Page 54 of Ruthless Passion

The world moves around me in a haze as someone ushers me inside a car that drives me to my cliffside home in silence. When I get out, taking the elevator down to the bottom floor where my bedroom waits, Jo is waiting for me, too. My entire world is crumbling and I'm scared it's going to take her, too.

"Oh my god, Luca. You're bleeding!" She panics, rushing toward me with a frantic worry bursting from those gorgeous brown eyes.

"It's not my blood."

"Oh no. You went back to the hospital for Duke." She assumes, but no. I'm not going to waste any more time on him.

"I'm tired, Jo. Let me get out of this and I'll tell you—" My words drift away mid-sentence as I step out of my bloody clothes and head into my bathroom. I need to shower off this day and then I need to figure out how to avoid the blowback for what I just did. Vito threatened Jo, the woman I care about, who I'd move heaven and earth to protect. I couldn't protect my mother. I can protect Jo. She's here right now. I can save her.

23

JOSEPHINE

While Luca showers, the instinct to help him, to protect him, suddenly washes over me. I'll put everything on the line for the men in my life who need me. For once in the short time of knowing Luca, this is the time he needs me.

I pick up the trail of clothes and put them in a pile while I search through his home for somewhere or something to burn them. That's what you're supposed to do with bloody clothes, right? It's in all the movies. However, all I'm able to find are kitchen trash bags, so I scoop them inside and tie the bag shut. It doesn't take nearly as long to find cleaning supplies so I clean the trail of red smears off the floor from where he dragged his shirt on his way to the shower.

My heart races, pumping blood to every inch of my body as I kneel to make sure I get into every nook and cranny of the tiled floor until I'm certain it's clean. All the blood has to be gone.

"What are you doing?" Luca's voice is eerily calm as I scrub.

"Getting rid of evidence, apparently," I mutter with my focus on the floor.

Luca's in a towel when he crouches beside me. "You don't have to do that."

"I do."

"No," he touches my hand gently to stop me from working. "You don't. This is my mess. I'm supposed to be taking care of you."

"And you are. We need to burn those clothes. They shouldn't be in here?—"

"There's a barrel down by the beach. The path is too jagged and vertical if you're not used to it. It's the perfect spot to burn anything. I can do it in the morning."

I shake my head. "Saying you're going to do it in the morning is like seeing your gas tank on empty the night before. You park your car knowing you should go get it now, because in the morning, it's always hell trying to get it. Everything seems to slow you down or get in the way."

"I'll do it tonight, then. You should get some sleep, Jo."

There's a lethargic energy to his words, and all I want to do is hug him, hold him close and tell him everything is going to be alright. The way he squeezes my hand lets me know the floor is clean enough as he disappears into his closet, returning dressed in sweatpants, hiking boots and a dark, hooded sweatshirt that hangs over his face.

Luca has a black duffel bag in his hand as he grabs the trash bag of his soiled clothes to shove inside. He pulls a large industrial flashlight out, flicks it on and off and uses the carabiner to hook it onto something inside the sleeve of his shirt.

"I can't sleep, Luca. Let me come with you and make sure nothing else happens."

He runs a hand down his face. "Okay, grab one of my sweatshirts to at least hide your face, in case anyone crosses our path. The chances are slim, but it's better to be prepared."

Once I'm ready, I follow Luca out to his balcony where the glass wall looks like a solid piece until he reaches a portion of it closer to the bedrock of the cliff. After he reaches over the side to unlatch a lock, the panel swings open to a thin ladder that drops down onto the jagged path nearly thirty feet down.

I gasp, second guessing if I go with him, but I offered, I can't turn my back on Luca now. He needs me and after everything he's done to protect me, take care of me, spare me from a life with Duke, I won't turn back.

"Look at the rung in front of you, and not at the path ahead of you. Seeing how dangerous it is will stop you from finishing. If you're coming, let's go." Luca's tone has darkness brewing, giving me a glimpse into the side of the man who comes home with blood splattered all over his hands and shirt.

Luca loops the bag around his torso as he steps onto the ladder first, pausing to help me follow him. Once I'm on the thing, I gingerly make my way down until my feet are on solid rock. It's not flat and makes me lean against the cliffside wall to steady myself. Luca closes the glass railing panel, holding the flashlight steady and shows me how to scale the path until nearly thirty minutes later we're in the tall grass that opens onto a small beach.

There are two large boulders that look like they're waiting to roll into the ocean. The fresh air coming off the salt water is a scent wafting through San Francisco I take for granted. It's so in tune with the air we breathe, it makes me forget the rest of the country doesn't get this. The peace and tranquility of the waves crashing along the shore leading with the aroma of sea air and the coolness of the breeze is like a lullaby without any words, like a siren luring you into the deep.

The sound of Luca grunting breaks me out of my trance as I see him jerking a steel drum from behind a huge boulder that's about the size of my house. The size of this mountainside, its rocks, it's all daunting, especially knowing we have to climb back up.

"Did you speak to Monique?" Luca asks as he maneuvers the drum closer to the opening of the beach, away from the grass.

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