As Nero took a step back, she was able to open the door. Elle held the doorknob in her shaky hand, taking one last look at Nero. Then she pulled the door closed.
Elle finished going down the hall, barely able to hold her own weight. When she got to the foyer, she saw Amo and Vincent nervously waiting.
Elle tried to quickly wipe away her tears. “Vincent, can you give me a ride?”
“Sure, sweetheart.” Vincent walked to the front door and opened it for her.
Elle stopped at the small table beside the door that used to only hold flowers; now, it was filled with pictures in pretty frames of Nero’s whole family. She placed the box Nero had given her on the table and went out the front door.
* * *
Dante sat back in his oversized leather chair, frowning. I just saved her fucking life.
Dante understood why his family had become infatuated with her. Truthfully, he had known they would the moment he watched the tape of her running out from behind the garbage can.
I did her and Nero both a favor. Dante had learned his lesson years ago not to get involved with women besides fucking. He thought his son wouldn’t love a woman at least for a few more years, but he should have known Nero was a chip off the old block.
He heard the door knock for a split-second and watched Lucca and Sal enter.
“The girl said she passed him on the way to work. Heard him and another guy talking about how the boss gave him a job.”
The guy had come into his hotel, sketchy-looking as fuck. In this business, you just know when someone is up to no good. They were patting him down when he tried to pull out his piece. Thankfully, it had all happened by the alleyway door, and they had been successful in taking care of the problem. We thought.
Lucca crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “There’s only two families in this city.”
“Think they are trying to take back control?” Sal asked.
The Caruso and the Luciano family used to share the city before Dante’s time. Both families had an understanding, but over time, a war had broken out between the two; the Caruso’s had won, taking control of the city and giving the Luciano’s a small piece.
“Possibly. Let’s keep this between us for now. They don’t think we know anything, so we all need to keep this quiet and look into this ourselves. I don’t need a war on my fucking hands unless they ask for it.”
Lucca and Sal nodded in agreement.
Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been hearing whispers of a fucking mole.”
“What do we know?” Lucca asked.
“Not much. All I know is they’re doing it right this time. We’re not going to fucking suspect him for a while, years maybe.”
“All right, we’ll look into it.” Lucca nodded.
Dante decided to tell them what they had been wondering the moment they walked in the door. “We let the girl live; for now, anyway.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
February
Elle grabbed a lunch tray, thinking about how badly her eyes hurt. She hadn’t been able to stop crying until she walked through the school doors this morning. No matter how many times people had laughed at her and hit her, nothing had ever hurt worse than this.
She saw Nero everywhere; she couldn’t escape him. She was going to have to see him every day until she graduated, and that was what was always going to be the most painful. The constant reminder of how fucking stupid I was. Not to mention, it was only the first day since they had broken up. It was the second week of February, and Elle wasn’t set free until the second week of June.
Elle pulled the lunch money out of her pocket to hand to the lunch lady; she was prepared today. She brought all the money she had saved up for the month since Nero had paid some of her tuition payments. Today, she was going to pay them a month in advance. That way, she wouldn’t feel any pressure swinging back into working every night again.
Elle reached the lunch lady and handed her the cash. “1089.”
The lady handed back her cash. “You’re already paid up for the rest of the semester.”
What did she just say?
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t have to bring lunch money anymore. Next.”
Elle dropped her mouth and slowly walked away. She quickly shut it when she passed Nero’s new table. It was the same one they had sat at when they had broken up before.
She quickly took her seat at the table in the corner and so did Chloe.
Chloe leaned over the table. “When has your lunch account ever been positive?”
“Never.” Elle pushed the tray away. “I don’t even want to eat it, Chloe.” Not if he paid for it.
“No, that’s free food. You better eat it.” Chloe sighed. “Elle, are you ever going to tell me what happened?”
Elle shook her head, staring at her food. She felt too bad to be hungry anyway.
“Elle, tell me something. They were my friends, too, you know.”
Elle looked up at Chloe. She had been starting to really like them, and she had actually grown comfortable around them.
She’s right. “Remember how we caught him at Poison with another girl?”
Chloe nodded.
Elle sighed. “Well, this time I caught him in an even bigger lie. He played me the whole time, Chloe. They all did.”
She was thankful when Chloe decided to leave it at that. Chloe knew when Elle kept a secret, and especially from her, it had to be bad.
Through lunch, Elle forced herself not to look at their table no matter what. When they went to go throw their trays away, Elle put her hands in her pocket and felt the cash that had been meant for her lunch money. Wait.
Elle darted out of the lunchroom in a split-second.
Chloe was hardly able to catch up with her. “Elle, where are you going?”
“The office.”
Elle hurriedly made it to the office and threw open the door. She went straight to the front desk.