37. Leona #2
My heart twisted for her. “No, Chiara. Not at all.”
“After that, Max grabbed me and ran. He threatened to kill both my brothers and then kill you if I didn’t follow him, but if I went with him, he wouldn’t hurt you. I just needed to pretend to be his fiancé.”
That fucker . Threatening my best friend! I stood, ready to stomp downstairs, but then I froze. “Pretend?”
“Yeah. He laid everything out. He just needs our men for now, and he needs my brothers under control. He said he’ll use them as leverage against me, but he doesn’t want to marry me. If I just let him do what he wants, he’ll let me go when this is over.”
“And you believe that?”
“Strangely, yeah,” she said quietly. She cleared her throat, and I could picture her wiping her eyes.
I had no idea what to think. What to feel. “So what have you been doing since?”
“Pretending, letting him think he’s in control, and trying to figure out how to give you the upper hand. Has it helped?”
I remembered how she’d texted me the date and time for the VCI board meeting. Without that, I wouldn’t have claimed my seat.
“Yeah. It’s really helped, Chi.”
She sighed. “Thank God. I snuck into his computer and saw the meeting, and I listened to whatever phone calls I could when he wasn’t paying attention.
I threw a tantrum—pretending that I just wanted to get out from under house arrest—to get him to bring me to that board meeting because I was desperate to see if you showed up.
After, he sent me away and told me I had to lie low. ”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t even know. Within driving distance of New York, because he had someone drive me here at night. I can see the ocean, but I haven’t left this little house.”
I rubbed my eyes, already thinking through plans. “I can break you out. My men and I can get you free. You can stay with us. ”
Despite Max’s warning, there was no way I was going to let her stay prisoner there.
She was quiet for a moment. “I think…I think I’m okay here. It feels a little safer outside the city. And for how much of a dick he is, I do trust that Max doesn’t want to hurt me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. At least for now.”
My jaw worked as I weighed the choice. Try to rescue her. Leave her with Max. But she felt safe. She wanted to stay. “Okay.”
“So tell me about you.” Her voice went conspiratorial. “Who are your men ?”
I laughed. No use beating around the bush. “I’m in a relationship with five guys. Cas and the Shadows.”
“ Five. Girl. Get that dick.”
I snorted. “I’m getting it, and it’s pretty good.”
She squealed. “I knew it! Tell me everything!”
I filled her in on what had happened to me since the last time we’d spoken. I told her about each one of my guys and how much I loved them all. When I got to the part about the kidnapping and the Albanians, I hesitated, my mouth open and frozen. The words stuck in my throat.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said with a cough. The box in my chest rattled. My heart started pounding. My eyes squeezed shut. “It’s nothing.”
I couldn’t tell her. I didn’t want to. I skipped the part about being kidnapped. She’d just worry about me if she knew what had happened. Besides, I was safe now. I had everything under control.
I told her that the Albanians were our biggest problem right now, so Max and I had a temporary truce, but I wasn’t sure how long it was going to last.
The conversation lasted a lot longer than the five minutes Obi had allotted, so I wasn’t surprised when someone knocked on the door .
“ Amore . It’s time,” Cas said.
I nodded, turning back to Chiara on the phone. “Chi, I can’t tell you how good it is to hear your voice. Just to know that you’re okay and you’re safe.”
“You have to go now?”
“Yeah. But I’ll call you again from my burner,” I assured her. “Now that Max is on our side, I think it’s safer to talk.”
“Okay. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” I choked out. Then Cas mouthed Rossi. “ Oh, before I forget, do you know Enzo Rossi?”
She started coughing like she’d choked on her drink. “Enzo?” she spluttered. “What about him?”
My eyes went wide. “You do know him!”
Beside me, Cas grinned.
“I’ve met him a few times,” she said carefully. “Why?”
I gaped. “You never told me!”
“I don’t know! He was at a few parties I was at. That’s all.”
“Chiara!”
“Fine! He’s cute, okay? Now why the hell are you bringing up Enzo Rossi?”
I smirked. “He asked me to pass a message to you.”
“A message?” she squeaked. “What message?”
“He has a proposal for you, if you can get free of Max’s engagement.”
She went silent. “That’s what he said?”
“Mmhmm. At first, he wanted me to bring you to him.”
“Oh, my God,” she muttered. I could almost see her hand covering her face. “He did not say that.”
“He did. These mafia douches think they own us, but I’m telling you, Chiara, I’m not letting it happen anymore. New York will be different when I’m done with it. We won’t be treated like objects.”
I could hear her smiling through the phone. “I believe you, Lee. ”
“So?” I prompted after a moment. “What’s that about? Why does Enzo Rossi want you in his care?”
“I’ll tell you later,” she muttered. “Message received. I’m fine where I am, thank you very much.”
I laughed. “You will tell me more later.”
“There’s not even anything to tell!”
“Chiara.” I didn’t even know why she resisted. She told me everything eventually.
“Fine,” she whined. “Now, go. We’ll talk again soon. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
We said quick goodbyes, and I turned to find Cas watching me with his arms crossed over his chest. “How is she?”
“Good,” I said with a small smile. Her story was crazy, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about her. At least she knew I was okay, too. “Safe.”
“Max said she was fine.”
The smile fell from my lips. “He was telling the truth.”
There was so much to process from what she said. Max had so far lived up to all his promises. His side of the alliance was fulfilled, and now it was our turn.
We were both quiet for a moment before he jerked his head toward the door. “Come on. We’ll talk more at home.”