Page 74 of In My Blood
“Who saw her last, and where?” Arran asked.
I kept my mouth shut, since I hadn’t seen her at all since the previous night, when she told me she didn’t want me there. I had felt bad all day for not seeking her out to talk things over, but I just didn’t feel up to it, and if I were really honest with myself, I was too scared of her telling me she hated me.
“I went up to her room this afternoon to collect the tray from lunch. She was sat on her bed, on her laptop. I told her she needed to be at dinner, and that I’d text her when it was ready. She didn’t really say anything to me though, other than a quick ‘thanks,’” Terza volunteered.
“Dante?” We all looked to Dante, who was tapping away on his phone.
“She left her room at 14.33. She was dressed up. I’ve got her going down to the gym, but then she disappears from the range of the cameras,” Dante explained.
“Can I see what she was wearing?” I asked. Dante turned his phone towards me with a still image of Gia emerging from her room. In it she was dressed in a short dress, strappy heals, and a long tailored coat. Her hair was pinned up in an elaborate style and her makeup was dark and heavy. There was no question she was dressed for a night out.
“She snuck out,” I surmised as I looked to Rafe. “She’s all dolled up. No way she did that to come and eat dinner, plus she has a coat on. She found a way to sneak out.”
“Fucking girl!” Rafe growled as he slammed his fist down on the table so hard the dishes all shook.
“I’ll talk to the guys out front, see if they saw anythin’ out of place this afternoon. Someone must a picked her up. She willnae aused public transport.” Arran stood as he spoke and started from the room.
“What if she took a cab? Do you have access to her accounts?” I asked.
“Yes. I’ll check them. Dante, see if you can find how she got out. This house was locked up tight. No way she slipped past all of our guys. One of them had to let her go,” Rafe ordered as he too stood and started out of the room. “Cal, can you and Cara try to access Gia’s laptop? Maybe she arranged to go to a party or something? I need to know who she’s been talking to today. We need to find her before Kozlov’s men do.”
“On it,” Cal nodded. He grabbed my hand and stood, pulling me along with him.
“What was she thinking? We were shot at yesterday! How can she not see how much danger she’s in out there alone?” I growled as we started jogging up the stairs, still hand in hand.
“Gia isn’t the most logical thinker, not when it comes to choosing between what she wants and what is right, anyway,” Cal told me, and I fully believed that. This was what I had meant when I told Cal I thought she needed a reality check. She seemed to have no awareness of how the real world worked, nor of how dangerous it could be. I just prayed she wasn’t going to get that reality check that night. I didn’t ever want her to face that kind of initiation into the dangers of this world.
CHAPTER 20
CARA
“I should come with you. It might be better if she needs to be dragged from a party, for me to do it,” I suggested as I stood near the front door of the house with Rafe and Dio.
We didn’t know much about where Gia was. She had snuck out that afternoon and someone in a dark hatchback had picked her up further down the street. Dante had been able to see that from one of the neighbours doorbell cameras, but the image was too poor quality for him to zoom in and get a license plate. Gia had not only turned off her cell phone, but left it in her room so she couldn’t be tracked.
The only thing we did know was what Cal and I gleaned from her messages sent via social media. There were three parties happening that night, all hosted by people from the fancy school Gia attended, and she had discussed going to each and every one of them with her friends.
So now Rafe, Dante, Arran, and Dio were splitting up to go to each party in search of her, along with some of their men to back each of them up should trouble arise.
“No. I know you’re worried, Cara. But please just stay here with Cal, for me. I need to know at least one of my sister’s is home andsafe. I’ll find Gia,” Rafe promised me, and he looked so stressed out, I couldn’t help but give in.
“Okay,” I nodded. “But do not go easy on her when you find her, Rafe. This is serious and she needs to understand how badly she fucked up by sneaking out. She’s putting all of you in danger right now with her selfishness.”
“I won’t. We can talk together about how she should be punished when I get her back home, alright?” He leaned in and kissed the top of my head, and I sighed and nodded. I didn’t want to be the hard-ass who walked back into Gia’s life from nowhere and started laying down the law, but it seemed like she needed some firmer guidance, and I wanted to give her that before she took a turn in life she couldn’t undo so easily.
“Stay with Cal, and ring us right away if you need anything,” Dio told me, and again I just nodded as I stepped back from Rafe, and instantly found Cal at my back. He didn’t move to hold me, but it felt good to have him close. I knew I was getting attached to him, but I didn’t want to stop. I liked him, a lot, and I felt calmer when he was near me. Not to mention he made me smile more than anyone else ever had.
“I’m leaving men around the perimeter of the house, Cal, and Don is outside the front door if you have any concerns at all. Don’t hesitate to ring us if you need to,” Rafe added.
“We’ll be fine,” Cal assured them both.
Dante and Arran both appeared from the kitchen, now wearing jackets that I was guessing concealed some kind of weapons. I doubted it would be guns, since none of the guys really seemed to have them on their person unless they were walking into danger. They were illegal, after all. But I guessed they had knifes,and who knew what else attached to them and hidden away. Dressed as they were, their faces set for battle, they looked lethal. While I knew that shouldn’t turn me on, it did.
“Behave,” Dante demanded as he pointed a finger right at me.
I just barked at him like I was a dog, then laughed out loud when he looked to me with utter confusion.
“Let’s go, lad, afore you get yerself in to any deeper shit wi’ the lassie,” Arran chuckled. He slapped Dante on the shoulder, then led the way from the house. Rafe and Dio followed them, then the door closed and the house was silent.
