Chapter 6
I brush my knees off, standing up and reluctantly following him down the main set of stairs and through the lower floor of the apartment. He’s wearing relax-fit jeans and a white T-shirt that only accentuate his stupidly big muscles. That pisses me off even more. He’s so… just so annoying and stuck in my head. Why on earth did I ever kiss him all those months ago? I should have just had some damn self-control, because now he thinks he has something over me, I just know it.
He stops when he comes to a black door, shoving it open. “Home gym,” he explains, showing me inside. “Since you and your brother can’t leave easily, I’ve made sure you will be comfortable here. We do a gym session at seven a.m. and again at four p.m. You will be expected to attend. After what I saw this morning, I won’t be negotiating.”
I scrunch up my face at him. I didn’t particularly hate our sessions together; in fact, most of the time I found them empowering. But sparring with him is dangerous territory. I’m not surprised to see it’s fully equipped just like the boys’ was, but that wasn’t where we are headed because he closes the door just as quickly, moving on to another black door across the hallway. This one opens into a massive workspace, with desks and its own kitchenette.
“You set all this up overnight?” I quiz him.
He laughs but doesn’t answer me. I guess that was my answer. Of course he didn’t. Geovani has been meticulously planning our arrival for a long time.
We find Dani typing away at a computer, and she smiles sweetly as we pass her. Marco is at another desk down at the back of the space, deeply engrossed in a heated conversation on his cell. He doesn’t seem to notice us, but I’m dying to get him alone so we can talk. I want to know what he makes of all this and what’s really going on with him and Dani.
“This is your desk. Food is kept in the kitchenette, and any special requirements let Dani know and she will add them to the list. You’re welcome to take breaks whenever you like, I don’t care what hours you work as long as we get the daily tasks done.”
My eyes sweep across the desk, taking in the neat stacks of books and the pen lying haphazardly on top. It’s just a white desk with an Apple computer sitting in the center of it. Looks like the latest model. Lying over the keyboard is a stack of papers. Geovani collects them up and shoves them toward me.
“Read this over, then sign. Any questions, I will be over there.” He points to a larger desk with a wall of computer monitors. He looks me over with concern. “Maybe make yourself a coffee and something to eat first. You look like you’re about to pass out,” he adds, his tone way too bossy for my liking. Then he walks away, leaving me staring at his back. Well, if I’m being honest, his ass. It’s mighty fine in those jeans.
I’m so fucking screwed locked up in this place with him. One bed we have to share, getting all sweaty when working out together, and sharing an office where he’s the boss! He’s created a psychological pressure cooker, eagerly awaiting the moment when I implode, kissing him like I did last time.
My head spins, and I take hold of my desk so I don’t go over. He might be a domineering asshole, but he’s right, I’m feeling light-headed. The lack of food over the last twenty-four hours may be a contributing factor, but all this is definitely a lot to take in. When I’m feeling more stable, I move past the desks and into the kitchenette, placing the contract down on the circular dining table. Opening and closing cupboards until I locate the mugs, I reach up and take one and get to making myself a coffee. Stacked in a basket on the counter are fresh pastries. I take one, knowing starving myself is just not an option. I am way too scared to take anything these people have to offer, but I am only making myself weaker and punishing myself at this point. They have no reason to drug me again. At least I don’t think they do. I sniff the pastry just to be sure, but it smells okay.
I find a seat, sipping my hot beverage as I scan over the contracts. One is an employment contract; it looks pretty straightforward. The other is a partnership agreement, outlining each of our roles and responsibility, ownership stakes and profit sharing, compensation and payment structure, and duration of the contract. From what I can see it all looks very fair. Dani and Geovani will help me run my businesses for a term of six months and be compensated for their time. After that time, it’s up to me if I still require their assistance or not. But it’s the final page that has me sitting a little taller in my seat.
It’s an NDA stating I can’t breathe a word of what goes on in these four walls to another soul. Not that I could anyway, who am I going to tell about it when I’m stuck here. The reality of what I’m signing up for sets in. This isn’t just a job and a way of accessing what my papa was working on. It’s illegal, and if I get caught, I will go to prison.
I tear a small piece of pastry and place it on my tongue. The delicious buttery flavor revitalizes my taste buds. I inhale the rest then wash it down with some coffee. To sign or not, that’s the question—or is it? At this point I don’t really have a lot of other options, and I really want his help with Enzo.
“Need a pen?” Dani says quizzically, leaning against the kitchen counter casually.
“I don’t need anything from you,” I snap, flicking my attention back to the papers shaking in my hands. This whole scenario makes me so anxious.
Dani ignores my coldness, pulling up the seat beside me. With my resting bitch face firmly in place, I scan over her, in her pencil skirt and blouse. She’s wearing her hair up in a top knot bun and has a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose. She’s like a completely different girl from the one I met in the grocery store.
“Please don’t hate me, Lana. I know I lied to you, but you were the closest girlfriend I ever had, and I didn’t lie to you about everything, just what I was doing at the diner. The rest, all my stories, the things I did to survive when I was younger, it was all true.” Her kind eyes meet mine, softening me a little. If the research Maddox did on her was true, she went through hell growing up and has every right to be trying to better her life rubbing shoulders with the likes of Geovani.
“Why are you working here? You must know how dangerous it is. Couldn’t you get a normal job, one that won’t get you killed?”
Despite her casual shrug, a hint of urgency in her eyes that contradicts her nonchalant demeanor—she clearly understands the gravity of the situation she has herself in. “He saved me.” She glances over her shoulder in Geovani’s direction. “Found me passed out in the back alley of a club. My boyfriend at the time, Johny, had beaten the shit out of me and left me to die after deciding I was good for nothing. Geovani picked me up… cleaned me up, taught me how to protect myself and how to work these systems. Turns out I was good at something after all. Thanks, Johny.”
Guilt eats at me for being such a bitch to her. She might have drugged me, but she did it to save me and get me out of a terrible situation, not to hurt me. Her heart was in the right place, I just don’t understand why they didn’t just tell me that they were trying to get me out of there. I wouldn’t have fought them if they gave me a way out. I would have gladly taken off. “I’m so sorry for everything you went through, Dani.”
“Maybe life stitched us up. Gave us a bad hand. But working here, we can take the control back.” She smiles softly. She thinks this place is awesome, I can see it. But I’m not so sure.
“Maybe you can,” I huff, feeling defeated by the situation I’m now stuck in.
“You can too.” She pats my shoulder softly. “Look, I’m so sorry about drugging you, girl. But you don’t know what we were up against. It was scary, we didn’t have any other choice. I’ve never seen him so distressed. You did a real number on him. The poor man is obsessed with you.”
Confused, I cast a quick glance in her direction, then over to Geovani to see if he’s watching us. He looks preoccupied with something on his computer screen, and he’s wearing earphones, so I would say he’s not. “What do you mean?” I ask, dying to know every detail of what happened after I took off.
“Geovani. He would have stopped at nothing until you were back here with him safe. I mean nothing. He tried to come after you, but I left it too late to call him and you had too much of a head start. By the time he got to the caves you were already inside. Did you know he and Alessandro got into it? Geovani came back here all busted up and shit.” She sighs heavily. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have let you leave the diner, but you looked so panicked after you saw Ricky and Maddox, I thought you were taking off to go home and hide, not chase after them with a death wish.”
“You knew who they were?” I ask, confused. She’s an excellent actor because I had no idea.
“Yeah, that’s why I pointed them out to you. I wanted to see if you recognized them. You shocked the shit out of me by running after them. That was the last thing I thought you would do.”
“Alessandro and Ricky are going to go ballistic when they find out I’m here with Geovani,” I whisper, knowing he’s not going to give me up easily and neither is Ricky. Maddox must have been desperate to protect me, or I know he wouldn’t have left me here with him.
“That’s why you need something for yourself when they come for you. Do you want to live your life for a man who only wants to control you, or do you want to be like me and learn how this place works? Get some power back? I can show you everything I know. You are smart, and I know you’ll pick it up quickly.” She hands me a pen. “Sign it. It will be the best decision you could ever make, trust me.”
Trust her? I’m not so sure about that anymore, but I know I really have no choice. She’s right, I don’t want to end up some thug’s arm candy. I want my independence. “Can you get this contract amended for me? I want Marco’s name on there as co-owners of all the Havardi businesses.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It’s his legacy as well.”
“Sure, sign these for me so we can get started. I will talk with our attorney and have your brother included in the contracts as well.”
I pop the top off the pen and sign away my life, feeling a flutter of excitement, knowing I was able to make this decision.
“You’re going to make more money than you know what to do with, girl.” Her eyes sparkle with excitement as she takes the contracts and NDA from me.
Nervously, I let out a forced laugh. Money has never been my number one concern, as long as I have enough to get by. But these last few months have taught me some tough lessons. Money makes you powerful in this world. I want the threat of Enzo and Carlo dealt with before they have a chance to hurt my brother or me. I might just need a little money to influence the help I need.
She bumps my arm, looking in Geovani’s direction. “Let’s face it, girl, you may have lost the Moretti boys, but we both know how you feel about Geovani, your hot, older trainer.” She winks at me.
I cringe, covering my face with embarrassment, feeling like I’m back in high school. Why did I ever tell her I was crushing on him.
She giggles, taking my hand and pulling me up to standing with her. “Come on, girl, we’re already behind for the day.”
I follow her to her messy desk. There are books piled high on either side of the computer and notepads with scribbled handwriting. Hanging on the wall over it is a pinboard with images, names, and locations pinned on it. It looks like something you would see in one of those detective movies, where they keep all the evidence of a crime. “What’s all of this?” I motion to the board.
“Everything we currently know about Carlo.” She smirks. “We have everything, from who he fucked, to what he ate for breakfast the next morning. At least we did until the night he tried to take you, when he disappeared. He’s not using his cell, and his car is still sitting in a heap on the side of that swamp.”
I look over the images and scribbled notes more closely. There are even bank statements. “How do you get this kind of information on someone?”
“Geovani’s a whiz at tracking people.”
“I bet he is,” I say with a little too much sarcasm in my voice. “If you lost him, what do you do now?” I ask, a little fear creeping into my voice. This all only works if we can track Carlo and he can lead us to Enzo.
She gives me a reassuring smile. “Geovani thinks Enzo’s hiding him. But don’t worry, it won’t be long before he works out where. Geovani has eyes and ears everywhere, especially on the Morettis.”
I look at the women he’s pictured with, their smiles radiating joy and warmth. They all looked so young and beautiful, and it makes me feel uneasy for them. “What do they find so captivating about him?”
“Money, girl. It’s all about money. Don’t ever think it’s not with girls like these.”
I blink back at her, wondering what she’s implying. “Is that why you’re with Marco?” I ask, keeping my voice low so he can’t hear us. Across the room, he remains engrossed in his phone, oblivious to the two of us.
“Nope. I’d be into him even if he was broke, babe. Marco’s someone special.”
Her voice carries a conviction that makes me believe every word she says. She is completely infatuated with him. Maybe Geovani was wrong and love still exists. “He is,” I agree with her. “When did you meet him?”
“That night you invited me to the Flamingo Hotel with you and the boys.” She smiles like she’s remembering. “Don’t know what was going on with you lot, but I sure was grateful that Marco saved me. I was there for information and got a little more than I bargained for.” She laughs, taking my hand. “I’m not sure if you believe in this shit or not, but with Marco, as soon as I looked into his big brown eyes, I knew I was his and he would be mine.”
I can’t help but smile back at her, touched by her sweetness. I really hope it’s all true. I glance over at Geovani, trying to gauge if he’s paying attention to our conversation. The headphones are now off, so he could be, but we’re far enough away that he would have to strain his old ears to hear us if he is. I lean in so he can’t hear me just in case. “If Carlo is out there with a new chick every night, what happened to Geovani’s ma?”
She glances his way, rolling her lips, then shakes her head like she won’t answer. Or can’t. “Come on, let me show you how to use your computer.”
We spend the next three hours going over exactly what I need to know about their operations. I’m even more overwhelmed than I was this morning, but I do feel like with her help, I’ll be able to work it out. Marco has kept his distance all day, spending most of it on the phone, but I’m dying to talk to him alone and find out what he makes of all these secrets and lies.
The doorbell chimes, and Dani leaves the office to answer it, coming back not too long after with a massive box. She dumps it beside my desk. It even gets Geovani’s attention, and he comes over to see what’s in the box.
“Is it safe to open?” I quiz them.
“Yeah, I scanned it,” she answers, slicing a Stanley knife through the top tape. I have no idea what her scanning it means, but I’ll go with it.
I pop open the top, laughing out loud when I see what’s inside. A bottle of my shampoo and conditioner, along with all the same face and hair products I had at the boys’ place. There is also a note that just says Maddox and an X. I swoon a little, smiling to myself. He couldn’t stand my hair not smelling right.
Geovani raises a brow in question, and Dani smirks knowingly. “This must be some magic stuff, the way all the boys fall for you.” She winks, opening the top of the conditioner bottle and having a sniff. “Yep, I’m in love with you now, girl.” She laughs.
I grab the bottle back from her, not liking the way Geovani’s fists are clenched at his side with what she is insinuating.
“That’s enough excitement. Back to work,” he mutters dryly, moving toward his desk.
Dani smirks at me playfully, and I can’t help but laugh back, watching him go. Yeah, this cozy little scenario just got a hell of a lot more complicated.