Unspoken Betrayal (Casino King)

11. Vitorio

Iam furious that she put herself in danger like that, but so relieved that I have her safe with me now. She is sitting in the car, next to me, her hands in her lap as she twists her fingers nervously.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going, baby girl? What if something had happened to you?"

"I don't know who I can trust, Vitorio." She replies without looking at me.

I reach out and pull her close to me. "Nicki, don't you get it. They would have killed you, just for being there, just for annoying them. I already told you that we have to be careful with how we go about things, and you definitely can't just go walking into the darkest nightclub in the city, looking completely out of place, far too beautiful to be there, and expect things to go smoothly." I am biting back the anger, knowing that it related more to the fear that I almost lost her, and not actually at her.

"I know, but what must I do? Just sit back and wait for information to find me? That isn't how this works."

"You have been actively avoiding me. Don't think I haven't noticed. I thought we were going to work on finding out the truth together. You can't do this alone. It is far too dangerous. Can't you see that you need me? Why do you insist on pushing me away when all I want to do is protect you and help you?"

"I think you saved my life tonight, and my friend's. Thank you." She whispers. I don't even want to get into a discussion about her friend and how he had his hands all over her. He is lucky I didn't leave him in the club to fend for himself. Just the fact that he was stupid enough to let her go in there with him, enrages me to the point of blind anger.

I know I would never have actually left him in there, not if he is someone Nicki cares about, but he deserves to feel pain for the risk of taking her there.

I take a deep breath, trying to refocus my thoughts.

"I did save your life. But still, you don't trust me. Why?"

She glances towards me, and her hazel eyes are a shade darker than they normally are.

"Because of what I found out earlier this week."

"And what was that?"

"That strange woman who came to talk to me at the casino when I was out on the balcony. I found out her name. She went missing at the same time of my father's death. Everyone thought she was dead as well. Everything I find out connects back to your family, Vitorio. Someone in your family is responsible for my father's death, and the same person forced that woman to go into hiding, fearing for her life."

"What does that have to do with this club?"

"I'm not sure. We thought she might be hiding out here."

I snarl. If someone is hiding out here, they have to be incredibly desperate or incredibly stupid.

I sit quietly as we drive through the city and think about what she has told me. The idea that someone in my family betrayed Nicki's father, is filling me with such heated anger that I am struggling to keep my cool. My family is supposed to be honorable and handle their business like men, not cowards.

If someone who carries the Vitali name has done this to her, I have to get to the bottom of it.

"Nicki, I am going to say it again, and this time you have to hear me. I am going to find out what happened, no matter where the truth leads, I won't try to hide it from you. If my family did this to your father, they will pay, whoever it was. I promise you that. But you have to work with me. You have to let me protect you."

I stare down at her, as she moves her body closer to mine. She rests her head against my chest, and I stroke her long hair. "I will burn cities to the ground to keep you safe," I whisper against her hair.

She closes her eyes. "I was so scared before you came to the club. I thought we were going to die." She sighs.

"I've got you now, baby girl. You are safe with me."

No matter how much I fight against it or try to deny it, I know I am falling for her. Head over heels. Madly, obsessively, and entirely, I am falling for her.

Suddenly Nicki lifts her head off my shoulder. "Vitorio, this is not the way to my house."

"I am not letting you sleep alone tonight, Nicki. You are coming home with me. That way I know you are safe."

She turns to stare at me in shock, but then her eyes soften. A glimmer of fear, and then acceptance that she won't feel safe alone. She rests her head on my shoulder again and for the rest of the drive to my penthouse, she lets me hold her as we travel in silence.

Nicki looks nervous as she slides beneath the covers of my bed wearing an oversized shirt I gave her. "Just lay here with me," I say gently, as I hold the blankets up for her.

She nods, but her body looks tense as she lays on her back staring at the ceiling.

I chuckle.

Then I pull her close to me, maneuvering her so that her back is against my chest. My arms are wrapped protectively around her.

At first, I can feel she is reluctant, perhaps worried, but after a little while her body relaxes into mine.

"Nicki, what were you doing there?" I say, as carefully as I can, because I am angry that she put herself at risk like that, but I need to tread carefully so that I don't push her away.

She sighs softly. I wait a few seconds, letting her gather her thoughts.

"That woman who approached me at the casino on the night of the poker game - I found out that she was associated with my father - and with your family. Everything that the investigator, Daniel, finds out - it all links back to your family, Vitorio. Someone in your family had something to do with this."

"Who is that woman then?" I feel my stomach knot at the idea that someone in my family betrayed her father. I don't want to believe it, but I also can't just push it aside if she is finding evidence to support her claims.

"Her name is Sasha. I don't know who she is exactly. But at the time of my father's death, she disappeared as well. They thought she was dead, but then she shows up at the casino and looks scared for her life - hiding her face - and warning me about your family. The investigator saw footage of her going into that nightclub, and we thought it would be a good idea to show her photograph around there a little bit to try and see if we could get in contact with her. She might have all of the answers we are looking for. She was there. She knew my father."

I feel my jaw muscles clench -- the muscles feathering as I let her words sink in.

Finally, wrapping my arm tighter around her waist, I nuzzle my face into her neck, letting the scent of her skin wash over me.

"Let me help you with this. You can't just be running around with random guys, going into dangerous places like that. Rather work with me, Nicki."

"That was Danny - the investigator. He is like a brother to me, he would never let anything happen to me." She says defensively.

"He didn't have control of the situation tonight. You have to see that."

She is quiet for a moment.

"Danny is a good man."

"I'm not arguing his integrity. I am only saying that I am the only one who I trust to keep you safe."

In the dark, she is quiet and contemplative for a moment.

"OK, I will work with you. But Vitorio, if it is your family, then you have to understand that I am putting myself at risk by having you find that out with me."

"I promise you, Nicki, you will never be in danger from me. If it is my family, then I will deal with them. If it isn't my family, I would like to work alongside you to clear their name."

She nods.

"No more secrets and no more avoiding me, baby girl."

"OK."

She falls asleep in my arms, and I lay awake, feeling the curve of her body against mine, and doing everything I can to not let my hands roam her beautiful, soft skin.

I don't ever want to let her out of my sight again.

I have to protect her.

A week later, Nicki and I are sitting at the breakfast table, out on my balcony.

"Vitorio, that is terrible." She says, looking miserable.

"I know, but as bad as it is, it also tells us we are on the right path."

"But people are going missing." Her eyes are wide with shock.

I was just informed by one of my security guards that the man we questioned yesterday morning has gone missing. He didn't show up at work today, and no one can reach him at home or on his phone.

This is fast becoming a common pattern. Every time we find someone who we think is connected to this mess, or who we believe can shed some light on what happened, we reach out to them - and shortly after that, they disappear. It looks bad. It looks very bad.

Some of them give us small pieces of information, like another name, or another person to talk to, others are too scared to say anything. But the deeper we go into the network of mafia connections - the more dangerous it is.

"People are going out of their way, making very big moves, to keep the truth from us, baby girl. But I won't stop pushing until I know what happened."

I reach across the table and take her hand, gently running my fingers over her skin.

"What if they are all dead? All of the people who have tried to help us."

"We don't know that for sure."

In all likelihood, they are dead. People don't just go missing like that, not so consistently.

The other part of this entire investigation that is bothering me, more than anything else we have discovered, is that my brother's name keeps popping up in connection to human trafficking.

I know this cannot be right. I know this has to be those rivals who are tainting my family name. They are somehow getting people to believe it is my brother running the show, of this dark, disgusting, and twisted business of human trafficking.

I move the scrambled eggs around my plate with the fork. My appetite is gone. The stress of this last week is weighing down on me, and I am becoming more and more worried about Nicki's safety. I haven't let her go home, apart from when I took her there myself so that she could collect some of her things.

There is something so sinister going on here, and I did not realize how bad it was until I started pushing harder for the truth - for Nicki's sake - because I want to do everything I can to help her.

The lies and hidden agendas are so deep that it is almost impossible to understand any of them.

"Do you think there is any chance your brother is involved?" she asks quietly, knowing it is a sensitive topic for me.

"Luca can be a real asshole sometimes, but human trafficking is a different level of cruelty."

"I think we should stop communicating with him for the moment. Just in case. So far he has been kept in the loop about almost everything we have been looking into."

I stare at her, seeing the caution in her gaze. I don't want to agree. I don't want to even slightly suggest that Luca would do something like that. But she is right in thinking that we should keep our movements more private.

Someone, perhaps someone close to him who he thinks he can trust, is passing on information and causing the ripple effect of people going missing. We seem to be one step behind every move we make.

"Alright, from now on we won't talk about anything to anyone, unless we really need to."

"Including Luca?"

"Including my brother." I sigh.

Nicki picks up her fork and puts a small bite of bacon into her mouth. She chews thoughtfully, not looking at me.

We have been a good team, and even though things are going slowly with the investigation - we do seem to be getting somewhere. I have managed to open up doors for Nicki, while also keeping her safe, but she is guarded and remains cautious of me.

I just want her to see, and understand, that I am on her side.

My phone buzzes and catches my attention.

I pick it up and read a message from an encrypted sender.

Unknown: Stop asking questions, stay out of the way, and we will let your girlfriend live.

I bite down hard, feeling the anger burn through me like fire.

"What is it?" Nicki asks.

"Another threat," I say, tossing my phone back down on the breakfast table.

Someone is trying very hard to scare us away from this investigation.

"What does it say?"

"It's always the same. Just threatening you, or me, and telling us to back off."

"We can't Vitorio." She says with wide eyes, filled with the fear of never knowing the truth.

"We won't, beautiful." I brush my hand over her cheek. "I made you a promise. I am going to help you with this, no matter where it leads us."