Chapter 12
Rory
“I need to be serviced,” I declared, waltzing right into Gio’s home office. Only to stop short when I saw that he wasn’t alone.
Oops.
My husband’s dark eyes flared as he scanned me from head to toe, and I shifted on my feet, tugging on the short hem of the lace babydoll nightie I wore to keep it from riding up since it was stretched tight across my growing baby bump.
It was a piece that I’d owned pre-pregnancy, and it didn’t exactly fit my changing body, but confined to the house with my phone confiscated, shopping for new clothes was off the table.
Dragging a hand over his jaw, Gio shook his head. “For fuck’s sake, Rory. Ever think of knocking?”
Heat flooded my cheeks, but I stood my ground, folding both arms over my chest. “Why the fuck would I knock when the door was wide open?”
A chuckle sounded, and the man seated across from Gio’s desk rose to his feet. Then he turned around, a mischievous sparkle in his familiar hazel eyes.
“Feisty as ever,” Enzo remarked, a smirk on his face.
I popped my hip and shot back, “Still asking ‘how high’ when that one tells you to jump?”
My husband’s cousin clutched his chest, his smile never slipping. “You wound me, Rory. I can do so much more than jump. I can sit, roll over, play dead.” He used his fingers as he listed off each trick.
I bit back a laugh. Enzo’s quick wit and sarcastic humor made him easily my favorite Bellini man.
“I might be here against my will, but it’s good to see you.” I stepped forward for a hug.
Gio stood suddenly, his palm coming down hard on his desk. “Don’t even think about it.”
A peek around Enzo’s shoulder showed how tightly Gio’s jaw was clenched.
“Seriously?” I arched an eyebrow. “I get that you’re an overgrown caveman, but he’s your cousin.”
“You’re more than welcome to hug him after you put your tits away, Rory.”
I glanced down at my breasts, which were spilling over the pale blue cups of my lingerie. Gio had a point. I was almost indecently exposed, my nipples visible through the lace. And he’d probably lose his fucking mind when he realized I wasn’t wearing panties.
A wicked grin curved on my lips, the idea of pushing him over the edge too tempting to resist.
Closing the gap, I extended my arms to loop them around Enzo’s neck, but the mafia enforcer’s reflexes were finely honed to intercept an incoming attack, so he was able to grab my wrists, preventing me from making contact with his body.
Enzo shook his head. “Sorry, Rory. As entertaining as it is to watch the big guy blow a gasket, I’d prefer to keep my balls intact.”
I pouted. “You’re no fun.”
He chuckled. “There are some things you don’t mess around with, and my junk falls firmly into that category. Not to mention, my wife wouldn’t be too amused if I came home missing her favorite part of my anatomy.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline. “Did you say wife?”
Enzo hummed, a smile stretching across his face as he nodded in confirmation. “Yes, ma’am.”
I might’ve been gone for the better part of a decade, but from what I could remember, Enzo had always been the self-proclaimed eternal bachelor. I never would have expected to hear he’d settled down. Nor that he would seem so happy about it.
Gio cleared his throat, though his voice still came out gruff when he spoke. “You’re dismissed, Enzo.”
Relinquishing his hold on my wrists, Enzo headed for the door, but paused on the threshold, turning around. “See you both tomorrow?”
My husband grunted, which was enough of an answer to satisfy his cousin, who slipped from the room without another word.
“What’s tomorrow?”
Gio dropped onto his chair, running a hand through his hair as he breathed out, “Birthday party.”
I cocked my head. “Whose birthday?”
“I’m not sure if you remember Bianca,” he began.
Scoffing, I rolled my eyes. “Of course I remember your niece.”
“Our niece,” Gio corrected.
“Fine. Our niece.” It wasn’t worth arguing that I didn’t have any kind of relationship—genetic or otherwise—with a little girl I hadn’t seen since she was a baby. “She must be turning . . .”
“Eight.”
I let out a low whistle. “Damn, time flies.”
Folding both arms over his massive chest, Gio retorted, “The world doesn’t revolve around you. It kept turning in your absence. In fact, Matteo has three daughters now.”
“That’s a shame.”
Gio reared back. “Excuse me?”
Not backing down, I held his stare. “This world isn’t kind to women.
We have no autonomy, reduced to nothing more than pawns in the sick little games powerful men like to play.
” My hand fell to my belly. “You think I can stand here, having been Bellini bred without my consent, and wish this same fate upon those three innocent little girls?”
Bristling, my husband argued, “We don’t hold our women hostage.”
A humorless bark of laughter was pulled from my chest. “That’s rich coming from the guy whose wife’s every move is tracked by an armed guard.”
His jaw clenched so tightly that a muscle in his cheek twitched.
“If you have a problem with your father selling you off into marriage, take it up with him. That wasn’t my doing.
I didn’t ask for a wife, but you can bet your ass when my father came to me and told me it was my duty to secure our family’s future through an alliance with the O’Malleys, I didn’t bat a goddamn eyelash.
I did what needed to be done. But don’t you dare fucking paint me with the same brush as either of those men, because I’ve already proven that I do not condone their archaic methods of matchmaking. ”
“Bullshit,” I spat.
“Don’t believe me?” Producing his cell phone, he held it out to me.
“Why don’t you give Gemma a call?” That was his only female cousin.
“She can fill you in on how I not only offered her my protection as Don when Dario was trying to force her into an arranged marriage, but that when she asked to leave, to start fresh in another city, I granted her freedom.”
My lips parted on a disbelieving exhale. “What?”
“From what I understand, she’s quite happy, living a ‘normal’ life in Indianapolis with her husband and children.”
“B-but—” I shook my head, my brain working overtime, trying to make sense of what he was telling me. “Why let her go when you moved heaven and earth to track me down and drag me back here?”
“Because you had an obligation to provide me with an heir. That was the deal.”
“We tried—”
Gio held up a hand, cutting me off. “Save it. I’m fully aware of the measures you took to deny me that before you ran.
” He scoffed. “To think of all the time and money wasted on fertility testing, only to learn that you’d been taking birth control the whole time.
I bet you had a good laugh, thinking you’d gotten one over on me, didn’t you? ”
I swallowed thickly, the protective hold on my stomach growing tighter.
“I never wanted any of this.” My voice came out barely above a whisper.
My husband leaned his elbows on his desk, steepling his fingers. “You wanna leave, Rory? Then, fine. As soon as you give birth, you’re free to walk out those doors.”
A flicker of hope sparked within my chest. “Really?”
He dipped his chin. “But my son stays here.”
I mentally cursed myself for walking right into that one. Gio was never going to let his heir go, and there was no world in which I would willingly walk away from my baby.
Hanging my head, I accepted my fate. “I’m not going anywhere without him.”
“That’s what I thought.” There was a smug undertone to those words, and I’d never hated him more.
Blinking furiously against the tears that threatened to fall, knowing I would be Gio’s captive for so long as I lived, I changed the subject. “I suppose I should touch base with Allegra, see what I can do to help.”
Gio remained silent for so long that I dared to lift my head. His eyes were cast to the side when he said, “She’s dead.”
My knees buckled, and I gripped the nearest chair to keep from collapsing to the floor. There was a buzzing in my ears. “D-dead? When? How?”
“A few years ago. Car accident. Matteo has remarried.”
His casual reply, like the life—or subsequent death—of his brother’s wife was of little or no consequence, sent a chill down my spine. I could only imagine he would be similarly unaffected should I meet an untimely end. Once he got his precious heir, I would become disposable to him.
“Um.” Trying to regain my bearings, I asked, “Do I know his new wife?” Though I’d hated my role at Gio’s side, I fulfilled the social requirements to the best of my ability.
I hosted luncheons for the mafia wives, brought meals to the families with new babies, and sent flowers to those who had lost their husbands in service to the Bellini Family.
“Unlikely. She’s an outsider.”
That information shocked me into silence.
Who in their right mind would volunteer to swim in these shark-infested waters if they had the choice to stay on dry land?
She had to be either insane or incredibly na?ve, and I found myself curious to get a read on this woman who would step willingly into a world I’d fought so hard to escape.
“It’s really no concern of yours, seeing as you won’t be accompanying me,” Gio remarked.
“I’m not?”
His eyes locked on my left hand, still curled around the back of a chair. “As far as I can tell, a certain piece of jewelry hasn’t been returned to its rightful place.”
Damn him. If we were playing a game of chess, he’d just backed my queen into a corner. I was going stir crazy, the four walls of this giant house beginning to close in on me after only a few weeks. I craved fresh air, a taste of freedom—even if only the illusion of it.
Shoving my stubbornness aside in favor of the chance to communicate with someone from the outside world, I gritted out, “You win. That gaudy-as-hell diamond will be back on my finger by morning. Can I please accompany you to Matteo’s house for Bianca’s party?”
“See, was that so hard?” he asked condescendingly as victory shone in his dark brown eyes.
My hands curled into fists. Nothing would please me more than to punch him right in his smug face, but I needed to keep my composure. I was currently walking a tightrope when it came to Gio, and one wrong move could spell certain doom.
“All right.” He patted the polished wood surface of his desk. “Hop on up here so I can get back to work.”
I blinked at him, brows drawing down. “What?”
A sigh of annoyance spilled from his lips. “You walked in here”— Gio gestured a hand toward me—“looking like that, announcing you needed an orgasm. Let’s get on with it.”
Hugging my arms around my waist, I shook my head. “Not really in the mood anymore.”
“Suit yourself.” Without another glance in my direction, he returned his focus to his computer screen, typing loudly on the attached keyboard.
Effectively dismissed, I backed out of the room. On my trek down the hallway, headed toward the owner’s suite where I spent most of my time, excitement began to creep in.
Tomorrow was full of possibilities. The biggest one being whether I might find an ally in Matteo’s new wife. Since she was an outsider, maybe she would be willing to help me find a way out of this mess without having to give up my son.
It was a long shot, but I was almost out of options, so I had to take it.