The Deep End

Chapter 40

• Luca •

A muffled groan drags from my lips as I bury my face deeper into the blankets, willing myself to go back to sleep. I haven't slept that good in what felt like years although in reality it hasn't.

My hand snakes out across the bed, searching for the soft body I'd fallen asleep next to but I come up empty handed and my heart sinks. I quickly peel my eyes open, immediately noticing it's dark out. How long did we sleep?

I rise up on my elbow and glance over at Enzo who's passed out on the other side of the bed, his body still covered in dried blood. He managed to slip off his pants sometime during the nap, leaving him in nothing but his black boxer briefs, one bloody arm slung across his face and the other above his head. And between us where Polina had lain is an empty space, one I feel in the depths of my heart. An abyss the size of the Grand Canyon.

I slip off the bed, listening for any sign of her as I check the ensuite first. It's empty and my stomach clenches. She could be downstairs, maybe she's visiting Cacciatore. I make my way through the rest of the house, searching for any trace of her but, again, I come up empty handed.

If she left we should have heard the alarm go off— Merda, did we even set the alarm? I check the door and mutter a curse when I see it's not armed. My feet quickly carry me back to Enzo's room upstairs. He's still dead to the world in the same place I left him, he hasn't even moved an inch.

I go to his bedside table and grab his phone. There's a text from Toni, Nico, and the guard at the gate. I quickly unlock the device and pull them up, clicking on Toni's first.

Toni: she picked them up

Polina must have taken the Russians and Aleksandra from Toni's. I click on the next text.

Nico: little sis went with P

And the text from the guard is him informing Enzo they left. He just let them leave. Merda.

I sit his phone back on the bedside table and give him a shake. "Wake up, she left." And I don't think she's coming back.

Enzo abruptly sits up, amber eyes meeting mine as his sleepy features shift into a scowl. "What?"

I drop onto the bed beside him, feeling defeated. "She left and took her sisters and her fathers men with her."

His gaze drops to his feet, his jaw working back and forth as he processes my words. "Merda." He curses, running a hand down his face.

I hang my head forward, my fingers threaded through my hair. I knew things weren't magically better just from the few interactions we had since she got back but for her to leave without talking to us first hurts. I guess that's karma biting us on the ass after what we did even though we only had good intentions. Good intentions or not, we still hurt her.

A calloused palm glides up my back and over my shoulder, arm wrapping around my neck to pull me into his chest, making me release the hold on my hair. I bury my face against his neck, his unshaven skin scratching against my neatly trimmed beard.

"I'm going to fix it. We're going to get her back." He demands, his voice low and rough from sleep.

His fingers tangle in my hair until he's tugging my head back to look me in the eye. "She'll forgive us because we won't stop making it up to her until she does. I know you saw it as well as I did, felt it in the way she kissed us. She loves us, she's just hurt."

His words soothe the ache in my chest and I can't help but lean forward and capture his lips with mine. My heart thunders against my ribs, my churning stomach calming at the taste of him on my tongue.