Redeemed (Dirty Air 4)

A car revving down the road pulls my attention away.

Do they know Matteo? Are they going to ask me what I’m doing outside, lurking by the gate? Or worse, what if they drag me inside and out me as some kind of stalker in front of Matteo? All the options would blow my chance at making a good first impression.

Logic escapes me as I panic about Matteo’s newest visitor catching me creeping outside of the property.

Maybe I wasn’t ready for this family reunion after all. My eyes flit toward the gap in the fence of the house next door. I run toward it as headlights bask the road in a glow. Branches from the bushes scrape my face and arms, but I push through the pain. Curiosity pushes me to go deeper into the property.

A howl in the distance makes me shiver. Are there wolves in Italy? “Shit. If I die tonight, I’m haunting Brooke for the rest of my life. This idea is going to hell.”

Using my phone’s flashlight, I walk through grass rivaling Africa’s Serengeti plains. I follow the stone wall dividing my father’s property from this one. My sneakers catch multiple times on thick roots, and I curse into the night.

After five minutes of avoiding fallen branches and scary-looking thorns, I make it to the part of the wall where the music sounds the loudest. Laughing and people talking forces my heart rate into overdrive. An urge to check out the other side feeds my bravery. I search the wall for any purchase to climb, but the stones are slick to the touch.

“Not even the wall could be easy?” I eye the large tree next to the fence. It looks decent enough to climb. “Just like old times, Chloe.”

My phone chiming in my hand startles me. “Shit!”

I listen for any changes in the music or conversation just in case they heard me. Nothing seems amiss, with laughter bouncing off the cement wall.

I swipe the glass to answer the call. “Brooke. You won’t believe what I’m up to right now.” After placing Brooke on speaker, I stuff my phone under my bra strap so I can hear her better while I climb.

“I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Well. I’m currently scaling a tree like when we snuck back into our room past curfew.” I speak low as I grab onto a close branch and prop my foot on the trunk. My arms wobble, but I push through with gritted teeth.

“You always

sucked at climbing trees so this can’t be good.” She snorts.

“Don’t remind me.”

A twig snaps nearby. My arms tremble as I halt my climbing.

“But remember the time you fell on that pile of dog poop?” Brooke breaks the silence.

Ignoring the noise, I grab onto the next branch. I pull myself up a couple of feet higher off the ground. “It’s not something I can exactly forget.”

“Care to explain why you’re climbing a tree?”

“Do you want the legal or the illegal story?”

“By all means, share the illegal one.” A new growly voice breaks up the conversation.

I let out a shriek. My fingers slip, and I fall onto my back. An audible oof escapes my lungs as something sharp in my backpack pokes my spine. “Ouch.”

“Chloe! What happened? Oh, God, please don’t be dead somewhere in Italy. I’ll never be able to afford the plane ticket to find you,” Brooke’s voice calls out from far away.

“Brooke, I’m alive!” I search my bra for my phone but come up empty.

“For now.”

A chill spreads across my skin at the stranger’s voice. His words steal my attention away from finding my phone.

He lingers near the base of a tree, cast in a dark shadow. “Care to tell me what you’re doing trespassing on my property?”

I squint, trying to make out his face. The scary idea I imagine isn’t doing wonders for my heart rate. Goosebumps explode across my skin as he lurks in the shadows, never stepping into the moonlight.

Like an idiot, I remain lying on the ground, petrified and unmoving. “I...umm…well…you see…”