Page 49 of The Woman in the Garage

The stairs were slippery from the sea, and Dasha slipped on the last step, sending her falling into my arms.

It was practically a fucking movie moment.

And she was looking up at me with stars in her eyes.

Until my fucking phone started to ring in my pocket.

“Sorry,” I said when she stepped back.

“Don’t be,” she insisted, shaking her head as I reached for my phone.

I was expecting my mom, full of accusations and questions. Instead, it was Luca.

That was unexpected.

“Luca, can I—“

“Santo, get down to the docks,” he demanded, sounding like he, too, was rushing to get there.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Dunno yet. But I need you there as soon as possible.”

“Okay. Alright. I have—“ I started, but he’d already hung up.

“You need to be somewhere?” Dasha asked. I had to give her credit; she was trying really hard not to sound disappointed. But I was getting good at reading her.

“Unfortunately.”

“It’s okay! I can order a ride,” she said, already reaching for her phone.

“No,” I said.

“It’s fine! I used them all the time back in my old town.”

“Dasha, no,” I said, walking us toward my car. “You’re on my way,” I added, mostly telling the truth.

I knew they’d come a long way since their inception, but I still didn’t feel like rideshares were safe. We kind of forbade the girls in our family from using them. Which went over about as well as you can imagine. Smush used to use them just to spite us, despite having her own car.

We made our way back to her place, and the whole way there, I noticed her tension growing. I wanted to ask why. I wanted to park and go inside with her. I wanted to suffocate betweenher thighs, to settle deep inside her. Then I wanted to make her brownies in bed.

But there was no time for any of that.

“Thanks for dinner,” Dasha said, giving me a smile that didn’t meet her eyes as she fished for her keys.

“Anytime, sweetheart. I’ll wait until you get inside,” I said, knowing I was only a few minutes away from the docks. And I could speed there after this.

With that, Dasha climbed out.

By the time she stepped inside, her shoulders were damn near by her ears.

But she went inside.

The lights through the whole house flicked on.

And I couldn’t sit there idling for another second.

Sighing, I floored it the rest of the way to the docks, finding several cars and SUVs parked haphazardly in the lot where the other Family members had already pulled up and run off to… whatever possible danger there was.

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