Page 21 of Hot Blooded

“So, what’s the deal?”

“The senator caught my father in bed with his fifteen-year-old daughter.”

It took a lot to get a reaction out of Vinnie, but his eyes went wide. “Fuck.”

“If my father doesn’t keep up his ‘donations’ that information and the video the senator took gets turned over to the authorities.”

“That sick fuck took a video of his own daughter instead of stopping Giacomo?”

Elio nodded.

“And the daughter? I assume she has no say in it?”

“She’s not been seen since the incident. Rumors spread that she ran away, but I don’t think that’s what happened. I think her father sent her some place where she won’t be able to talk and ruin his blackmail scheme.”

“Gross,” I said. “Vinnie, we?—”

He nodded. “I’m on it. I’ve got some contacts. If she’s alive, we’ll find her.”

“And do what?” Elio asked.

“We don’t hurt innocent young women,” Vinnie answered.

Elio looked at me, and I nodded. “Okay. That’s the secret I found. It’s enough to get him off my back.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“If not, I will go public with it,” Elio said. “I think he’ll know that.”

“We’ll handle him,” Vinnie said.

“I need to handle it. He needs to know I brought this to your attention.”

Vinnie raised his brows. “How well has it worked in the past when you’ve tried to negotiate with him?”

“I can do this.”

“But you don’t have to,” I said. “We’re here for you now.”

Vinnie nodded. “This is big. I’m going to bring the Marchesis in. You two are going to sit tight at Tony’s house and wait for further instructions.”

“No, I need to be part of this.”

“Look at me.” When Elio did, I continued. “Do you really? Does it matter as long as you’re free? As long as we’re together?”

10

ELIO

Did it matter? I clearly saw care and concern in Tony’s eyes. Relief filled me. He cared about me, he’d brought me to the one safe haven he knew, and now his family was behind me. They might be criminals, but I could already tell they were nothing like my father. “No, it doesn’t matter. Not at all.”

Now I just had to trust Vinnie and the Marchesis to take care of my father.

A woman stopped by to stitch up Tony’s arm. I hoped she was actually a licensed medical professional, but I didn’t ask questions. I just held Tony’s hand while she did her work.

We tried to sleep, but neither of us had much success. Tony’s window units couldn’t keep up with the heat. Between that and my nerves, I didn’t want to eat breakfast despite being hungry. I was tired and stressed, and I kept snapping at Tony for being gruff and demanding. We paced the apartment, on edge, as we waited for any word from Vinnie.

Just after dark, the doorbell rang, making us both jump.

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