Page 30 of Worth the Risk

Silence.

“Uhh, coach?” I ask.

I hear a loud exhale.

“I’m on my way.”

“I don’t think she wants you here, she just wanted you to know because she’d be late for work … coach? Are you there?” I pull my phone away from my ear to see he’s already ended the call. Great.

Hannah is walking toward me with one of the security guards.

“Did you call my uncle?”

“Yeah, he said he’s on his way.”

Her eyes widen dramatically.

“I didn’t mean he needed to come here!” she shouts.

“I know, and I tried to tell him that, but he hung up on me,” I explain. She rubs her forehead and temples as her eyes close in frustration.

The security guard circles the car and takes a few pictures.

“Ms. Beauregard, we have to call the police and have them involved. You’ll need to file a report,” the guard explains. Hannah sighs and I hear a tremble in her throat. Before I can think twice, I reach over and grab her tightly, resting my head on hers.

“This sucks,” she whimpers. I nod my head in agreement.

“Do you think this was random? It had to have been another tenant, right?” I ask the guard. He gives me a subtle shake of his head.

“The thing is, we’ve been training a new guy, and we think he’s been letting some people have access to the building when they shouldn’t, so … well, there’s no real guess on who might have done it,” the guard says sheepishly as he scratches his neck. I glare at him.

“I want his name,” I growl. Hannah tenses in my arms and pulls away from me. I look down at her. “The owners of this building tout it being one of the safest in downtown Denver. If they’re gonna hire people who don’t take the job seriously, they need to be held accountable.”

I hear footsteps running down the lobby hallway and release Hannah from my arms right as her uncle barrels into the garage. He stops dead in his tracks when he looks at me. His eyes narrow as he approaches Hannah and takes her in his arms, his eyes still on me.

Fuck.

“What are you still doing here, Santo?” he mutters, malice evident in his tone.

“Just wanted to make sure she was okay, Coach,” I mumble.

“You okay, pot pie?” he says quietly to Hannah. Pot pie? He calls her pot pie? Jesus he can’t be more than six or eight years older than her. They’re more like cousins.

“I’m okay. I’m so glad Luca was still here when I saw the car,” she says, looking over at me and giving me a cautious smile. Coach is still staring me down.

“You call him Luca?” Coach says to Hannah.

“Well, yeah, that’s how he introduced himself to me,” she stammers.

“I only use Luke in hockey, Coach. To everyone else, I’m Luca,” I tell him honestly. Seriously, if he’s mad about the name she uses for me, there’s no fucking chance we can ever be together.

Coach glares at me some more.

“Well, now that you’re here, I’ll be on my way,” I say, as I turn and begin walking back to my car.

“Luca, wait!”

I turn around and see Hannah running over to me.

---