Chapter 12
A shiver slithers down my spine. I knew Carlo wasn’t going to stay in hiding forever, but I had hoped we would have a little longer to work things out before he started causing more trouble.
“Our pa did this to you?” As Geovani’s furious voice booms off the vacant space, some drywall crumbles to the ground.
Elisa’s bottom lip trembles, and her brother wraps his arm around her in a warm hug. He’s different with her, softer. I can see how important she is to him. “Ian, did you know what he had planned for me? He’s forcing me to marry Ricky to reunite the Morettis and the D’Amicos. He thinks it’s going to be like the great old days when they were unstoppable together, before they started fighting. But he’s delusional. You know he is. I really think he’s lost his fucking mind this time. He won’t take no for an answer. Ian, I’m scared, for my life and for Catherine,” she cries, streaks of black mascara sliding down her cheeks.
I feel awful for the poor girl. She’s clearly distressed, with good reason to. I only met her pa once, and I’m praying I never have the pleasure again. He was terrifying. She had to grow up with him. I can’t even imagine how horrifying that would have been. From every account I’ve heard, she wouldn’t have been allowed a normal childhood just like Geovani, and I can only imagine the horrors she must have witnessed under his control.
“When did he come to see you?” Geovani demands.
“At my apartment tonight, right before I called you. He just showed up, furious. I was lucky Catherine was there or who knows how far he would have gone.” Her dark eyes flash with fear. “When he finds out you have her…” She looks my way, and I know what she was about to say. Heads will roll. He wants what he was promised by my papa.
“Give me a minute.” Geovani takes out his phone as he walks away, making a call. “I need two men…” he barks down the line, but that’s all I hear before he’s out of earshot.
“Harley?” Elisa says my name softly, bringing my attention back to her.
I look her over, wondering what she wants with me. She’s even more stunning up close, and even though I’m furious with Ricky, a ping of jealousy still kicks me in the gut at the thought he might actually marry her. “Elisa.” I say her name with more bitterness than I intend. It’s not her fault she has a controlling motherfucker for a father.
“I know you don’t know me and probably don’t care about my current situation, but I’m not sure anyone else can help me now,” she says softly, glancing over her shoulder in her brother’s direction.
I point to my chest. “You want my help? I’m pretty sure I’m just here because Geovani is too scared to leave me alone. What help could I be?”
She sighs heavily, a visible tremor wracking through her small frame. “I can’t marry Ricky. He’s nice and all, but I can’t. You understand that, right? They tried to force you to marry Alessandro until you escaped. Can you help me do the same?” Her sad eyes plead with me to be her savior. And I wish I could. No one should be forced into an arranged marriage. I should know.
I shake my head, feeling the weight of her situation on my shoulders. “I can’t even help myself, Elisa, what makes you think I can help you?”
She takes my hands in hers, gripping them tightly, her pretty eyes glistening with fresh tears as she meets my gaze. “Geo listens to you. Please, you have to try and get me out of this engagement before it’s too late.”
My stomach is in knots. Is she delusional and really thinks I can help her? “I’m just another girl trapped in this fucked-up world where money and power seem to rule and if you weren’t born with a dick, you have nothing. If there was something I could do…”
“I’m in love with someone else,” she says desperately. Her eyes dart to the edgy-looking girl she came in here with. And I assume that must be the Catherine she was just talking about. She motions for her to join us, and Catherine moves in by her side, slipping her hand into hers, her dark, almond-shaped eyes meeting mine.
“Hi,” I mutter, not sure what else to say. She looks nice enough. Catherine is the opposite of Elisa. While Elisa is very put together in her expensive-looking dress, Catherine is more relaxed. She has a piercing in her nose, and I spy a few tattoos peeking out from under the arms of her hoodie.
“Please.” Another tear falls down Elisa’s cheek, her dark eye make-up smudging as she wipes it away with a sniffle. “I know you feel just as helpless, but you’re not, you’re different.”
I close my eyes, needing a second of calm to process. I’m not exactly sure what we’re up against, but if Carlo is back in Ravens Hollow, I would say both sides will be pushing for this. It joins the two families and will strengthen their ties in the precious mafia world. But Geovani wants no part in any of that, and he’s able to hide me, so why couldn’t he do something to help her? Ricky, maybe he could just tell Enzo he won’t go through with it. I don’t understand why he agreed in the first place. Sounds so simple, even though I know it’s not.
“There’s something else,” Catherine pipes up, her panicked eyes coming to mine. “Something worse than us falling for each other when we both knew it was extremely dangerous, considering my job and Elisa’s family.” Like they need more reasons for me to want to help them. I was already on board, I just don’t know how.
Catherine wraps an arm around Elisa in a show of support. It’s obvious how strongly they feel about each other. I wait patiently, wondering what on earth could be worse. If Carlo worked out what they were to each other, I’m sure he would kill them both. She’s no good to him unless she can marry a man, strengthening family ties and giving him grandchildren.
The girls look at each other, exchanging a silent message, and Catherine gives her a nod, encouraging her to go on. “Ricky’s my cousin,” Elisa blurts out.
I look into their terrified eyes, and my heart feels like it’s on the verge of stopping. “What the fuck?” They must be confused. “Ricky’s not really a Moretti, he went to live with them when his mother died.” I stumble over my words as I attempt to understand what she just said. She’s just confused, that’s all, she has to be, because that doesn’t make any sense.
Catherine’s head shakes sadly in disagreement. “Have you ever asked why Enzo would just accept two stray orphans he shouldn’t give two fucks about into his home?”
Her words send tiny knife prickles directly to my soul. I didn’t think about the boys like that, and I’m sad for them all over again. I recall the conversation I had with Maddox, that they were both so little when they had to deal with such an awful loss. But Maddox was adamant what happened. “The man who killed their mother worked for him. That’s what Maddox told me.”
Now it’s Catherine’s turn to look confused. “That’s the story Enzo told them?” She shakes her head vigorously in disbelief, unable to fathom how Enzo could be so heartless as to deceive his own son for such a long time.
“Ricky’s Enzo’s kid, we just need a DNA test to prove it,” Elisa agrees with her.
A cold shiver slithers down my spine. I understand that’s what she’s saying, but I don’t believe it. Glancing over my shoulder quickly, I wonder where the fuck Geovani is. He needs to be here listening to all of this. “That’s a pretty wild accusation to make.”
“Harley, do what you need to with this information, but you never heard any of it from us. Catherine will lose her job if anyone ever finds out, and she could also end up with prison time.”
“You have my word, I’ll never tell a soul.”
She produces a piece of paper from her jacket and unfolds it then lays it on the tattered chair directly in front of us. “I knew my story would be hard to believe, so I brought the proof Catherine’s been gathering for months. And when my pa told me I would have to marry Ricky, she came to my rescue.”
“At first, I was looking for any excuse to get Elisa out of the marriage, but after we found this, you can see why this marriage can’t go ahead. It’s unethical. And just plain disgusting.”
I glance over the sheet of paper; it looks like a hand-drawn family tree of sorts, with names and arrows connecting people.
“Moretti family.” Catherine points to the paper. “Three siblings. Enzo’s the eldest, then two sisters, Sofia, who was Elisa and Geovani’s mom before she died, then the younger sister Nicoletta, she’s also deceased, died giving birth to a baby boy. Maddox. She points out the names and where they sit on the tree.
I raise my brow like what the fuck. Then I grab her wrist because I need something to hold me up right. “Maddox is a real Moretti as well. His mom was Enzo’s sister?” I ask in utter disbelief. This is all so crazy.
I can see the truth in her wide eyes. It all makes so much sense. “And from what I have been able to decipher from the research Catherine’s done, Enzo wasn’t just married to Valentina, he had a mistress on the side. Ricky’s mom. The newspaper article we found about this place said she was an actress and stage performer. Quite famous before he got his hands on her. He knocked her up then bought her a place out in the middle of nowhere so she could raise their child out of the public eye. But from Catherine’s research, it looks as though Ricky’s mom got a little too close with Maddox’s dad who was one of Enzo’s enforcers, and it got them both killed.”
Got them both killed? Or Maddox’s dad killed her, then himself. That’s what Maddox told me. “For fuck’s sake. This is like Days of Our Lives but with gun-wielding madmen,” I joke, but there is no humor in my voice. I’m devastated for the boys. They have been lied to their whole lives. This will crush them. Who would want to be a part of this fucked-up family, really. Who cares what kind of money and notoriety you have?
“I know. It’s all so crazy, but I’ve checked all the facts, checked birth and death records. Catherine works as a criminal analyst and has access to the archives. I know I’m right on this. But now we’re both scared about the risk it’s going to put her in.”
Seeing the genuine concern painted all over her pretty features, I know I have to do something. “As strange as it all is, I believe you. I knew there had to be more to his control over those boys.”
“That’s just it. I don’t think they know. Otherwise, why would Ricky agree to marry me?”
I feel a shiver going down my spine. “Why would Enzo agree to the union in the first place if he knew, that’s just disturbing.”
They nod, agreeing with me. “Control over all the families. And my pa would do anything to get what he wants, and after realizing he was losing you to the Morettis, he threw me under the bus, using his only daughter to get what he wants. He and Enzo together are lethal. No one in Ravens Hollow will survive.”
“Just about anything like force you to marry your cousin.”
“That’s just it. My pa doesn’t know. No one does except us, and I assume Enzo and Valentina.”
“And you’re trusting me to help you?” I squeak, knowing the responsibility they’re placing on my shoulders. But I can’t let Enzo keep controlling this family and force this marriage to go ahead. I can’t even believe Ricky would have agreed to it in the first place. What the hell does Enzo have over him that he would? I need to talk to Ricky and Maddox and tell them what Enzo has done. The secrets he’s kept for years.
“Geovani worships the ground you walk on, that’s why he stopped at nothing to get you back from them. And from what I saw at the rehearsal dinner, Alessandro, Ricky, and Maddox are the same. You’re more powerful than you realize, Harley. You’re the only one who can help me and put a stop to Enzo’s and my pa’s power trip. Please help me.”
I take her hand and give it a squeeze as a stray tear falls down my cheek for her. For both of us. We’re just pawns in this sick game, used to help these power-hungry men get what they want. But I’m not going to stand for it. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I don’t make promises I can’t keep, but I want to help her. No one should be forced to do anything they don’t want to, and I might have just met this girl, but I already feel protective of her. Geovani finally returns, and his deadly serious expression doesn’t fill me with a lot of hope. Whoever he was talking to hasn’t given him good news. But he doesn’t say a word to us, just simply strides back into the room and stands by my side like he was here all along.
“We need to get your sister and her friend some protection. Get them out of the country. Do you have a safe place for them to go?” The words spill out of my mouth as I try to work through how to help her. “What did Dani say about being able to make new identities for people so they can disappear? We need to do that.”
He takes my arm firmly, moving me back toward a curtain running along the back wall. “Red, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I glare at him. How dare he. “She’s not being forced to marry her cousin. I won’t let it happen.” He looks over his shoulder at his sister.
“Cousin?” he asks, confusion filling his words, and I know for sure he had no idea.
“It’s a long story. I’ll explain later, but for now tell me you can help them; they need to disappear, like yesterday. I’m serious, Geo.”
He nods. “Already done. I would never let anything happen to Elisa. They’re on a flight out of town tonight.”
Relief fills me for them. I didn’t have to do anything, he was already on top of it. Which means Carlo is a real threat to us all again. At least if we know they’re safe, we can work on the next big challenge. “I need to see the boys,” I push through clenched teeth. But if I’m going to help, I need to get them on board as well.
His gaze turns murderous. “Not a fucking chance.” His growl is filled with possessiveness, and I know I have just pushed him one step too far. But I don’t care. Fuck him, this isn’t just about his sick obsession with me. People’s lives are at risk, people I care about more than I would like to admit. And I can’t stand by and let him dictate to me who I can and can’t see.
With a new surge of courage Elisa just gave me, I shove him in the chest, forcing my chin up defiantly. “I won’t take no for an answer, Geovani. If you don’t take me to see them safely with your protection, I will find a way to do it alone. We need them and you know it.” I hand him the family tree his sister has worked out and walk away from him, back to tell her the good news.
If these boys want to win this fight against their parents, they need to start listening to me. They have all been living this lie way too long, it’s fucked up their heads. But I’m here to dish out a cold hard dose of reality and hopefully keep the casualties to a minimum. Just Carlo and Enzo.