After a long, crazy day, I’ve just changed into one of Dante’s tees when there’s a rapid knock on the door.
“I’ll get it,” he says from the bathroom where he’s still changing.
“It’s fine. Everything is covered,” I say, just before I hear the beep of the safe opening, followed by his shout of various swears.
“What’s wrong?” I ask going to him because whoever is at the door can wait. He’s patting his hand around inside the wall safe frantically.
“Son of a motherfucking bitch!”
“What is it, Dante?” I demand when he continues to ignore me and there’s more banging on the bedroom door. One problem at a time.
“All my goddamn cash is gone,” he says. “And my other Glock with the clips and bullets!”
I see my gun lying on a shelf, which is a relief. At least for me.
Turning to face me finally, Dante’s eyes are the cold blue I hate when he says, “Did you do this? Is this some kind of joke?”
I huff out a laugh. The sound slowly fades away before I realize he’s serious. “You’re accusing me of robbing you? Seriously? How stupid would I have to be to rob you and keep sleeping beside you, Dante?”
“You and I were in here all day. No cleaners came and went today.”
“It wasn’t me.” When Dante doesn’t respond, I remind him, “I don’t know your damn code, genius!”
The silence between us stretches as he considers my response until it’s interrupted by more pounding on the door.
“God-fucking-dammit,” he growls before slipping past me to go answer the door in just his boxer briefs.
“What?” I hear him snap at whoever is on the other side as I return to the bedroom.
“Mr. Salvato, I’m…I don’t know how to tell you this. I’m so sorry…” a man’s deep voice trails off.
“What the fuck is going on?” Dante demands. “Spit it out!” When they still won’t speak, he asks, “Is this about who fucking robbed me today?”
Ah, it must have been a guard. Or Eli. Right? Who else could’ve snuck into our room while we were having dinner?
“Rob…robbed you?” a second man asks, his voice higher pitched.
“My safe was emptied out today. Are you telling me you two are responsible?”
“No. No, sir. That’s not…I didn’t…we didn’t rob you,” I hear one respond. “We were downstairs in the kitchen with Madison.”
“Madison? What about her?” Dante asks, keeping a white-knuckled grip on the door.
“She left.”
“Left?” he roars. “What do you mean she left?”
“She slipped out the back door to the kitchen. By the time we noticed she was gone…there was no sign of her.”
There’s a long, drawn-out moment of silence before Dante erupts. “What the fuck are you doing up here? Go find her!” he shouts at them before slamming the door in their faces.
“We’ll find her,” I assure him. “I’ll-I’ll get dressed and go downstairs with you to search,” I tell him when he goes to the dresser, jerking open a drawer to pull clothes out.
“No,” he says while shoving his legs into jogging pants, then slips a tee over his head. “You go talk to Cass and Sophie, see if they know anything about this, where Madison may be going.”
“Okay,” I agree.
Spinning in a circle, he mutters, “I need my phone. Where the fuck is my phone?”
I glance around searching for it, but don’t see it either. “Is it in the closet where you were changing?”
“Fuck,” he says before he jogs through the bathroom to go look. He comes out with it in his hand before I’ve had a chance to move. “It was Madison,” he says when he stops in front of me, his face losing all of its color.
“What…”
“She raided the safe. She took the cash, the gun…I should’ve known. The code was her birthday.”
“Oh, wow. I’m so sorry,” I tell him softly. He doesn’t seem to hear the words as his mind keeps churning everything over.
“Why would she need a gun, Vanessa?”
“I-I don’t know,” I say. But I do know. He does too. If she’s on her own, she’ll need it for protection.
“She wouldn’t hurt herself.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” I agree when his mind goes to that dark place. “She wouldn’t need the money if…that’s not why she took the gun.”
“Madison planned this out, leaving, running. Did she…did she say anything to you? Is this why she wanted to work down in the kitchen? I never should’ve let her…Wait,” he says, turning to me with his brow furrowed. “Why the fuck don’t you look more surprised?”
“What?” I mutter as I lower myself into the edge of the bed, feeling a huge argument coming on, one that blows the earlier one out of the water.
“Vanessa, did Madison say something to you?” Dante demands as he kneels in front of me to stare me in the face.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?” he repeats. “What the fuck did she say?”
“We were just talking the other day, and she mentioned wanting to go to college, that you wouldn’t let her.”
“So? I told her she can take whatever classes she wants online.”
“I know, but she wanted to leave, to live on campus like a normal kid.” Chewing on my thumbnail, I deliver the worst part. “And I, um, I may have mentioned that using a different name to hide who she was, might help keep her safe.”
“You did what?” he growls, his blue eyes turning furious.
“I told her it would only work with your help, that legitimate looking documents like that are expensive. Not to mention the SAT scores and transcripts. I didn’t think she would try to do it on her own!”
“And how the fuck would you know about those things, Vanessa?”
“Because…because I tried using cheap fake IDs for stupid shit like buying beer and cigarettes when I was young and rebellious. They didn’t fool anyone,” I explain in a rush. “Look, Dante, I’m sorry Madison left without telling you but leaving was her decision. It’s what she wanted…”
Straightening to his full height, Dante towers over me and erupts. “You should’ve minded your own goddamn business! If anything happens to her…” He spears his fingers through the front of his hair and turns away from me with a growl. “Is this why you’ve been showing her how to cook and shit, so, she could sneak off and try to make it on her own? Because she can’t!”
“Yes, she can,” I argue when I get to my feet. “You may not want her to be out in the world alone, but she will be okay, Dante.”
“Shut up. Just shut the fuck up!” he bellows as he heads for the door. “Stay away from my daughters, and stay the hell away from me.”
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