“Do you want to open it?” Ciro asked, bringing me back to the subject at hand.
I shook my head. “No.” And I didn’t. I was curious, but I didn’t want to be the one to open it. I had no idea what was in that box, but it was worth my life. That…implied power frightened me.
The only thing that secured the box was a small, regular snap lock. No combination lock. No intricate fingerprint lock. No secret latch to look for.
Nothing.
Just a simple lock you could find on any random teenager’s high school locker.
It seemed…insulting. Surely, if whatever was inside was worth a human being’s life, it should be locked more securely, right?
I glanced at Ciro. “It’s locked,” I pointed out.
He scoffed.
Then, I watched, mesmerized, as he pulled out what looked like a slim wallet. He opened it and took out a pen or something, and I sat there, staring, as he went to work on the lock. Within seconds, he had it open.
I was in awe, but then I quickly remembered who I was dealing with. I looked over at Frankie. “Does it get any easier?”
She let out a dark chuckle. “Nope,” she answered honestly.
Everyone crowded around as Ciro opened the lid. He painstakingly took each item out of the box and the box had been filled with more than I could have anticipated.
Holy. Shit.
Ciro pulled out several bands of money, three thumb drives, a small bag of a white substance, a gun, a brown leather ledger, a band of foreign currency, and a key taped to a scrap of paper with some writing on it.
The three men took turns examining the items as Ciro passed them around. “This is a safe deposit box key,” Luca commented. “The bank, code, and name that the box is under is written on the paper.”
“I’ll check out the thumb drives,” Phoenix stated.
“I’ll go through the ledger,” Ciro said.
My eyes danced between all three men. “What now?”
Ciro looked pained, and the jolt in my chest made me feel like he might really have meant what he said. “We need to get back to Morgan City and go through all this.” He glanced at his sister. “Plus, we need to get Frankie home.” He gave me a soft smile. “You might not be able to tell, but Nix and Luca are reaching their breaking point not having her safe at home.”
The back of my eyes started to sting with that comment.
I couldn’t imagine being loved like that. I mean, I knew my parents loved me, but their love came with conditions. The second I didn’t heed them, I was reduced to occasional phone calls during the holidays. All the men I’ve dated in the past were losers and barely put my wants above theirs, much less worry about me to such an extent. And I knew my friends cared about me, but I couldn’t swear any of them would take a bullet for me the way Phoenix, Luca, and Ciro would take one for Frankie.
It was enviously incredible.
I smiled, trying to cover up that envy. “I bet,” I chuckled.
With Luca having the key and Phoenix having the thumb drives, they started getting ready to leave. Ciro leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Robbie, how are you supposed to contact them when you find the box?”
I shook my head. “I…I don’t know. I…I imagined they were just going to show up when my time was up.”
“Frankie packed you a bag,” he said, throwing me off.
“What?”
“I can’t leave you here, Robbie,” he said. “I have no idea if this box is theirs, or someone else’s. You might trust Gary and Merrick to keep their word, but you’re not safe as long as we’re not sure if someone else is in the picture. Their boss, perhaps.”
“But if I leave…they’ll know,” I pointed out. “They’ll really come after me then.”
Ciro’s nostrils flared, those golden eyes alight with fire. “Do you honestly believe I’ll ever let anyone hurt you again?”
“Ciro-”
“You’re mine, Robbie,” he barked. “And, honestly, I hope those two motherfuckers do come after you. Because I’ll be the one waiting for them. Me.”
“Ciro, I…how long will have to stay in Morgan City?” I wasn’t sure, but I figured that’s where I was going.
Ciro looked me right in the eye as he said, “You’re never coming back to Cedar Creek, Robbie.” He took my face in his hands and placed the softest kiss on my lips. “I’m never letting you out of my sight ever again.”
Chapter 23
Ciro~
Robbie was asleep in my bed, and I felt a peace I haven’t felt since the night Frankie was taken.
The drive home had been fraught with anxiousness with what Luca would find in that safe deposit box and what Phoenix would find on those thumb drives. At the end of the day, I couldn’t care less what was in that box or on those thumb drives.
I only cared about Robbie and getting my hands on Gary and Merrick.
It also wasn’t lost on me that I still had some groveling to do, but I had the rest of my life to convince the woman she loved me. At the very least, get her to like me a little, so I wasn’t overly worried about that.
It was past nine when I heard the door to my apartment open. I sat in the kitchen and watched Luca and Nix make their way through the living room. The layout of my apartment was the mirror image of Phoenix’s, so he knew his way around my place as well as I knew my way around his.
“What’s up?” I asked the both of them. Luca took a seat as Nix went to the refrigerator to get something to drink.
“The safe deposit box was full of money, a list of deposits and withdrawals, and compromising pictures of Cedar Creek’s finest with girls who looked of questionable age,” Luca announced.
Phoenix took a seat next to Luca while I remained standing on the other
