Code of Honor (Spontagio Family 1)

“I’m here for my girlfriend, Lucy? She’s supposed to be in this class.”

“Right, they actually had today’s training over in the auditorium, but I’m pretty sure I saw her leave a few minutes ago,” he adds, his expression confused. “She was with some dude I didn’t recognize.”

“Where will I find the auditorium?” I ask, ignoring the pit forming in my stomach.

He directs me over to the other side of the campus. I thank him, then leave, breaking into a run as soon as I’m out of the building. Why wouldn’t she have waited for me? She knew how worried I was about all this. It didn’t make any sense.

I round the corner and head toward the huge towering building that could only be the auditorium. A few dancers mill around the outside entrance, but apart from that it’s pretty deserted. I walk inside, hoping to find her in there, waiting for me, but I don’t.

Pulling out my phone, I call her. It straightaway goes to voicemail.

Don’t panic. She probably just went home.

I walk around the back of the theater. I’m running out of places to look for her. There’s not much to see, other than a parking lot and a large patch of grass. Something catches my eye. I move closer and realize it’s a phone lying facedown in the grass. Leaning down, I pick it up. Lucy’s phone.

It’s too much of a coincidence for this not to be something serious. I scroll through her phone to see if she’d texted or called anyone. The last person open in her contacts was me.

Lucy: Sorry, forgot something. Be there in

Had she been texting me when something happened?

Shoving the phone in my pocket, I break into a run. I need to check her apartment. It’s the only other place I can think of that she might be. But I’m not holding out hope. To make matters worse, I still haven’t heard back from Lucca. Whatever Giovanni was afraid of, I’m convinced it’s happened.

Only now I’m sure it’s my fault.

—

“Lucy?” I call out, pounding on the door. Silence greets me. I bang again, the force of my fist hitting the door radiating through my arm. I wince but keep knocking. Answer, dammit.

“Fuck,” I growl. “Where the hell are you?”

I reach into my pocket and pull out the spare key to her apartment. I’d been hesitant to accept it when Giovanni had given it to me, but right now I was thankful. I slide the key into the door and turn, opening the door. The place appears undisturbed. I walk in and look around. Nothing is out of place. It’s almost too neat, but then that’s Lucy.

Shit. Something’s happened, I can feel it.

My stomach twists as I try to figure out my next move. I pull out her phone and study it, as if it holds the key to where she is. My mind is blank. I have no idea how serious the situation might be. I know I have no choice but to get Giovanni involved. It’s just seven o’clock, and maybe I’m overreacting, but the longer I leave it, the worse it will be if she is in danger.

And it doesn’t help that still I have no idea what the fuck this is all about.

My hands shake as I sit down on her sofa. I have no idea what I’m going to tell Giovanni, but I hope he has some idea of what I need to do. I scroll through my contacts until I find his name and press CALL.

“Pietro.”

“I think Lucy might be in trouble.”

“You what? What happened?” he asks, instantly concerned. “Why weren’t you watching her?”

“She was supposed to meet me after her class but she didn’t show and I haven’t heard from her since.” I run my hand through my hair, panicked. “I followed her to the studio, then waited for her where we arranged to meet, but she never showed.”

“Meet you? What the hell happened? How did she find out you were there?”

Oh shit.

“I, uh—”

I have no idea what to say. “She’s known about me being in New York for a while,” I say, my voice weak.

Giovanni sighs. “I’m coming there. I’ll take the earliest flight I can and you’ll meet me at the airport. You can explain everything to me when I get there. And I mean everything, Pietro. In the meantime, I have a few men in New York who I’ll have start on things immediately. Her phone is in her apartment?” he adds suddenly.