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19. Josephine

19

JOSEPHINE

T he rapid thump of my heart pounding against my chest makes me feel like I’m running a race. Every inch of my skin tingles, and not in a good way. I don't know if I want to cry or hit something. Luca's hand squeezes mine as we drive to the county lockup where he pays for Collin's release.

"I swear I'm going to—" I start promising to pay him back when Luca levels a glare which silences my promise. He doesn't want to hear it and if I'm being honest, I'm tired of saying it.

"Let me take care of you, Jo." Are his only words as we wait for Collin to come out of the building labeled Intake and Release .

It's nearly ten by the time Collin steps outside. I rush to wrap my arms around him. He lets me hug him for a second before shrugging out of my grasp.

"Take it easy, Jo."

"What happened?" I ask him.

"I don't fucking know." Collin's face twists in confusion as he runs his fingers through his hair, pulling at it. "I came home and the door looked busted around the lock. I called out to you and stepped inside. The living room was trashed. I ran up to check on Jett, but no one was there. Your car wasn’t in the driveway so I think it's just a break in."

"Did you see any of your neighbors?" Luca asks.

"That's just it. The neighbors are the ones who called the police on me. I was just coming downstairs from Jett's room when the police showed up. We went through the house and found Duke in the kitchen. He's fucked up real bad, Jo. They called paramedics to get him to the hospital, and everything."

"I still don't get why they arrested you if you'd just gotten there." My mind races to make the scenario make sense.

Collin shrugs. "They took one look at me, my black eye, and fucked up hands from that stupid fight at my dorm and threw cuffs on me. Then I get here. They don't let me use the phone for about three hours and now, I'm here in front of you. Thanks a lot for this Jo. I know you're sick of bailing me out. Can you keep this between us until I scrape some money together?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Collin. Did you fight Duke at all?"

"No. I swear."

Luca speaks up. "Then you don't have anything to worry about. We'll get you to the hospital and have you checked out. We should have your hands and face photographed so a doctor can tell how old the cuts and bruises are. That should help prove you didn't attack Duke."

Relief washes over Collin's face. "I can call Shannon to have her give me an alibi, too. I was with her when this shit happened. I only went to the house to grab some clothes."

A deep exhale pushes through my nostrils. "I thought you weren't staying more than two nights? Wouldn't want her to get confused and call you her boyfriend."

"We're working through our issues. Can I go back to her place?"

Luca's gaze shifts from me to Collin. "I think we should get you to the hospital first to get you looked at and photographed. We need a clear timeline of events."

Collin groans. "Okay, but at least let's grab some of my stuff from the house. I can go back to Shannon's after we leave the hospital."

Luca nods and tells him. "We can do that. I'll also give Sonny's lawyer a call and schedule a meeting to make sure the case is dismissed. Since we're going to the hospital, this might be the chance I need to have that private word with Duke about leaving you guys alone."

All I want is for Duke to stay away from us, so I tell Luca, "In a perfect world, I know he'd take your advice and go on about his life. But knowing the kind of scumbag he is … fuck. He's going to be a pain in the ass unless this film flops and I fade back into obscurity. As long as I'm miserable, he's happy."

"Jo," Luca says my name softly. "I'm never letting you go back to your life the way it was. I'll make Sonny and Gina write a dozen movie roles for you. I'll have an after-school camp or program built at the studios. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you don't sink."

My heart breaks because it's now clearer to me more than ever that Luca doesn't want me to end up like his mother. Perhaps he sees himself in Jett. I never got the chance to ask about his father, but it doesn't sound like he was around.

The drive back to my house is quiet with Collin in the back seat as my mind wanders while my eyes follow the orange glow of streetlights passing outside the car. When we pull into the driveway, my pulse races, uncertain of what we're going to find.

There's yellow police tape over the door, along with a large poster that's sticking to the seam. If we open the door, it will break.

"Can we go inside?" I ask Luca. He shrugs and Collin jogs around the house. I hear him stop and come back with his head moving side to side.

"Back door is sealed up, too. But, if you're feeling adventurous, I can show y'all a way in." Collin's boyish charm sparkles with mischief in his eyes.

We watch him scale the side of the house, using the first-floor window's ledge to boost him up to grip the second-floor window. He pulls himself up and uses a few loose bricks in the facade as footholds. It takes him a while, but he gets Jett's window open.

I turn to Luca. "After you, I guess."

He laughs. "I'm not going to climb up the side of the house, but Collin can open the first-floor window for us to get inside."

Collin opens the window shortly after and Luca helps me inside. He hauls himself up and into the living room where everything is turned over. My chest tightens as the space behind my eyes burns with frustration.

"Why?" I mumble, kneeling down to turn the coffee table upright.

Luca's hand on my shoulder stops me. "Don't touch anything. Leave it all as is. Even though we're sure Collin didn't do this, that doesn't stop this from being a crime scene. Duke was found here. He probably fought here too. It's the most probable reason for this place looking like a tornado hit it."

"Collin, hurry up and grab whatever you wanted to get," I tell my brother.

Collin disappears into the house as I step over the debris of things my parents bought. This was, and technically still is, their home. How the hell am I going to tell them about this?

"I can't bring Jett home to this," I whisper as I make my way into the kitchen. The stains of blood on the floor make me turn away. One of the dining chairs is in pieces. "It wasn't much, but it was ours. Why was he here?"

"Does Duke ever do anything that makes sense to you?"

I run my hands down my face. He's been honest with me. It's only right that I'm honest with him. "I've never questioned Duke. I met him when I was fourteen and he was seventeen. He was a dick back then, but that's what I wanted. I wanted him because every other girl did, but out of all the girls, he wanted me."

Luca gives me the same silence I gave him to tell me about his mother.

I press on. "I guess, he never had to make sense because I thought he was the person I wanted. When it all went to shit with him, I finally saw the kind of vile human being he was. He convinced me, at fourteen, to be with him, only him, while he had to date other girls. I agreed and was too ashamed to tell anyone else about it."

"At least you have Jett out of this."

I laugh to myself. "I thought having Jett would make him want to be with only me. He told me from day one that if I ever got pregnant, I wasn't allowed to keep it. I should have believed him."

Luca pulls me into his arms. "No, he shouldn't have gotten a teenage girl pregnant. Fuck Duke. I don't care how he ended up here or that he's in the hospital. I'm going to make sure he never bothers you again."

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