Delivered in White (Dark Ties #4)

Chapter 1

Cipriana

In a moment of pure panic, my world submerges into blackness.

“Hel—” I try to scream, but water swirls down my throat, making me choke.

All I see amidst wavy darkness is a sparkle of light coming from overhead.

Arms flailing, scuba gear dragging me down, I can hardly remember how to adjust the air levels in the device that’s supposed to help me float.

Now my inability to swim is on full display…

I’m a spastic fool. Who screams underwater when there’s a perfectly usable hose of air right there?

When a strong hand grips my arm, I grip back with both of mine.

Desperate bubbles leak out of my nose and mouth as I’m whisked up to the surface. “ Huuu!” I inhale like I’ve been without air for minutes – even though it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds – and I fling my arms around Gil, my scuba instructor.

“Okay, screw this .” I cough, knowing my face looks stupid when I do. “That’s enough, I’m done.”

Gil laughs at me. “Oh, c’mon. You haven’t even finished your first active drill yet.”

I catch his eyes lingering on mine for too long, which makes me think he’s either a serial killer or he’s into me, and since he didn’t let me drown in a hotel pool, it’s probably the latter.

“Nope. Done! I don’t know what the hell I was thinking doing this.”

“What do you mean?” He effortlessly swims next to me as I doggie-paddle like an idiot to the edge of the pool. This gear weighs a ton! I don’t care what anyone says about ‘the water distributes the weight, it’s not that bad.’ I may as well be swimming with a bear cub on my shoulders.

“Hey. Hey .” He lifts me from under the arm when he sees me going down again, and to his credit, smoothly readjusts the air device to keep me afloat.

“You said it yourself… you wanted to actually see what you’re saving.

You’re never going to spot a dolphin or a whale sitting behind that desk eighty hours a week. ”

I grab onto the ledge, feeling a huge weight literally lift off of me.

Safety, finally. No idea what this dude sees in me.

My jet-black hair is probably plastered all over my face, considering it’s crisscrossing over my eyes, and my ex always told me I was an ugly crier.

Even though I’m not crying, panic still probably falls into the same category.

“That’s enough for today, Gil. It’s been fun.” I use my arms to pull me toward the ladder.

“It’s been all of ten minutes. You paid for two hours.”

Correction, my dad paid for two hours as a gift – and that alone gives me a mix of guilt and anxiety.

Plus, I don’t want to give this guy a bad rap, because my dad is not someone to get on the wrong side of.

He’s the criminal lawyer for the five families.

Yes, all five . Valentino, Rigiano, Barone, Scatilli, and most currently…

the Lucrazis. How the hell he hasn’t managed to get himself killed in the crossfire is beyond me.

My wet feet slap against the stone walkway as I squirm out of the scuba gear.

It’s so freakin’ humid in here – the glass floor-to-ceiling windows are all fogged up like at one of those lodges when it’s cold outside, and I still feel like I’m suffocating.

Gil follows me to the table, rushing to pull my seat out for me.

Cute, I guess. The gesture makes me consider him for a second.

Oversized ears and a kind smile, handsome enough, if I’m being honest. Kind of like a less triple-jointed Michael Phelps. But it’s not about that. He exudes the same problem my ex did. There’s no real edge to him. No fire.

I know I’m not supposed to think like that, but I can’t help it.

“Okay, level with me, Capri.” He tosses a towel at me and folds his arms on the table. “I’ve been consulting for J. Witt for five years now.”

“Uh huh, I know this. Best law firm in the world, right?” I dig through my tote for a bag of comfort-food chips, so I can forget what a goof I just made of myself.

“You have the same story as Jacky – not going the corporate route so you can save the planet.”

“Don’t be a dick.” I narrow my eyes at him.

“I’m not! I’m the same way!” Gil defends himself. “But you know… the passion fades when you’re stuck in a room full of suits all your days.”

“Mhm. I thought I’d have freed at least one Willy by now. Instead, I edited my thousandth agreement yesterday. Woopie .”

“Which leads you to me.” He smiles.

“I guess. Turns out I’m built for paper cuts only, it seems.”

“C’mon, once you cool off, let’s get back in and give it another try. I’ll be right by your side the whole time.” He tilts his head as if he’s convincing me.

He’s not.

“Maybe I’ll come back when I’m not a ball of anxiety, and a little hotel pool doesn’t feel like an ocean. Today’s just not a good day.” I get up and finish drying myself off.

“You said that last time.” Gil leans forward, almost pleading. “You’re going to be stuck in that basement with Jacky forever if you don’t start seeing the world.”

I shrug. That’s not so bad, really. Jacky is hilarious, in a sweaty, disgruntled employee sort of way.

And the rest of my lawyer crew gets along well too.

They’re not the annoying hard- ass activists who don’t laugh at a joke, but the more reasonable save-the-world types. I fit square into that little puzzle.

“I’m sorry, Gil. But on the bright side, you get paid to do whatever you want for the next two hours.”

He mumbles something about that not being true, and I dare not ask him to repeat himself in case he tries to ask me out or something, so I just head toward the women’s locker room.

“See you Monday?” I ask.

“Guess so. Please don’t tell anyone. It would burn my reputation,” he says, guilting me almost to a stop.

“I would never. This was my fault. I’m just a scared-y cat with less spine than the snakes poisoning the water. Off to that thousandth-and-one agreement. Ciao .”

“Don’t burn yourself out, Capri.” Gil sighs when he knows his efforts are lost.

I head to the women’s locker room and take out my phone.

Gil already texted me with a ‘last chance’ message that made me giggle a bit, but I’m not going for it.

Next, I scroll through my feed on social media, and my eyes nearly pop out of my head when I see Esko Lucrazi – my father’s latest client – being escorted out of the courtroom in cuffs and straight into a police van.

What the hell?

I cover my mouth. It never ends up that way.

Usually, Dad talks to the press for a minute with a sinister grin because he knows he got a guilty asshole out of jail.

Yeah, I said it. My dad’s a jerk. He says he does it all for me so we could live in a big house with nice things, but his expression tells me otherwise.

Don’t get me wrong, my big burly pillow took great care of me and made sure to pay attention whenever I needed him.

But there’s a lot of darkness surrounding us.

He loves the underworld, or at least peering into it.

Now, though? He’s in uncharted territory.

I dial him and flip my hair to one side, still ringing it out with a towel.

He doesn’t pick up. Probably busy with the press or something.

Still, a pang of worry lingers in my gut.

Slipping out of my bathing suit and into a dry set of panties, some short-shorts, a tank, and flip-flips and I’m outta’ here.

My feet still squish against my sandals on my way out of the locker room. Cool air from the hotel lobby makes me regret not drying off better, but it’s like a thousand degrees outside, just have to make it there.

“Bye, have a nice day.” I smile while dropping the keycard at the front desk and head out into the heat of summer.

The warm breeze tickles me in just the right way, up my thigh, like the world is reminding me how long it’s been since I had some.

I think of Gil’s stomach. His abs are pretty nice. Even though he’s goofy… there was a slight bulge there to be trifled with.

Oh no you don’t, wind. You’re not pushing me back there. The hell am I thinking. No!

Din-Dan-Don!

My Ring alert goes off at home, and all that the camera shows is a sheet of black. Maybe a leaf fell over it or something. Dad must be getting home.

As I beep open my two-year-old baby – my white Audi A4 – I try him again only to get his voicemail.

“Daddy, I saw the news. I’m sorry. Hope everything is okay. Please call me back as soon as you’re settled in.”

I scoff and throw the phone on the passenger’s seat. Usually I’m not shy in telling him what a jerk he is for defending those murderers, but today I’m a little worried about him. The Lucrazis aren’t known for rewarding failure.

Maybe this was all part of the plan, or something.

A reduced sentence only my father could get?

Esko was probably done for with some bombshell evidence that no one could squirm out of.

Serves my dad right, honestly. He thinks he’s invincible half the time.

Everyone should be knocked on their ass once in a while.

Heck, I get slapped around all day – metaphorically speaking.

And by metaphorically, I mean by the type of work I’m given.

None of the partners would dare talk down to me directly, because of my last name.

Cipriana Dotelli, daughter of the infamous Rocco Dotelli. Everyone calls me Capri, though. And by everyone, I mean my four friends at work and all of the ghost men I wish I were dating.

I’m not a prude, I swear. Things just… never clicked for me. Twenty-four good years, and I’ve never had an orgasm while a flesh rod was inside me. A rubber one though, and by my own hand, well, that’s a different story.

Whatever.