Page 72 of His Obsession
“No.Get to Val’s house now.”
“What happened?”
“Gia was attacked. Val is gone.”
There’s a sharp sound on the other end, like he knocked something over getting up. “I’m coming.”
He hangs up first. I turn toward my man at the curb.
“Pull the doorbell footage. Front, side, street if she has it stored. I want it on my phone in two minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” A police officer steps in front of me before I can move toward the house.
“This is an active scene,” he says. “We can’t have you contaminating evidence.”
I look down at him.
“Call your boss and tell him Sebastian DeLuca is asking questions. He’ll tell you exactly what I can and can’t do.”
His jaw tightens. “We’ll need a statement.”
“You’ll get one from her when I bring her home.”
I walk around him before he decides whether to be stupid about it.
Inside, Val’s house looks normal. A lamp glows in the living room. Her purse sits on the kitchen island. Her phone is on the floor near the entry, screen cracked. I pick it up with my handkerchief because the officer wasn’t completely wrong about evidence, even if he is currently useless to me.
One of my men comes through the door behind me. “Footage is uploading now.”
“Send it to Matteo too.”
“Already did.”
Good. At least one person is thinking.
I step back onto the porch as Nico’s SUV comes in too fast and stops half on the curb. He’s out before the car settles, eyes sweeping from the police cruiser to the ambulance to Gia.
He goes to Gia first.
“Nico,” she says, and the shift in her voice makes me notice something I don’t have time to think about.
He crouches in front of her, taking her hand carefully. “You okay?”
“I will be.”
He lets out one hard breath. “That’s good.”
“I lost her,” she whispers.
“No,” he says immediately. “You didn’t. This wasn’t your fault.”
Her face crumples again. He touches her cheek with two fingers, careful of the bruise, then stands and turns to me.
All the softness drains out of him. “Tell me.”
“Adrian took her.”
“Where?”
