Page 49 of The Prizes We Win
Because every time I think about what could be happening to Enzo I feel like I’m going to vomit.
I can’t stop because I just watched Joe kill her own father over the shit he’s done to her.
I can’t stop because every time I look at the people I love I see the sorrow in their eyes. The pain. The heartbreak.
Their hearts are breaking.
And so is mine.
“Alright,” Ronan says as he and Mac come back into the room. “Our guys are taking care of the body.”
My hands hover over the keyboard, and I look up at Joe who’s standing right next to me. “You good?”
“I just want to find him,” she whispers. Aka,I don’t care about anything else right now.
“I’ll find him.” Grabbing her hand, I kiss the back of it before refocusing my attention.
It takes me all of two minutes to pull up all of the information about Pavlova Pastries. “Looks like it’s owned by an Ivan Andreev,” I announce to everyone in the room, not bothering to pull my eyes away from the screen.
Finn quickly types the name into his computer next to me. “Ivan Andreev died two years ago.”
“Figures.” A couple more keystrokes and I find the name of his only living relative. “He has a daughter, age forty-two. Lives in New York and…” I pull up her most recent tax information. “Is employed at Pavlova Pastries. Her name is Katya.”
“Address?” Joe seethes.
“I just texted it to all your phones.”
“Ours too?” Ronan asks. Dante, Luca, and I all look at him in question. “We’re going and I don’t want to hear anything about it.”
Finn, Mac, and Ronan all then look over at Harper. She smiles softly and nods in understanding. “I’ll wait for you all here.” Her eyes stray to Joe who’s still standing next to me. “But I don’t think she will.”
“Vita Mia…” Luca sighs heavily.
“No,” she bites out. “I’m going. You let me go to the Novikov house. How is this any different?”
“We knew what to expect at that house, Love,” I remind her.
“Exactly. And look at how that turned out. Enzo could have just as easily been you,” Luca adds.
“I am not staying here while—”
“Josephine, the answer is no. We can’t risk you—”
“If that was me, would you risk it?” Her question causes all of us to pause. “Answer me.” She looks between the three of us. “If that was me would you risk it? Would you walk into the unknown to save me?”
Dante goes to her and holds her face in his hands. “I’d run into hell to save you, Mama. Over and over and over again.” She reaches up and runs her hand along his jaw. “Just as I would for him.”
“Then let me too,” she says softly. “Let me run with you.”
Dante pauses a moment before looking over at Luca and me. Against every one of my better instincts, and likely his too, we both nod. Looking back at her, Dante says, “Alright. But the same rules apply. If it gets too intense you go back and stay with—”
“Uh uh,” I blurt out. “I’m not staying in the van.”
“Goddammit,” Luca groans. “Can the two of you just please—”
“Luca.” My tone causes his eyes to immediately snap to mine. “I said I’m not staying in the fucking van.”
The two of us stare at one another, and I can tell just by the way his chest is heaving that he wants to reach out and punch me in the fucking face.
