Page 61 of The Air You Breathe

“Dev, you need to stay here.” Evan shook his head as he glanced at his phone again.

“No, I need to go with you,” I snapped back at him. “We need to find out who the hell did this. Wait, was it fucking Geraldo? I swear to God if that motherfucker did this—”

“It wasn’t him,” Evan said quickly, shaking his head.

“Who was it then?” I asked, as Evan’s phone rang.

“Look, I have to go,” Evan looked outside. “Please just stay here until I get back. I need to figure out what we are going to do and what happens next.”

“Who did it, Evan?” I snarled, feeling my patience, my anger and emotion threatening to make a big scene.

“Dev,” Evan said, looking like he was in pain.

“He deserves to know,” Darcy said, as she tightened her grip on my arm.

Evan glanced at her, swallowing roughly like he didn’t want to tell me who it was. They shared a look that made Evan’s shoulder drop while he ran a hand through his hair.

“Saul is pretty sure it was Lucio,” he whispered.

My blood turned cold, my vision tunneled, and I felt like I was going to pass out. My piece of shit father shot him? Giovanni was Lucio’s pride and joy, it didn’t make sense. What the hell happened?

“Please stay here,” Evan said. “I need you guys safe while I find out what the hell made Lucio go off the deep end.”

“Evan, don’t lie to me,” I said, through gritted teeth. “Do you know why you got jumped and why my brother was killed the same night?”

We stared at each other, and I knew he knew why.

“I have an idea, but I need to find out if I’m right, because if it's what I think it is, then no one is safe. When I come back, I will tell you everything, but I have to go now,” he said looking at his phone again.

“No, you stay here and tell me what the fuck—”

“No,” Evan said with authority. “Let me figure shit out and I will tell you everything I promise. Stay here while I figure out our next moves and I will go see Vittoria.”

He didn’t give me a chance to say anything, strolling out of the house quickly as I saw him get into a car. I was losing control quickly, my breathing was getting shallower, my vision fuzzy and I needed to get out. Darcy was rubbing her hand in circles on my back when I pulled away and walked out the front door. She said something as I walked away, but I needed to get away from her before I did something to hurt her.

I left the cabin and walked down the patio steps, making my way to the trees on the side of the house. When I was far away from the house, I started to hit the tree. Once my hands started to hurt, I fell on my knees and yelled. That fucking bastard took away the one person who had always fought for me.

Giovanni saved me from a life I knew I was barreling towards before he told me to get my shit together. He gave me a purpose, made me the man I am today, and I never even told him thank you. I yelled again when my emotions were bubbling up, thinking about Vittoria and my niece.

Tears fell down my cheeks thinking about her growing up fatherless. Then I thought of Ava and how much she loved Giovanni. My heart broke all over again when I realized I would have to tell her he was taken from us.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I yelled so loud my voice broke.

The sound of a twig breaking brought my attention to my left, but I didn’t see anyone or anything. I panicked when I remembered I had left Darcy alone and anyone could come up to the house without my knowledge because I didn’t have my phone on me.

Picking myself up, I rushed back to the house to see Darcy on the steps of the porch hugging her legs. She had tears running down her cheeks and I hated that she was sad because of me. I walked up to her, hesitating.

“Please,” I choked out.

Darcy threw herself at me as I felt tears falling down my face again.

“I’m so sorry, Dev,” she cried into my neck.

I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything. We hugged for a few minutes, calming down enough, as I realized I had to go tell Ava.

“Let's get our shoes on, I need to go tell Ava in person before she hears it from someone else.” I pulled away, wiping the tears from her cheeks gently. “We can get you some clothes too.”

She nodded her head and leaned up to kiss me softly on my lips. I ushered her up the steps, dreading what I had to do and hating that my sister would have to go through this. This was the last time that man would ever hurt Ava and I was going to make sure it never happened again.

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