Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
B ack to America
Symphony
A year later …
I took the test and played for the audition like Michael and Uri asked me to. Now I will be attending school here in America. I miss Michael already.
Uri and Annabella were the ones to bring me here. Michael had to tend to some business. I think I’m glad he wasn’t the one to bring me.
I wouldn’t have been able to say goodbye. Now that I know why I took the test, I would have failed it if I knew school would take me away from him. Looking around my new room, I don’t like anything about it.
I want to go back home. I swipe at my tears and continue to put my things away. I can’t help but wonder if Michael wanted to send me away because he’s twenty-one now.
I have turned sixteen, but nothing has changed between us. I’ve never kissed my husband, and I haven’t told him about my crush. I feel silly now that I’m here and he’s in Italy.
This place is so noisy. It’s not like our home in the countryside back in Italy. I don’t know if I will like Chicago. I will try my best to do well here, but I will long for home with each day.
“Ms. Symphony,” Adriano calls as he knocks on the door and peeks his head into the room.
I drop the jeans I just took from my suitcase and turn to look at him. He is the only one here that I know. Uri and Annabella have left to return home without me.
“Yes?” I whisper.
“Would you like to have dinner soon?”
“No. I don’t want to eat alone. I will skip dinner,” I murmur.
“You don’t have to eat alone, Ms. Symphony. I will eat with you if you like.”
“You don’t have to call me that. You are older than I am. My husband isn’t here to scold you. You can call me just Symphony or Sim.”
I give a wobbly smile as I say the name Michael gave me. I can’t help wondering what I did to make him send me so far away. There had to be a music school closer to my family.
They are the only friends I have and now I have no one. I shove my hands into my pockets to keep me from falling into old habits. I blow out a breath and sniffle.
“Come on downstairs, Sim. I will have dinner with you. You shouldn’t cry. This is a great opportunity for you. Michael only wants the best for you,” Adriano says gently.
I nod my head and slowly start from the room. I guess it is a great opportunity. I’m happy I will get to study music.
Adriano’s phone rings as he walks beside me. My ears perk up at the mention of Michael. I lick my suddenly dry lips as I try to listen in to the conversation.
“She’s right here. Would you like to speak with her?”
I don’t realize I’m holding my breath until Adriano hands me the phone. I take it clumsily and press it to my ear. I chide myself as I stand waiting for Michael to speak instead of letting him know I am on the line.
“Sim, are you there?”
“Yes, this is me, Symphony. Hello, Michael. How are you?”
“Hello, Sim. I am well. How are you liking Chicago? Are you getting settled in?”
“It is okay. It’s not like our home. I will make do.”
“I miss your playing already. The house feels so empty without you,” he says.
“I will be there in spirit. At least until I can come home and be there with you.”
Michael falls silent on the other end. A ball begins to form in my belly. I don’t like this feeling. Something tells me I’m not going back home.
“Michael?” I whisper.
“I will always do what’s best for you, Sim. I need you to understand and remember that. This is what’s best.”
“Okay. I will do my best. I will make you proud of me. I won’t forget my training and I will try to make new friends, I promise,” I say as my voice shakes and more tears fall.
“I know you will. You are my brave girl. I will talk to you soon, bella . Be good.”
“I will be waiting for your call. Be safe, Michael. I will miss you.”
“I will miss you too, cara .”
With that, he ends the call. I stand holding Adriano’s phone as I stare down at it. My heart is heavy, and I am a bit confused.
Handing Adriano back his phone, I follow him downstairs. However, as we get to the foot of the stairs, the lights all go out. I thread my brows and begin to look around.
“Stay close and keep behind me,” Adriano whispers.
No sooner than he says the words, gunshots begin to ring out. Adriano pulls his guns and tries to lead me to safety. However, we don’t make it across the foyer before Adriano is hit. He grunts as he stumbles back and grabs for me to cover me with his body.
“I need to get you upstairs,” he grinds out.
“No, you need to hand me your pistols. It’s the only way we are going to survive. My vests are upstairs. I am unarmed.”
“Michael and Uri will kill me.”
“No, these people will kill you and me. Now give me the guns so I can save our lives,” I hiss back.
He hands me one of his guns and I roll my eyes. I then dip and grab the one I know he keeps at his ankle and the extra clip with it. With the two guns in my hands, I spin and take aim.
The streetlights illuminate my vision enough for me to see my targets and begin to take them out. I take down two and stand to my full height. Adriano limps at my side, trying to help. We work together at first, but he is hit again and falls to the ground.
Anger rocks through me. I am here alone, and someone is trying to kill me. They will not succeed.
I run across the black and white checkered marble floors and slip behind one of the large pillars for cover. I have to leave Adriano behind for now.
I focus and home in on the men shooting at me. All my training over the last year kicks in and I keep aiming and shooting. As I zone in, I count five more men moving in on me.
I narrow my gaze on the guy leading them. He lifts his hand and signals for the others to wait. I aim right for his head and take him out before he can drop his hand back to his side.
Before the other four fan out and disappear from my reach, I step slightly from behind the pillar, then tuck and roll out of my hiding place. As I come up on my toes, I aim and shoot the first two.
Quickly, I run to the next pillar and take up a hiding place behind it. Shots are fired, but they spray the floor and hit the pillar and not me. I spin out from the other side of the pillar and run toward the two shooting. I drop and slide on my hip as I take out their legs.
They both drop to the ground. I come up and go to stand over them. Without blinking, I pump two into each of their chests.
At least one of my guns is empty, but there are no more threats. I rush to Adriano and drop to his side. He’s bleeding heavily. I pull him into my arms and begin to rock.
“We’re okay. We’re okay,” I murmur as I rock.
Uri
“We need to turn around now,” Annabella gasps from beside me.
“What is it? What’s happening?”
“The alarm system I programmed has been triggered. The property has been breached.”
“Fuck,” I hiss and turn the car around.
Not caring about anything else, I floor it back to the brownstone we just left Symphony in. Symphony was accepted to schools in New York, Chicago, and Boston. We chose Chicago because when I do come to the States, I spend a lot of time here. My uncle is also here.
That might have been a mistake. Leonardo is aware of these facts. However, I didn’t think he would be bold enough to pull some shit like this.
This is a show of disrespect to me and the Donati family. I am going to call for his bloody fucking head. I drive like a madman through these Chicago streets, praying I get to Sim before something happens to her.
Michael cares deeply for the girl and this will devastate him. As I turn into the block of the house, I note the cars outside that don’t belong to any of the men we left here.
I race from the car before I barely shift into park. Annabella hops out with me, her own gun drawn. I wave for her to hang back, but she ignores me as we step over bodies to get inside.
I have lost a few men. Annabella stops to check our guys’ pulses to make sure we have indeed lost them. I continue into the house. More bodies line the floor, along with pools of blood.
It looks like a bloodbath. However, it’s once I get beyond the main foyer to the open area that feeds into the living area, kitchen, dining area, and study that I find a sight I’m not expecting to find.
“Stay with me. Stay with me. We’re okay. We’re okay,” Sim says as she rocks with Adriano pressed against her chest.
Still holding a gun in her palm, she runs her forearm under her nose. I glance around and my chest swells with pride. This is her handiwork. She did well.
“Annabella, you are needed in here. Adriano is down,” I call out as I pull my phone and get to making calls.
I haven’t been here for more than forty-eight hours, and I have a mess for my uncle to clean up. I sigh. Symphony won’t be staying in Chicago after all.
Boston had been my first choice. The estate there is brand new, and the place is like a fortress. There, she won’t need the protection of my family because no one will get onto the property without losing their lives. Michael will just have to trust my judgment.
We tried things his way. Now we will do them mine. I will spend the next two months with her to get her settled in. Business will have to wait.