Page 77 of Vow Of Fire

I blinked. “Tortured?”

“Yeah. They obviously weren’t happy about him snitching to us.”

“He didn’t rat them out,” I said.

“They didn’t know that,” Marco murmured.

I thought about how Alberto had given me Evelyn’s name, trying to redirect blame. I inhaled as the thought struck me. Maybe they’d tortured the poor bastard because they’d wanted to know where Evelyn was. They’d gone to her apartment but she hadn’t been there, and he’d know which direction to point them in.

I got up. “I’ve got to get back.”

“You going back to the cabin tonight?” Izzy asked, surprised.

“Why don’t you stay here?” Valentina suggested, waving her champagne glass in an arc. “There’s plenty of room.”

“No, thanks.” I turned to Marco. “How off grid is the cabin?”

“What are you talking about?” Marco asked, irritated.

Nico gave a grim nod. “You think that’s why they tortured Alberto? They wanted to find out where Evelyn was?”

“We can’t rule it out.” I stuck my hands in my pockets.

“There’s no official record of it,” Marco assured me. “Il Lupo kept it off books.”

“Good.”

Il Lupo was the affectionate nickname my family gave Leo, my grandfather, because he was head of the pack. Although, from what I’d heard, the moniker had been coined by his enemies back in the day, who found out the hard way they were dealing with an apex predator.

“I’ll keep tabs on the freeway cams,” Nico said, getting up. “If I see a hit squad heading out to the cabin, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks.” I headed for the door.

“Stay in touch,” Valentina called after me.

“I think Dante’s smitten,” I heard Izzy say as I left the room.

Fuck.

21

STEPPING INTO THE SHADOWS

Evelyn

Iwoke up as the door opened. It was dark; the only light came from a crescent moon that shone in through a slatted window. For a panicked moment, I didn’t know where I was. Nothing looked familiar.

As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I recognized the interior of the cabin and the whole sordid mess came crashing back to me. I almost cringed at the force of it.

Dante walked over and switched on the lamp. “Why are you still up?”

Actually, I’d fallen asleep on the couch. The bedroom had seemed oddly cold and lonely, and the cabin too empty without him in it. The guards were still outside, patrolling the place. I’d seen them through the windows while I’d been reading. These were new guys, and I didn’t recognize them. More military contacts of Dante’s, I guessed.

I knew they were keeping me here, but they were also guarding me. It was a seriously messed-up situation I’d gotten myself into, and I had no idea how on earth I was going to get out of it.

If I was going to get out of it.

I was surprised I’d slept at all, given the worst-case scenarios that had been flying through my head ever since Dante had left.