Chapter 2

Journal Entry

May 23, 2014

Today is the worst day of my life. I wish I were dead.

Natalia’s bookshelfis lined with journals, each with a year stitched onto the outside. I started with the first one, labeled 2014 because I figured I should start at the beginning to learn everything about her.

That was a brief entry etched with heartbreak. Not only that, but it also has a dried bloody handprint on it. I want to turn the page and find out what she wrote next, but the pages are glued together with blood. If I rip it, she’ll know someone was here. It’s too early to show our hand, so that can’t happen yet.

“Well, that’s a little dark for your little Miss Sunshine,” Drake says as he looks over my shoulder at the words I can’t stop staring at. He runs his fingers down the bloody handprint. “What happened?”

I shrug as I snap the journal closed. “I don’t know. The next several pages are stuck together, but it must’ve been something terrible if she hurt herself.”

Placing the journal back where I found it, I turn to Drake. “Get the cameras set up?”

He nods as he walks over to the door. “We should go before she gets back.”

I sigh as I look back into her home; a feeling I’m not used to washes over me, and Drake says, “She’s fine. That was ten years ago.”

My brother is probably right, but I want to know everything about her. What makes her happy, and what the fuck made her break to the point of attempting to take her life? Three days ago, I put Benji on finding everything he could on Natalia. We’re meeting him at our warehouse shortly. The De Luca brothers own several businesses. Domenic has a nightclub, Devil and Damian owns restaurants. Drake and I have hotels. The Diamond, where we’re meeting Benji tonight, has a warehouse behind the hotel. It’s where we do our dirty work. None of our employees go near it; they know better. While it’s never been discussed, our people know about George and the fact that he disappeared three years ago after he got a little too curious. If someone is a threat, they are eliminated. It’s not that I enjoy killing people, but I don’t dislike it either. Like taking the trash out; it’s not a big deal. You don’t do it because it’s enjoyable but out of necessity.

Natalia would probably say I didn’t need to kill all the men she’s gone out with within the last couple of months, but she’d be wrong. Not every man died. It was their choice. If we say to stay away from our girl, the decision should be a simple agreement. The ones that refused paid the price for that. We haven’t worked out the details because our family is complicated, but she’ll be with us. Drake and I want to take her, but Domenic and Damian would lose their minds and intervene. My sister-in-law is best friends with Natalia, and if she were missing for forty-eight hours, Giada would run to my brother. For years, my brother hated me for a situation I had gotten myself into by unknowingly falling for the enemy. Jewel Aiello was the biggest mistake of my life. I was an absolute fool. We’ll kill the entire Aiello family one day, but we can’t move until Domenic gives the go-ahead. I don’t like it, but it’s how it works for the De Luca family. Domenic is the head of our family, and going against him is not an option.

We walk to our cars and drive separately to the warehouse, where we meet Benji, our intel guy. He does a little of everything: hacking, surveillance, whatever we need. He knows not to mention our little pet project to Domenic or Damian. I don’t trust many people outside of my brothers, but I trust him implicitly. He has been with us for years. Domenic has hacking skills, but has nothing to the level of Benji. When he needed a deeper dive into enemies than he could achieve, he found Benjamin Thorne, also known as Benji. He has never let us down, so I hope to get a clearer picture of Natalia Grant.

I speed down the street, Drake beside me in the other lane. Luckily, it’s late enough that the roads aren’t packed with cars. I’d rather be on my motorcycle tonight since the weather is nice for January, but I’m driving my Range Rover. Pulling in behind the hotel, I get an alert on my phone: a text message from Natalia”s friend Talia.

Natalia: My date was a no-show. Do you want to blow off some steam?

Talia: You know it, babe.

Natalia: Devil?

Talia: I’ll be there in an hour.

I smilebecause we all own part of the club, even though it’s primarily Domenic. My brother is home with his pregnant wife, and Damian is on a romantic getaway for the weekend with his wife, Kat. After I park, I get out and walk with Drake into the warehouse to meet Benji.

This is where we keep people if we need to. It’s a dark, damp warehouse except for our office, where we walk now to discuss his findings. Drake opens the door, and we step inside. My brother takes a seat behind the desk while I sit behind mine. Benji lowers himself into a black leather chair between our two dark wood desks.

Benji crosses his legs and opens a folder. “She hasn’t had a peaceful life, and it’s a little confusing. I don’t have all the pieces of this bizarre puzzle, but I’ll give you what I have.”

I nod, urging him to continue, and he does: “Natalia Grant has a twin sister, Nicole. Her father works in finance, and her mother is a stay-at-home mother, one of those annoying dance moms.”

He sends pictures to my brother and me, so I look. Natalia and her sister look nothing alike, which is strange for twins. Nicole looks like her mother, a dead ringer, but Natalia does not. She doesn’t look like her father either. Why is there no familial resemblance?

“They both began dance classes at Ridgeway Ballet Academy at four.”

Is our girl a dancer? I know she plays the piano, but this is news to me. I don’t like not knowing this basic information about her. Glancing at Drake, he appears to think the same thing as he rubs his thumb over his beard.

“I didn’t know she danced.”

Benji shakes his head, “She doesn’t. Not anymore. She was outstanding until someone took a bat to her knees.”

Instantly, I see red. Who the fuck would do that to her? Drake mirrors my rage and barks, “Who?”

With a shrug, Benji says, “I don’t know. The police took her statement, but all she knew was it was a man in dark clothing wearing a ski mask. After the attack, she was placed on a psychiatric hold, the first of many.”

I clench my jaw but grit out, “Why?”

His eyes dart between mine and Drake”s before he answers, “I don’t know, but I feel like there’s something with this family. Something isn’t right. I hacked into the psychiatric records, and I don’t know if she still does, but she was a cutter.”

Glancing over at Drake, I know he’s thinking the same thing I am. Dalia was a cutter for a while after our mom died. Dalia was a little kid and watched our mom get raped and beaten repeatedly until she passed away in captivity. My sister was also raped brutally. When we rescued her, she began dealing with the emotional pain by cutting her skin. We never understood it. Our way of handling pain is frequently to inflict hurt, but not to ourselves. She once explained to me that the physical pain for a few moments makes the emotional hurt subside. ‘When I cut, I don’t hear her crying,’ she told me.

“I’m sending you a picture of Natalia’s senior prom.”

I glance down at my phone when the image appears. Natalia stands in a light blue dress, tears running down her face and the word pig in what seems to be spray paint on her chest. Three other girls hold her hands behind her back.

Benji says, “The blonde on the left is her sister, Nicole.”

This is fucking confusing. I don’t understand it. My family has always been close. Even when Domenic was pissed at me, he wouldn’t have ever hurt me. I still would’ve had his protection had I needed it.