Page 25 of Depths of Desire
I swear I can smell the anxiety coming off her in waves. “I’ve been up for all of sixteen minutes, so no. I will reach out to them soon. Probably after dinner. If there was any news, they would contact me.”
As if I had summoned them, my cell went off in my pocket. I pull it out and glance at the Renzo’s name on screen. The fact that he was calling rather than reaching out telepathically was puzzling.Pick up. His voice resonated in my skull. And there it was. My brother nudged me again. I answered the call and his face appeared on the screen.
“What do you need?”
“Luna is with you,” he said bluntly.
Luca, that son of a bitch, blabbed. “Er…”
“Don’t bother to deny it. I know it’s true. Luca pulled the video footage from the ship. There’s a small clip of you, but it’s from a distance, so it could be anyone. But surprise, surprise…Luna is front and center and all over the place. Why didn’t you tell us she was with you?”
I gave a mental sigh. “Luna and I ran into each other on board the ship.”
“What was she doing on the ship?” another voice demanded.
“Hello, Mia. How are you?” I ask as I capture Luna’s gaze.
Her shoulders sag and she grabs her wine glass, taking another healthy swig. Mia’s face appears next to Renzo’s.
“I’m fine. How is Luna? Why was she on the ship? What’s going on?” Mia’s voice is icy. Worry is written in the lines between her eyebrows.
I prop the phone against the wine bottle so Renzo and Mia can see both of us.
“Hey, Mia,” Luna says. “I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing…you were on a ship that blew up. You could’ve been killed. What’s going on?”
“Uh, I just…” Luna’s voice faded out.
Her heart rate had ticked up when she’d heard me say Mia’s name, and now adrenaline is flooding her veins, making her smell all the sweeter to me. She was trying to come up with a plausible reason for her to be on the ship, but was failing miserably.
“Just what?” Mia demanded.
“She was leaving town,” I supplied, putting her out of her misery. There was no point lying about it now, not with the explosion. “Apparently, her father was driving her crazy, and she wanted to get away without him catching on.”
Mia swore but went silent. Then she said, “I’m sorry, Luna. You should’ve told me. I could have helped you. Going as a passenger on one of these freighters is never a good idea.”
“Yeah,” Luna said. “I figured that out in a bit of a hurry.” She played with the stem of her wine glass. “Does my father know?”
The anxiety flooding through her almost broke me. I clenched my fist on my thigh to keep from reaching for her hand. I hated that she was this upset, this afraid of her father. I thought we’d left that world behind in the nineteenth century. Early twentieth tops. But here we are in the twenty-first century, and she is still afraid of what her father may make her do. I grind my teeth. I would very much like to have a few moments alone with Luna’s father. He seems to need an education in these changing times.
“We didn’t tell him,” Renzo supplies, “but I’m guessing it won’t be long before he finds out. He has contacts in this world, as we do. Just because he’s retired doesn’t mean he isn’t in the know on things.”
Luna shakes her head. “He’s not.
Renzo frowns. “He’s not what?”
“Retired. My father still does business with”—a quick flash of fear crosses Luna’s face—“people,” she finishes quietly.
“Jesus Christ,” Renzo growls. “What the hell is it with your fathers?” He glances at Mia. “All of them have become pains in my ass. What deals is he doing and who is he doing them with?”
Luna opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. “I…”
“Maybe it’s better you find out for yourself,” I interject. Luna obviously didn’t want to talk about it, and I didn’t blame her. Renzo could be intimidating when he was angry, at least to a human.
“I need to know?—"
“Luna.” Mia cuts Renzo off. “We really do need to know what your father is involved in. There have been some…issues of late, and if he’s causing them, it will be very—problematic.”
