Page 34 of The Air You Breathe

I was waiting for Evan to say something but he remained silent.

“Evan, we can’t be rash,” Giovanni said, with a hint of panic in his voice.

“If he does anything to anyone, I swear Giovanni, I’ll take him north to Rupert’s and leave him there bound, but conscious,” Evan said, so calmly that it freaked me out a little. Rupert had a pig farm and if he was saying what I think he was saying then I’d help him. One less psycho in the world.

“If he does anything, I’ll drive you there,” Giovanni said, with so much conviction in his voice. “But we have to be careful, you know Lucio is fond of that sick fuck and we don’t need him getting suspicious of us.”

“I agree, let's play it smart,” I said, hoping we could keep everyone safe.

“Dev, can you help keep an eye on Darcy, since you're so close to her?” Evan asked. He was probably trying to think how he could be everywhere at the same time.

“Yeah, of course,” I said immediately. Darcy was getting under my skin, but her safety was my priority too. “If I can, I’ll see if I can make sure I check on Vittoria and your ma too Evan.”

“I think I might be able to sacrifice a few guys to keep at our homes when we are not there,” Giovanni said, as I heard my niece yell close to him.

“Tell the piccolina I love her,” I said, thinking I needed to see them again soon. “I’ll take Ava over too, so they can visit. It will be easier to keep everyone safe if they are all together.”

“Let's just move everyone together,” Evan sighed. “Make our jobs easier.”

“Yeah, and how are we going to explain to your mom and sister that the data engineer needs to keep them safe,” I chuckled, still in disbelief that he had kept this life from his family for so long.

Evan laughed. “My ma would be so heartbroken if she found out what I was doing with my life.”

“Papa!” My niece screamed her head off.

“Well, let's hope she never has to find out. I have to go but let's just stay on alert until we can find more answers,” Giovanni said, with my niece still screaming in the background. “Bye.”

“I’ll see you later Evan,” I said, as I was about to hang up too.

“Dev,” he said, with a lot of emotion in his voice.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Please, keep her safe,” he said quickly. “Ineedher safe because if anything ever happened to her, I don’t think I could forgive myself. I left to keep her safe and it looks like that was a false sense of security I had been naive to believe.”

“I’ll watch over her the same way I watch my family,” I said, with assurance that didn’t take much to muster. He didn’t need to know that I would watch over her without him asking.

“Thank you. You and your brother are great friends.” He sighed again. “Let me know if you notice anything else.”

He hung up and I instantly felt guilty. Was I really a great friend if I was attracted to his girl? Fuck this was getting messy but at this point I didn’t care. I would do anything to keep her safe.

* * *

The next week was brutal.It was exhausting trying to keep tabs on everyone, making sure they were safe. Evan, Giovanni and I had been on constant alert for our loved ones, sometimes staying up really late to make sure things were okay.

It wasn’t uncommon for Evan and me to drive around to make sure our families were safe. It made me feel better when I knew Darcy was in her house locked inside.

I went in for coffee almost every morning now, getting that delicious crack she made for me and whatever pastry she picked for me that day. Both were addicting, now I knew why I would see the same people come in here every day. It was either to see Darcy, the coffee she made, or Mary’s pastries.

I didn’t get to go to the coffee shop this morning, Ava was running late and I told Evan I would pass by his house since his mom didn’t call him back. Before I headed to work, I passed by the coffee shop; I saw her inside which made me feel somewhat better. I wouldn’t feel completely better until I saw her up close and heard her voice. Giovanni hadn’t heard anything from his guys, which made us all very nervous. Either he hadn’t talked about it to anyone, or Lucio had told him to keep his mouth shut.

Once Jaime came back from lunch, I bolted to the coffee shop as nerves flooded my body. I knew she was probably safe but not going had messed everything up for me. I walked into the shop feeling the need to work out this excess energy I had been feeling. Hearing that familiar jingle of the bell instantly made me relax, but disappointment hit me when I noticed Mary was in front and not Darcy.

“Ah Dev! We missed you this morning.” Mary smiled at me as I walked up to her.

“Ava took her sweet time to get ready, like she didn’t have a care in the world.” I wanted to complain but I knew I would miss these mornings with my sister. She was destined for big things. She was way too smart for this small-town life.

“Ah… teenage girls will do that, I’m sure she had a good reason to take her time. Does she have a boyfriend?” she asked. I knew it was an innocent question but just thinking how shitty guys can be made me want to lock my sister up in a tower and tell her she needed to remain a virgin for the rest of her life.

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