An Echo in the Mafia (Echo Reid, Reid Family Book #1)

Part 68

Another day and no word. 

Luke couldn't keep waiting. He needed to take action. He stared down at his phone, wishing he could just pick up the phone and call him, thinking he was being paranoid and all that would happen was that Marco would pick up and scold him for it. He couldn't do it. 

If Marco wasn't in danger, he could get him into trouble by calling at the wrong time. Luke needed to send someone else in. He had to arrange to send someone to New York to find out what was going on, the problem was... who?

If he sent another man, it would be obvious, wouldn't it? And what if he tried sending whoever it was that was creating this mess? He shook his head. He'd been stuck here for hours with no answer, realizing how important Marco was. Luke had ruined his own life. 

He had a loyal friend, someone who had been there for him unconditionally, and he had Echo. 

He had a woman who made him laugh without trying, a woman who made him nicer than he knew he could be, a woman who managed to make him more kind and considerate than he'd ever cared to be. He realized now as he sat by himself, the long day taking it's toll, that he didn't care about her anymore. He hadn't cared about his ex in a very long time.  What happened had only served to leave scars and now he understood that it hurt more because she'd done it at a time when he needed her most. He'd just lost his parents and he lost her too. 

None of that compared to this. He could stand to lose Echo, he was beginning to think he would and if she asked him, he was prepared to let her go. But he couldn't stand that he had let her down, that he'd broken her heart. He'd been trying to push the idea to the back of his mind for so long, his own way of surviving, but it wasn't possible to do it anymore. He couldn't deny it. 

He was hopelessly in love with Echo. 

What do they say? You don't know what you have until you lose it. 

Luke sighed, looking back down at his phone and frowning. Nadia had tried to call. He thought about calling her back but he really was in no mood. Tomorrow, he told himself.

He didn't blame Nadia for what happened, but everything was much too fresh and the only people he wanted to talk to were the people he couldn't.

"You look terrible." Adelia said to him the moment he walked through the door. 

They'd done their best to keep her out of it, telling her the honeymoon had been postponed because of work, because it couldn't be helped. But his little sister was incredibly perceptive and she knew that something wasn't right. 

She knew it because she'd seen Echo leaving the room two doors down from her only the morning before, she knew it because Echo hadn't been joining them for dinner. Still, if they didn't want to share with her, it was none of her business. She had to respect the privacy of a married couple. 

"Thanks," He muttered, loosening his tie as soon as he enter the foyer. "School start Monday, right?"

"Haha, funny." She said, rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out at him. Ah, there it was, proof that she really was still just a brat. "You and Echo are driving me up on Sunday?"

She waited to see what he would say. It was only an hour and a half to her school, but an hour or so in the car alone might just be what they needed to fix whatever needed fixing. 

"Actually..." Luke said, about to respond truthfully but instead he just nodded, a faint smile on his lips. "That's the plan."

"Good." Adelia said, walking alongside him. "Hungry? I already ate but I'll keep you company if you want."