Page 97 of Diary from an Inked Throne

His lips thinned into a grim line, and his gaze flickered from man to man, eventually settling on Bruno. “Spit it out. What’s happened?”

Bruno grimaced. “We got word this morning from one of the teams. Maybe Nyah…”

I opened my mouth to remind Bruno I wasn’t some weak woman who was going to fall apart at whatever he said. Even though on the inside, ice was rapidly spreading through my veins.

But I didn’t need to say anything. Because Luca did it for me. “Say whatever you need to say. She can take it.”

Bruno nodded at the direct instruction. “They found a body this morning. Enzo’s. Gunshot wound, point-blank.”

I fought back the urge to vomit. “And James?”

Viktor gave a small shake of his head. “No sign of him. Sorry, Nyah.”

I turned away, staring at the wall for a few seconds and blinking fast. Because I wanted to be the strong woman Luca had just told them I was.

But that didn’t mean my arms didn’t ache for not having my baby in them. There was no amount of mental or physical strength that could ever make that hurt disappear.

Luca swore under his breath. “What do we know about his death?”

Bruno explained, “They think it happened a few days ago, due to the state of the body. Maybe even up to a week.”

Luca stared at him. “A week? What about the woman we saw on the video footage?”

“No sign of her, boss. Either she has the baby…”

“Or she met the same fate Enzo did and is dead somewhere, her body being picked apart by dessert birds and animals?”

Bruno nodded. “That was the assumption the guys made. They’re looking for any traces of her but have come up empty-handed. They have nothing on the baby either.”

Luca slammed his fist into the locker behind him, the metal clanging sharply. “Fuck! Why the hell are we always five steps behind?” He shook his fist out and swore again at the instant ugly red mark spreading across his knuckles. “Fuck!”

From the doorway, someone cleared their throat, and French stuck his head in. “Is this a bad time? We have practice, and I’m early, so we can come back later, if you want?”

Luca was too busy cursing over his beaten-up fingers, and the rest of the guys said nothing. I stood and forced a smile at the twenty-something golden boy Carlos had bought for the team, making small talk until Luca could compose himself. “Hey, French. How’s your sister?”

He frowned at me in confusion.

“I met her briefly at the press conference. She was so proud of you, sitting up there in front of the reporters.”

His expression smoothed over. “Oh. Right.” He cracked his neck and looked away, not answering my question.

I grimaced, realizing I’d stuck my nose somewhere it didn’t belong. Obviously, there was some family tension there that was definitely not any of my business. “Anyway, I think we’re done here. And it’s your locker room. We’ll leave.”

Luca’s guys all stood, filing out one by one, Luca calling after Viktor and Bruno to hang around because he wasn’t done discussing things. They told him they’d wait in the bleachers, and I went to follow them, leaving Luca to talk to his team alone.

But French caught my hand as I tried to walk past him. “Wait, Nyah? Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind, but can you stay a moment? There’s something we wanted to show you.”

I glanced over at Luca, and he shrugged, clearly no idea what this was about.

I took a step back from the doorway so French and the guys could all file through. He went to his locker, dumping a white cloth sack full of something down on the bench. He tugged a drawstring to undo it and emptied the bag full of jerseys out.

“Forgive me for being naïve, but what exactly am I looking at?” I asked him. “I’ve seen your jerseys before… Is it because they’re actually clean for once?”

The guys all chuckled, and French shook his head, but he smiled as he picked up the one with his name and number on the back. “No. But we had a little addition made. Hope you don’t mind.” He fit the jersey over his head.

I instantly understood what he meant.

The Vipers jerseys were mostly white and black with a few hints of deep purple that glinted in the snake’s scales.