Page 112 of Power & Punishment

“I’ll do what I can,” he shrugs, his gaze still trained on the screen. He moves his hands to the keyboard and starts typing something I can’t see. “What’s the name?”

“Adrian Moretti.”

Keith’s fingers freeze over the keyboard.

“Adrian Moretti? You’re joking.”

“You know him?” I ask.

“Not exactly a nobody. Besides, you should know him too. He works with your new boytoy.”

I ignore the dig even though I don’t love how irritated it makes me. “Right,” I say, unclenching my jaw. “It’s hard to explain, but something is off about him. We need to be careful.”

I want to say you need to be careful because I’m way past the point of no return. With a bright red target on my back, there’s no going back until all of this is over. That’s if there’s still a job for me to go back to.

“I’m aware,” Keith says, reaching forward and closing the lid of my laptop. “I’m going to ask one more time, Mia. Is all this worth it? I know he was your brother and I can’t imagine the kind of hell you’ve been through these last few weeks, but if you drop this and walk away now, you can go off the grid for a while and get your life back.”

Air deflates from my chest, mimicking the emptiness I’ve spent so long trying to ignore. But with everything that’s happened, I can’t—I won’t go back to the life I was living.

No matter how much I fight it, I want all the things that I fought so hard to forget. Something I’ll never get the chance to have with Vince, but I do with Dante and Alice—and my future nephew or niece.

And maybe even Leo…eventually.

“This is something I have to do, Keith,” I say, my voice small and tired.

Before Keith can respond, something bright catches my eye, pulling my attention to the street outside. At first, everything looks normal for a weekday afternoon, but right as I’m about to turn my head, I see it. A black Escalade.

I probably wouldn’t have looked twice if it wasn’t for Leo’s accident yesterday.

“We should go,” I say, starting to gather my things.

Keith follows my line of vision before turning back to me with his forehead creased. “Why? What did you see?”

“I can’t explain right now, but we need to be more careful,” I say, sliding my laptop into my bag and taking out a piece of scrap paper. “I had to get rid of my other phone, but here’s the number to the burner I’ve been using. Call me when you find something.”

Keith takes the paper blindly, with his eyes stuck to the side of my face, quietly analyzing.

I try to keep still. Pretend like I’m not on edge every second of every day. But it’s useless because the second my hand shakes even slightly, he sees through it.

“Is someone following you?” he asks, his voice low enough that I have to try and read his lips.

“Maybe. I’m not really sure,” I answer honestly. “It’s complicated, Keith. I don’t know who I can trust right now.”

I quickly sling my bag over my shoulder and rise from my seat. I turn toward the window to make sure I know where the vehicle is when I exit, but it’s gone.

Heat floods my body, and any sound happening around me is swallowed up by the ringing noise assaulting my eardrums. I need to get out of here.

Keith steps into my path before I can follow through.

“Don’t do anything until I look into this, okay?”

I respond with a weak laugh, but something tells me he doesn’t find it amusing. “I’m serious, Mia.”

I force out a puff of hot air and lower my chin. “Fine.”

I attempt to make a clean exit again, but he grabs my arm, pulling me back. “If you think you’re in danger, call me. You understand?”

Every emotion imaginable circles inside my brain trying to take hold, but I still manage a tight nod.