21. Josephine

21

JOSEPHINE

I t's not the word Luca wants me to say, but I'm not ready to make that kind of choice. Yet, there's no frustration in his eyes, and the energy between us doesn't feel any different.

"Are you mad I don't want you to do that?" I ask him.

"Of course not," he says, pulling me closer to him to wrap an arm around me. Luca kisses me gently on the forehead. "That's not a decision a rational person can make at the drop of a dime."

"Thank you for the offer." I rest my head on his shoulder. "I think I just want Duke to stay away from us. A restraining order should do the job."

"Are you sure about that?" There's concern in his tone, and rightfully so. Duke isn't likely to listen to anyone when it's not what he wants to hear.

"No, but how about instead of disappearing him, you talk to him and encourage him to leave us alone. If I tell him I got a restraining order, maybe he'll take me seriously when I tell him to leave us alone. He might listen. I just want to try every option before the permanent one."

He nods. "I'll do whatever you need me to do to keep you safe and make sure you're okay with how I keep you and Jett safe. Wait here. I'll go see him?—"

"No." I stop him with a firm hand on his bicep. "I know Duke, and he'll provoke you. You'll end up hurting him or worse. It's like I told you before. He's a temper tantrum away from becoming a murder victim. I'm coming with you."

"I like it better when you come before me," he quips with a devious smirk. I can't help but giggle, stroking the side of his face as he takes a deep breath. Luca takes my hand, kisses it, and gives a look to Collin who's still chatting up his nurse. "He's going to be here a while."

"Good. He needs some distance from Shannon anyway."

"Shannon?" Luca questions as we head toward the elevator.

"Yeah, his girl slash friend he spends a lot of time with outside of his teammates. I want him to avoid making irresponsible choices."

"Like having sex in a utility closet?" He glances at me from the corner of his eye.

"No." I shove him playfully. "Like having unprotected sex in a utility closet. I'm on birth control, Luca, but we are moving at lightning speed."

"We can slow down, Jo. We can even stop?—"

"No!" I blurt out. "God no, I don't want to stop, but shouldn't we talk about the possibilities and consequences of our choices?"

"I thought we were talking about Collin."

"We are." I sigh.

Luca stops and turns to face me. "No. We're talking about us now and I need you to understand I meant every word that I said, Jo. I want to keep you safe. I want to take care of you. However, that needs to happen. I've got a clean bill of health, but we're in the hospital. We can get tested together."

"We probably should have done that before the closet."

"And my office," he adds with a smirk.

"You're not worried about me?"

"Should I be?" He places an arm above me, leaning in as my back's against the wall with his eyes staring into mine.

"No."

"We'll make an appointment together, Jo. No reckless behavior until after we get our results. How does that sound?"

"More responsible and less fun."

He leans down to kiss me gently and backs away. We continue down the hall until we're standing outside room 419 where Duke's ordering one of nurses around.

"This is absolute garbage. I don't want to eat this shit!" Duke yells and throws a tray through the door.

"Sir, if you don't calm down, we'll have to sedate you," the nurse replies with a heavy exhale.

"I think we should go help her before she does what you want to do." I nudge Luca.

He nods and steps into the room, over the discarded hospital food splattered across the floor.

"Even with a black eye and busted arm, you still don't know how to talk to women?" Luca shakes his head as we get closer for Duke to see us.

Duke's eyes are large, full of rage and causing him to spit as he speaks. "Get the fuck out of here. This is all your fault. You miserable little weasel. You had your goons in the house waiting to attack me."

"What were you doing inside my house, Duke? I thought we had an understanding that you're supposed to leave me and Jett alone."

"You can't stop me from seeing my kid, Josephine."

"He's not your kid anymore according to the papers you filed," Luca replies, taking another step closer to Duke.

The nurse is on a phone attached to the wall calling for a cleanup crew, and hopefully a team to sedate Duke the Puke.

"This is none of your business. Why are you assholes following me? Stay away from me you fuckin psychopath. You're probably one of the guys who did this to me!" Duke shouts, pointing his finger at Luca. There's a cast wrapping around his thumb up to his elbow.

"Unfortunately, no, I had nothing to do with this," Luca tells Duke. "Can you tell me anything about the guys who were in the house?"

"Why do you want to know? Ask the police. I told them everything already."

"I'm working to keep Jo and Jett safe in their home. I have to know who attacked you. Did they say anything? Anything at all?"

"You mean, 'It'll cost ya without the coaster'? Or was it ‘La Cosa Nostra’?" Duke shrugs it off. "Mafia guys, right? Is that what you're into now, Fee? The mafia? Listen, Luca, buddy. I know you want to make her a star but look at all the trouble she's causing. You don't want to get tied up with the family . There's no way Fee's head can be that good that you want to put your life on the line."

"You can leave here with a broken jaw, too, Duke," Luca cuts him off.

"You really like my little Fee, don't you?"

"I'm not yours, Duke. And for god's sake, stop calling me that." I tell him with a sigh of defeat. Talking to him is pointless.

"This isn't me liking Josephine, Duke. This is respecting Josephine. You will not disrespect her in front of me or anywhere, if I have anything to say about it. This is my last warning to you. She already has a restraining order in place. Stay away from her. Stay out of her home. Or next time, you'll be lucky if you end up in the hospital." Luca's threatening tone fills the room with tension that makes Duke's lip actually quiver.

It's the first time in a long time that I've seen him afraid. Fear. I like the way it looks on Duke, especially when it's on my behalf. Still, Duke can't keep his mouth shut.

"You—you heard him!" he shouts at the nurse who rolls her eyes and turns around while continuing her phone conversation. Duke yells, "He threatened me! If anything happens to me, just know it was this asshole or that Dacosta guy. They're in it together! They're trying to steal my family."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Everett. I wasn't paying attention to your visitors. As for you two, this patient needs a sedative and some time to rest," the nurse tells us. "You'll have to come back tomorrow for visiting hours."

The nurse grins as three huge orderlies enter the room. While I want to see them put Duke down like a wounded beast, Luca grabs me by the hand to walk out of the room. The sounds of Duke struggling are music to my ears. Even though I know it's only temporary, the idea of him being out of commission for a few hours knocks out my anxiety as well as that sedative does Duke the Puke.

"I'm proud of you," I tell Luca as we make our way back to Collin.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, you didn't try to murder him or hit him at all. That's progress when dealing with Duke. Just wait until you can get through a conversation without picturing lightning striking him dead."

He laughs. "How long did it take for you to get to that point?"

"Oh, I haven't, but I'm looking forward to it."

Collin's waiting for us outside of his room when we get there, ready to leave as it hits me that it's not safe for him at home.

"Collin can't go back home," I tell Luca. "I think Duke was attacked by Vito. Vito said something like, ‘if you don't work with Dacosta it'll cost ya’, when he stopped me in the parking lot at the studio. I need to warn Monique, too."

"Take my car," Luca tells me. "You go to Monique and Jett to let them know what's going on. If you want to get out of San Francisco until things die down, I can have a jet fueled and ready to go."

"Go where?" Collin asks.

"Anywhere you want," Luca tells him.

"I like Bermuda," Collin replies with a wriggle of his eyebrows.

"You don't get rewarded with a beach vacation. He has school and so does Jett. I'm not going to let Vito or Duke uproot our lives because neither one of them can take no for an answer."

Collin rolls his eyes. "Listen, I can crash with Shannon or Mojo. Honestly, I still feel like the house is fine. They're not looking for me, right? That was a Duke problem that got Duke. That piece of shit deserves whatever happens to him."

Luca glances between us. "I can't tell either one of you what to do. I don't know what's going on with Vito, but I'd say don't go back home for a few days. I think I got through to Duke. Hopefully when he wakes up from sedation, he'll remember what I said."

"And if he doesn't?" I ask Luca.

He shrugs. "Then I'll make plans to take him fishing."