private word with him."

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