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He slid out of the bed and went to the door. He was wearing loose black pants that hung on his hips. His broad, tattooed chest flexed as he wrenched the door open. “What is it?”
Elio stood right outside, looking worried, which was scary as hell given how little emotion thesottocapousually showed.
“The cops. They’re outside. They say they have an arrest warrant for Lucy.”
I jerked like I’d been shot. They’d actually done it. They were really going to arrest Lucy, as if she could have executed her own boyfriend with a bullet to the head. What the fuck?
I jumped out of bed and reached for a sweater to put over my silk camisole.
“What are you doing?” Renato asked, sounding unflustered.
“Getting dressed. I’m not going to the station in my PJs,” I muttered. I felt sick. This was awful, and yet there was a part of me that had just been waiting for it to happen. It was an odd and terrible relief.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said to me, then turned to Elio. “Get Lucy.”
“Ren—” I started.
But he had already pulled me into his arm and hugged me. “It’s okay. I’ll take care of everything.”
“I have to tell you something.” I pushed out of his grip just as Elio appeared with Lucy.
She rubbed sleep from her eyes. “What’s going on?”
Renato stared down at me. “You’re going to see some of the original Casa Nera. You’re going to wait there with your sister for a little while, and then come back out, just like hide-and-seek.”
“Ren,” I started a third time, but a banging at the front door echoed through the entire building.
“Casa Nera will hide you both, until it’s safe,” Renato said decisively, pulling on a shirt and buttoning it with ease. “Come with me.”
I yanked on jeans and shoved my feet into sneakers, then took Lucy’s hand. We hurried downstairs after Elio and Renato. We went all the way down to the basement level. Lucy blanched when she saw the cells.
We walked along the hall, and Elio seemed to disappear at one point. A hidden doorway, made of the same stone as the rest of the walls. It was so dark down there, it was impossible to see.
“Go along there for about five minutes. You’ll come to a room. Sit and wait there. No one will find you. I’ll come for you when the coast is clear.”
“The cops are going to tell you something,” I cried desperately, stepping into the hidden passage.
But there was no time.
“Don’t worry about the cops, I’ll handle them,” Renato insisted.
I grabbed his arm before he could close the section of wall that would hide the opening.
“I have to tell you—”
“I know,” Renato finished. “Charlotte, I know.” He reached up and cupped my cheek.
“You know?” Tears filled my eyes. I’d been worried about him finding out for days, and he’d already known? What the hell was he going to do about it? Was he furious with me?
“I know. Trust me,bambina. Now, you just need to trust me,” he reassured me, and his eyes met mine, just before the wall closed and darkness fell over us.
Lucy held on to my sleeve and crowded close to me. “What’s happening?”
“They’re here to arrest you for involvement in Miguel’s murder.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry. Renato won’t let them get to you.”
