Page 28 of His Win (His Obsession 3)

He sounded strange, like his tonsils were too large for his throat. "Daddy, what's happened? Are you okay?"

When he finally responded, he could barely get the words out. "Your mom and I...we're at the hospital...some men broke into our house last night. I tried to fight them...to keep them off her..." His voice trailed off, and I heard him fighting not to break down. "Your mother...they...oh, god..."

I stood up from my seat and started making my way off the bus against the flow of loading passengers. "I'm coming," I told him. "I'm coming! Where are you? Dad! Where are you?"

He gave me the name of the hospital and I hung up after assuring him I'd be there as soon as I could. Then I got my suitcase back and ran toward the station.

Sammy must've seen me coming and met me outside, grabbing me by the shoulders to stop me from running right past her. "Veda! What are you doing?"

"He went after my parents," I told her. "I have to get to the hospital."

Even though there were a million questions in her eyes, she didn't ask them. Instead, she pulled out her car keys and led the way back to her car.

"Can you drive any faster?" I asked her when we were on the highway.

"Why would he do that? Why would he go after your parents?"

I knew she was talking about Luca. "It wasn't L...him. It was his brother. The one who was engaged to Nicole." I paused, my throat closing up. "This is my fault, Sammy. Because I didn't do what he wanted me to do."

She reached over and took my hand. "This isn't your fault. And do you know that for sure? That it was him?"

"Who else would it be?"

"A random break-in?"

But I knew in my bones there was nothing random about this. Mario had done this to get my attention. He couldn't get to Luca, or me, for that matter, since he thought I was still there, so he went after my parents. And I was stupid to think that I could keep them safe by leaving first. That he would forget about his threats to me.

And then I thought of something else. What if he was waiting for me at the hospital? What if this was all a trap? A way to get to me?

Digging around for my phone, I found it in my back pocket. With shaking hands, I punched in Enzo's number.

"Who are you calling?" Sammy asked.

"The only ones who are capable of dealing with this."

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