Page 30 of The Air You Breathe

“Do you need anything?” I asked, feeling helpless.

“A doctor?” Cal sounded defeated.

“You know—”

“It was supposed to be a joke, I know. No doctors,” he said, rubbing his face and flinching.

“Just let us know when we can leave,” Aiden grumbled.

“I’ll come back and check on you guys in a bit,” I said, following Giovanni out of the room. Once we were in the hall, I felt a little panicked.

“I’m going to make sure those men have left and see if anyone around heard anything about who they were.” Giovanni said, pulling out his phone. His shoulders sagged in relief. “The guys just reported that everyone is ok.”

“Fuck, at least one thing is—” Panic silenced me.

Darcy.

“Where the hell is Dev? I need him to go check on Darcy just in case.”

“I had him keeping a watch on the building,” Giovanni started to say something else, but blood was rushing to my ears as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

Please check on Darcy.I texted Dev.

Right now?He responded.

Wait an hour and then go to her please. Giovanni has people watching my family, but I just want to make sure she is safe.I typed out.

Ok, I’ll go check on her.He sent back.

I leaned against the wall a little relieved. I couldn’t do this anymore. Giovanni's eyes were on me for a moment before he started talking.

“I feel the same. I can’t put my family in danger anymore.”

I looked up to see a man who was just as exhausted as me. We both had families and loved ones we had to keep safe. If I was Giovanni, I think the moment I had a kid I would have left but I knew it was hard to leave the grasp of Lucio.

“Let's figure out how to stop him and put an end to all this bullshit,” I said, feeling a resolve I had never felt before. “We have to make sure we get to see tomorrow with our families.”

13

DARCY

Mary is way too chipper most mornings. She is happy talking about the latest gossip about one of her friends and their daughter who is seeing an older man. Mary is all for the relationship, saying she is an adult, but her friend is mortified. I agree with her, if it isn’t hurting anyone, people need to mind their own damn business, whether you're their mom or not.

As we drove through the neighborhood, I noticed a suspicious looking black sedan in front of Evan’s mom’s house. When we passed the car, I noticed two men inside, but I couldn't get a good enough look to see who they were. I looked in my rearview mirror, wondering what the hell was going on. Was Evan being surveilled by the police?

Unease prickled at my mind that he could be in danger even if it was his own fault. I thought about what that would mean for his sister and mom, if he ended up going to jail. My heart broke at the possibility that all this time he was just trying to help his family, only for him to end up having to do jail time. I didn’t think he wouldn’t regret doing what he did because his sister was still here.

As I was about to turn towards the coffee shop, I noticed a car right in front of the coffee shop. I passed it and saw Dev in the car, we locked eyes briefly and he nodded at me. I returned the nod wondering what the hell he was doing here at five in the morning.

Parking in our usual spot, we opened the back door, heading inside to get ready for our six am opening. I turned on all the lights, putting my stuff away before I headed to the front to put down the chairs in the small dining area. I glanced out the door seeing Dev’s car still there, which confused me even more.

Still feeling uneasy about the black car in front of Evan’s moms house and seeing Dev, I put my headphones on and turned on an audiobook by Whitney West. I lost myself in the book, making the hour go by quickly. Once the first people start to trickle in, I completely forget about what I saw in the morning.

Jeremy came in, professing his undying love for me, asking me out for the hundredth time. I shut him down again, but I can’t lie and say him asking me out is not a serious ego boost. He was blowing me kisses when Dev walked in. Dev looked from Jeremy to me a couple of times and on the last time Jeremy caught his gaze, instantly clamming up. He headed out quickly, leaving me to raise my eyebrows at Dev.

“Does that kid ever give up?” he asked, walking towards me. Today he wasn’t wearing coveralls but simple jeans and a black shirt with a baseball cap. It was nothing fancy, but he lookedgood.

“Nope. Jeremy insists that I will say yes one day,” I grinned.

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