Chapter Twenty-One
Aria Bianchi
“Don’t go,” Livia said, grabbing both of my hands and holding them between her warm palms. “It’s not worth it. You’ve given enough of yourself to everyone in your life, and it’s time to put yourself first.”
I had minutes before I was going to allow a man I had never met fuck me for the sake of keeping Giovanni and Enzo alive. I had betrayed him in so many ways, but I couldn’t let it come to this. “Livia,” I said, looking deep into her eyes. Noemi’s eyes. My eyes. “I can’t.”
“You can. You can’t let this man do this to you. If you give him this, there is no going back.”
“I know,” I replied. “Just stay here and stay safe, okay?”
She stepped back and ran both hands through her hair. I should have never told her everything, but I couldn’t keep it back any longer. After going to my room and finding her, I told her everything. I told her about Enzo and how amazing he was. I told her that Dad had been manipulating me for years, and I told her that she would never be safe if she didn’t leave.
I told her that I couldn’t protect her forever and that this would be the last thing I could do.
She hadn’t reacted well, especially when I told her about Evelina and what our father intended to do with her. I told her about Jaimie and the opportunity to escape with her.
I didn’t tell her about the pregnancy.
I couldn’t tell her before I told Enzo.
“I love you,” I told her when she didn’t reply. “Please just promise me that you will do everything you can to stay safe.”
“I don’t need you to protect me anymore. I have a plan.”
I didn’t ask her what the plan was as I hugged her and walked toward the room where I knew my father would be waiting with the nameless man I had chosen. I would let him do what needed to be done if it meant keeping the people I loved safe and alive. I had lost my virginity to Enzo, and that was the most important thing. Doing this… it would mean nothing. I could distance myself from it and move on.
As long as Enzo and Giovanni survived.
As long as Evelina was released from the trade on her virtue.
I pushed through the doors of a spare bedroom and met the eyes of the man who would be my doom. My destruction. The one who wiped away what was left of the man I loved.
If I did this, there would be no going back.
Maybe I needed to acknowledge the fact that even if I did save their lives, he would hate me. He would never come back, and I would deserve that fate.
My father gave me a once over, clearly criticizing the clothes I wore. The lack of formality in my attire. I didn’t say anything as the second man in the room stepped forward and looked me over, seemingly pleased. My heart sank at the thought of him enjoying himself.
“Get to it, then,” Dad said, turning toward the door.
Every decision I had ever made flashed before me. Everything I had given. Everything I had built for myself and watched fall around me.
“No,” I told my father. “I want to hear you make the call.”
“The call?”
“I want you to call off the hit. Right now. In front of me.”
A smile pulled to his lips. “I taught you well,” he said, pulling out his phone and putting it on speaker. “Is it done?”
“Not yet, Sir. We have everyone pinned down. The sniper is in position. When they come up, we’ll have him.”
He looked at me, and I clenched my jaw. “Call it off.”
“What?” the man shouted. “We have him, Boss.”
“Call. It. Off.”
He ended the call, and a weight faded from my chest. They were still alive, and my decision would ensure that remained the case. I just had to do this.
“Proceed.”
He turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
I knew what the bargain had been. I knew what I had to do, and I tried to justify it. Every fiber of my being pushed me to do what was necessary. I was giving this man a part of my body, but only temporarily. The seed inside my womb wouldn’t belong to him. Nothing would wipe away the true lineage of my child. I just had to lay there and pretend .
I had to give this one last thing…
But I didn’t think I could.
He stepped forward, and I stepped back, lifting a hand. “Wait.”
“We’ve got to get this done, babe.”
I shook my head. I wanted to keep everyone around me safe, but at what cost? I had given everything to everyone around me. I had lost myself and forgotten that I was a fighter. Noemi always fought our father, and she didn’t stop when he threatened her. Because of that fight, she had gotten away.
Livia rebelled against him.
Evelina didn’t bend to his every whim.
I was done .
Calling off the hit would have to be enough. Hopefully it would buy Enzo and Giovanni enough time to fight back. Because I wouldn’t go through with this. I couldn’t.
“If you touch me, I’m going to kill you,” I told him.
I told Livia that I couldn’t protect her anymore, though I would still try to find a way when this was all over. Giving my body wasn’t an option. It was the only thing I had left after losing Enzo.
“What the fuck did you say to me?”
“You heard me.”
His eyes narrowed in anger, and he stepped forward. Before he could touch me, he stopped himself. His lips narrowed. “If you weren’t Alonzo’s daughter…”
He allowed his words to trail, but I knew what he meant by them.
He turned toward the door and walked out of the room. The door barely closed before Dad charged inside. “I’m going to have them killed. Both of them. Right fucking now.”
He grabbed his cell phone, but my words stopped him. The only words I knew would give Enzo and Giovanni more time. “I’m pregnant,” I told him. He paused. “I’m pregnant, and I’m not going to let you have this baby. It’s mine, and I’m done with your leverage. I’m done being used by you.”
“Pregnant?” he asked, his phone dropping back into his pocket.
“You’re going to let Evelina go, or everything I know—”
His manic laughter filled the room. “Evelina is going to be sold to the highest bidder regardless of your fate here. She’s more of a hindrance than she’s worth.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You can’t. Noemi is gone, and I’m done. You are losing everything you have left.”
“I have lost nothing ,” he shouted. “I will get back that little whore eventually, and I will bring the Russian to his knees. You and Livia will always be mine. You are my daughters, and I will use you as I please.”
He grabbed my wrist, and I went to pull it away, but his grip was bruising.
“And now, you’ve given me more leverage.”
“I gave you nothing,” I shouted, spitting in his face.
He laughed. Why was he laughing ? He dragged me toward the bed and tossed me on top of it. In the time it took me to right my body, he had my wrists handcuffed to the metal bedframe. I kicked out, but he stepped out of reach.
“I might not have killed them tonight, but when Enzo learns that his wife and child are in my hands, do you think he will stay away?”
“You’re a fool,” I screamed, shaking my arms in hopes of breaking through the metal cuff. “He will destroy you. You are nothing but a weak man who wants more power than he can handle. You can’t even keep your own daughters under your thumb. What makes you think you can keep a powerful crime syndicate running smoothly? What makes you think that you have any right being capo dei capi to a group of people who hate you and everything you stand—”
He shoved me backward, grabbing a handful of my hair and slamming the back of my head into the metal bedframe hard. My vision danced for a moment as I tried to blink away the disorientation.
“When I kill him in front of you, I am going to take my time,” he snarled. “And then I’m going to keep you alive long enough to watch Evelina be fucked by whatever man buys her. I will let you carry this baby to term, and then I will rip it from your fucking arms and let you die, knowing that I will raise it to become everything you would hate.”
When he released my head, I exhaled sharply.
“I hope he kills you,” I shouted as he walked away.
He turned back around with narrowed eyes. He began pulling the tie from his dress shirt, and I watched in horror as he straightened it out and reached for me. No amount of wiggling could stop him from tying it around the back of my head and shoving the fabric hard into my mouth.
“Oh, Aria. There are things worse than death, and your lover will experience all of them.” I would never forget the pure evil in his eyes as he said the words. “Vito, come in here,” he shouted.
His consigliere—a man just as evil and cunning as my father—stepped into the room with his hands clasped behind his back. How could this man be even half-related to Enzo? They shared a father, but that was all they shared. Nobody with an ounce of self-respect would work for my father.
“Do whatever you want while I’m taking care of business. But don’t leave this room unless I say otherwise. If your brother survives the attack, I’ll lead him straight here, and you will take care of him.”
As my dad left me and Vito alone in the room, every nerve in my body stood on end. I selfishly prayed that Enzo came for me, but as a wicked smile crossed Vito’s lips, I hoped for something else entirely. I hoped that Enzo stayed away and stayed safe. I hoped that he survived …
My choices had brought me here, and I had nobody to blame but myself.