Chapter Sixteen
Aria Bianchi
“I know it might be a foolish idea since there was just an assassination attempt on you a few days ago, so if you turn it down, that’s okay. I can always do something else…”
Was I rambling?
Giovanni leaned back in his office chair, resting his chin on a closed fist. “Please get to the request.”
I bit my bottom lip and balled my fists at my sides.
“I want to throw a birthday party for Enzo. He’s turning thirty, and that’s such a big one. Jaimie told me he would usually go out to dinner with Mauro and Lia. If we don’t do anything, I think he’ll feel the loss more.”
The words made my stomach churn as I considered the reason I had even called a meeting with Giovanni on such short notice. He had invited me to his home, and after going through rigorous security checks, I was invited up to his home office, where he sat wearing a pair of bifocals that made him look ten years older than he was.
Giovanni immediately looked up and took off the glasses. He had welcomed me with a warm smile that had my gut churning with anxiety and immediate regret.
Maybe Enzo would find a way to get to my father before the birthday party…
“He’s never been fond of large gatherings given his profession,” Giovanni stated. “Unless necessary, we try to avoid anything of the magnitude.”
“I wasn’t thinking of a huge party. More of an intimate setting with close family and friends. It could be wherever you feel is safest, but I was thinking we could have it at his house where he would be comfortable.”
His house with large bay windows in two different directions.
Evelina needed me to follow through with this. She didn’t deserve to have her body and soul manipulated because I made the wrong choice.
Giovanni nodded in agreement. “His house is secure enough,” Giovanni said with a nod. “But there is the issue of the Bianchis orchestrating something else with so many of us gathered together.”
I put my head down and nodded twice quickly. “You’re right. I just don’t want him to be alone. I’m afraid that anything less than a get-together would leave room for the memories of the years before.”
This would be his first birthday without his family, and Giovanni knew that. His eyes softened, and he sighed. I needed to convince him of this or something else. I supposed something with just Giovanni and Enzo would be effective. But if it was too small, the odds of the shot hitting the mark were substantially higher.
I wanted to do my part for the sake of Evelina. But I didn’t want to make it easy on the sniper.
I didn’t want him to kill Giovanni.
I was playing a game too large and with too many stakes. I wasn’t made for this.
“You’re right. Enzo does a lot for all of us, and he deserves to be celebrated. We can make it happen.”
I faked excitement as I grinned. “What can I do to make it happen?”
“Well,” he said, leaning forward. “I will have guards in position all around the house, and we’ll keep the party exclusively between close family. I won’t let word get out to anyone but those invited and those catering.”
“I can arrange the caterers.”
He agreed with a short nod. “I’ll let you pick colors and foods. You can plan and organize everything if that’s what you want. Anything involving people will go through me. I have to vet the people involved in the process properly. Especially in light of recent events.”
His eyes went hard, but he turned his attention away and glanced at something on his computer screen. After a few seconds, he looked back toward me. The anger had been buried.
“Speaking of that… situation. I had another reason for inviting you here instead of a more official office.”
I straightened, my smile fading before I could control it. “What is that?”
“Enzo told me about your father.” My lips formed into a line. I knew he would, but it felt too personal for someone else to know. Of course, Enzo had to tell him. I knew he would. Giovanni needed to know so that he could put everything into motion.
“I’m sorry you had to endure him for so long before coming here. We will never treat you so horribly. You will always have respect from us here, and when we get your sisters out, the same can be promised of them.”
“I don’t want them forced into a marriage like me,” I said without thought.
He nodded. “I don’t force anyone to marry here. Those who are willing will be matched accordingly. Once this situation is taken care of, Aria, if you no longer want to be married to my nephew, you will have my protection and can go and do as you wish. We don’t plan on keeping you captive here.”
Everything began unraveling around me. My nausea grew, and I held my breath to keep the contents of my stomach at bay. They offered everything I have ever wanted. Safety. Freedom. Safety for my sisters .
And still, my father had the upper hand.
I should tell him what was to come. He deserved to know the full truth, but there was still the situation with Evelina. If Giovanni didn’t actually have the power he claimed to have—if he failed at taking out my father—she’d be the collateral.
Risking her wasn’t worth anything.
“You can go, Aria. I know this is a difficult situation. I will be in touch regarding the birthday plans. I assume you want to have it on his birthday?”
Yes, let’s let his birthday be overshadowed with a family death.
“That would be great.”
I turned and walked out of his office, but I couldn’t hold my heaving at bay. I rushed toward the nearest bathroom, fortunately finding it only two rooms down, and slammed the door behind me before dropping to my knees. Everything came rolling up my throat, worsened by the image of Giovanni dead on Enzo’s pearly white living room rug.
As my stomach settled, my eyes caught on the basket of feminine hygiene items at the back of the toilet, and I paused, considering my last period. It had been…
I counted the days on my fingers before my stomach sank. I should have started three days ago.
* * * *
I set the pregnancy test on the side of the sink, my eyes locked on the digital progress bar.
It would come back negative. It had to.
But… we hadn’t used protection. So if it didn’t come back negative, would it really be a surprise?
A sharp knock sounded on the door, and I grabbed the hand towel quickly, flinging it over the test. I rushed to the door and found Jaimie on the other side.
“What?” I asked.
Her mouth popped open for a second, then shut. “You don’t need to be snippy. You’ve been in there for twenty minutes. Is everything okay?”
I nodded and stepped out, closing the door behind me.
“Just not feeling super well,” I replied with a shrug. “I think I have food poisoning.”
She nodded, accepting my claim without a second thought.
But since talking to Giovanni, there was one last thing I wanted to try—one avenue that could still be explored before I told my father about the birthday party.
“I need you to do something you told me you don’t like to do.”
She chuckled. “What would that be?”
“Going against my father.”
Any lingering amusement faded. “If I do that, I lose half of New York City as clients. And I’ll have a target on my back. Do you know how hard my job is when I have a target on my back?”
“I can imagine.”
“I need a damn good reason to ostracize myself from half of my clientele.”
She wasn’t saying no. That was a start.
“Do you like working for my father and his men?”
“Of course, I don’t. But they pay me the same as everyone else.”
I took a deep breath. “I have two sisters who live in that house, and I have reason to believe he is going to either kill them or sell them for their virginity. He’s going to destroy their lives if I don’t get them out, and you’re the only one who can go inside without him batting an eye.”
Her jaw ticked in the same way as Enzo’s had. “This job is my livelihood, and I don’t risk myself for women I’ve never met.”
“Name your price.”
“There isn’t a price on this, Aria. This is a betrayal.”
I was getting good at betraying people, so I didn’t even flinch. “Enzo is going to take him out. He’s not going to be a threat for long.”
“Then why can’t you wait for them to get your sisters out?”
“What if they fail?” I pushed. “Jaimie, I know you don’t do friends. I know we’re only here together because you were hired to watch out for me. That’s fine. But I’ll pay anything to get both of them out. I’ll do anything. I can’t let him hurt them. If he realizes Enzo and Giovanni are coming, he’ll use them as collateral, and I can’t let that happen.”
She stared into my face with so little expressiveness that my heart sank. She wouldn’t help me. Of course, she wouldn’t. There was too much at stake for her.
“What will he do to them?” she finally asked.
“I have no way of knowing, but he’s threatened to auction off their virginity. He beats them. He’ll use them to get what he wants. He has no limits, Jaimie. He has no morals.”
She turned her back and walked away, putting both hands over her head as if the decision was a difficult, exasperating one.
“Fine,” she exclaimed. “I’ll see if I can find and get my hands on them.”
“How much do you want?” I asked.
She looked back at me and clicked her tongue once. “I don’t usually do friends, but you’ve grown on me.”
She said nothing more as she walked away. I stood and gaped at her for just a moment. Even when she walked out of sight, I couldn’t believe what had just happened. It made something inside of me shift.
For the first time, it felt like this situation may go my way after all.
I stepped back and into the bathroom with my new sense of hope. I walked back to the sink and lifted the bath towel, ready to see the results of the test I had taken.
Just like that, there was another factor in this entire situation.
Pregnant.