Sempre (Forever Series #1)(75)

“You two enjoy your lunch,” Jen said. “Once again, it’s nice to meet you, Haven. Don’t let those DeMarco men give you too much trouble. Sometimes you have to show them who’s boss.”

Dr. DeMarco let out a laugh at those words.

Jen started to walk out but paused in the doorway. “Plus, I’ve heard Carmine likes kinky girls.”

The amusement died in Dr. DeMarco’s eyes, his expression twisting again to aggravation. As the door shut, Haven’s hand trembled and shook the fork.

“Eat,” Dr. DeMarco said forcefully. She flinched from his harsh tone and took a bite, so nauseated she had a hard time swallowing. After about ten minutes of thick tension and forcing down half of her food, she set her fork aside, hoping that would satisfy him.

He grabbed her container and dropped it into the trash can with a thud. She watched as he picked up his office phone and dialed a number, putting it on speakerphone as it rang. Dread rocked her when the familiar voice answered the line.

“Yeah?” Carmine said. “Why are you calling me at lunch?”

“I need to see you at the hospital as soon as you get out of school.”

There was a pause. “I didn’t do it.”

Dr. DeMarco sighed. “Didn’t do what?”

“Whatever you think I did.”

“Just come to my office,” Dr. DeMarco said. “I’m not in the mood for your antics today.”

He hung up before Carmine could respond, his attention shifting to Haven. “It’s my birthday.”

“Happy birthday, sir,” she said. “No one told me.”

“That’s because there’s nothing to celebrate. It may be the day I was given life, but it’s also the day my life was taken from me. I may be able to hop into the car and drive to the store, but it doesn’t mean anything. Anything I’m told to do, I have to do it or face death. Were you aware of that aspect of my life?”

She shook her head. She wasn’t aware of much. Carmine alluded to the things his father did, but he never elaborated. Nobody did.

Dr. DeMarco continued after a moment. “I’ve watched it happen too many times. Men ordered to murder their own family, and they either do it or die themselves. The man who visited the house? He’s my master, just as—no matter what I do—you’ll continue to see me as your master. Because I hold the key to your survival, just as Sal holds the key to mine. I wasn’t much older than Carmine when I got involved, and I was as stupid then as he is now. He has no idea what it is he’s getting himself into—neither of you do.”

Haven was too stunned to speak. She waited for him to say something else, but instead he picked up his pen. She figured the conversation was over and reached for the book to pass the time when Dr. DeMarco’s voice rang out, paralyzing her. “Are you in love with him?”

The book slipped and hit the floor. “Who?”

“You know who,” he said. “Don’t pretend to be dumb with me.”

Bile rose up at his demanding tone. “Yes.”

He grabbed a black case, and Haven’s heart raced as he moved to sit in the chair beside her. He pulled out his laptop and set it on the desk so they both could see. “Carmine asked if you had a tracking chip inside you. I wasn’t happy he inquired about it.”

“I, uh . . . I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to tell.”

“That’s not why I was unhappy. It doesn’t matter to me whether or not he knows. What matters to me—what worries me—is that he’s so interested. The only reason I can come up with as to why Carmine would confront me is if he’s contemplating doing something that would be affected by your chip. And the only scenario that makes sense is my son taking you on the run.”

She froze as Dr. DeMarco opened a program on his laptop. “I’m not going to run away, sir.”

He held his hand up to silence her before punching a few numbers into the program. A map popped up, a red dot flashing in the center of it. “The problem is you’ve been around some of the most dangerous men in the country. Because of that, you’re desensitized to moderately harmful situations. I love my son, but he’s volatile. I was the same way at his age, and I know what results from that. I’m not a horrible man. I have a heart, and I’ve been trying to let nature take its course, hoping everything would fix itself, but Carmine’s growing impatient. He’s digging in deep.”

He pointed at the dot on the screen. “That’s you. No matter where you go, all I have to do is open this program, punch in the code, and it’ll give me your location. Running is only going to get someone hurt, and I can’t let that happen. I’d try to explain it to Carmine, but he’d want answers I can’t give him—answers he’s better off never hearing. So instead, I’m telling you. If you go on the lam with my son, I’ll track you down and kill you. I don’t want to, but I can’t sacrifice him. And if you two are stupid enough to try to disappear, Carmine will end up hurt at the end.”

She stared at him, frightened. The last thing she wanted was for Carmine to suffer.

“I don’t like keeping secrets from my son, but his safety comes first. Because these secrets? They revolve around you.”

He turned off the laptop and returned it to the bag before sitting back down in his chair. Haven remained quiet, trying to absorb what he’d said. Too many people had been hurt because of her. Carmine couldn’t be one of them. She couldn’t let that happen.