31. Saving exes from danger should not be on my TO DO list
“Morning, sweetheart.”
A voice like honey travels to my consciousness and I groan into the pillow. My muscles are sore, the place between my thighs stings with a discomfort that warms my insides and makes my heart flutter in my chest.
Ugh, love sucks. It makes you all gooey inside and shit. I preferred when I had no care in the world.
Except that’s not true. My lips spread into a soft sleepy smile when I smell the coffee Andrea’s using to get me out of bed. I give him the grabby hands and he hands me the beverage that will save me today.
“How are you feeling today, guerrieritta?”
“Sore.”
He frowns and his thumbs rub gentle circles on my wrists. They don’t hold traces of last night’s fun times, but my pussy certainly does. “It’s not anywhere anyone but you will see, marito.”
“Damn right it’s not,” he says while nipping at my bottom lip with his teeth. If I weren’t so tender, I might ask him to fuck me again, but I know my body needs a rest.
“I’ll get you an ointment on my way back. I got to meet with the CEO of my construction company. We’re moving through with the school I told you about.”
“The one you were fighting with Addams about? Did the Mayor give his approval? That’s amazing, amore.” The endearment falls from my lips unbidden. I try to take it back but it’s too late. “I mean, Andrea.”
His lips curl into a dazzling smile that people on the moon could probably see. “Did you forget that you said you loved me last night, sweetheart?”
I slap at his arm, the only thing close to me. “I didn’t! If I did, it was under duress.”
“Can’t take it back now, tesoro.”
His lips slam on mine to shut me up, but his tongue darts out to lick the seam of my lips, begging me to open and relent. And I do, my shoulders caving on themselves.
Gently, with a finger under my chin, Andrea lifts my eyes to his. “I won’t ever hold your love for me against you. Just know that whatever you are feeling, I reciprocate ten fold. You own me, guerrieritta, don’t fucking forget it.”
He leaves, telling me to call my workers. They’re ready to get back to Rouge to finish the project.
The press is still on Andrea’s ass, but it has died down a bit. I had my cousin Lino, Angele’s husband and Kalliste’s media tycoon, dig into the main owners of several journals and media companies across Europe and give well placed threats and invitations to the Moretti’s clubs. Nothing better than the promise of death or sex to quiet rumours. Maybe money, but at the level we play at, it’s the same thing.
When I get to Rouge, wrapped in a dark blue warm wool coat above a pink cashmere cardigan to stave off January”s cold, I meet with the site supervisor to go over the delays they caused. With the extra help I’ve hired from Andrea’s team, we should only be a month past the deadline I had given myself. Just before the elections. I’m still hoping Addams will come to spill his secrets to our workers.
I walk in mud in my sturdy black boots and study the construction site as the supervisor explains where they’ll focus first.
My phone rings with Julian’s name on the screen. “Babe, everything okay?”
“Can everyone stop asking me that? For fuck’s sake.”
“Last time I saw you, you were drunk out of your ass, so excuse me for caring,” I retort.
“I’m sober now. And I’ve got something for you.”
“Okay, spill.”
“Pierce and I found Louis for you.”
“Oh God, that’s good. Is he okay?”
“He’s been living with his sick mother for the past two years, about two hours North of West Hill. Working freelance from home on short-term contracts, mostly for companies that get absorbed in mergers and acquisitions and need tidying up on their financial departments.”
I can’t recall what Louis told me about his parents. There was never much talking involved when we were together. I do remember him telling me about his dad dying, but I’m not even sure his mum came into the conversation once.
“Do you have his phone number?”
“It’s associated with his business, but yeah. I’ll send that and the address where he lives now.”
“Thanks babe, and Jules?”
“Yeah?”
“Call me if you need.”
He disconnects the call without answering. My friend is struggling; I don’t need him to tell me. Despite years of friendship, he blames Lana for Igor’s disappearance. I’m not sure who he has now to help him through this. Seeing him at Christmas time was hard enough; knowing he has no one to lean on breaks my heart. I vow to pester him every single day until he cracks like a nut and pours his little heart out to me.
My phone pings with a text from Julian containing the contact details for Louis.
I dial the phone number, but it rings without ever letting me leave a message.
I try a few more times and get more aggravated as time passes.
When I turn around, there’s nothing I need to check in anymore here. I text Andrea.
Me
Pierce and Jules found Louis. He’s not answering the phone. I’m going there.
Ipocket my phone without waiting for a reply.
When I get outside Rouge, Nico is out the door, surveilling the perimeter with hawk eyes.
“Julian and Pierce found Louis. We need to go there, make sure he’s okay.”
As always, I jump in the passenger seat and let him drive. Entering the address into the GPS, we drive to Louis’s mum in comfortable silence.
* * *
We parked the car a few metres from the house.
“Isn’t Louis supposed to be financially well-off?”
Nico’s concern is justified.
The house sits on a piece of land with nothing around and compared to Andrea’s cottage bordering a lush forest, these woods look haunted. A thin layer of frost rests on the dead leaves and crunch under our feet as we make our way to the front porch. The sound raises the hair on my neck.
The house looks well taken care of, though. A fresh coat of paint must have been applied not more than three months ago, the white almost too bright against the backdrop of the grey winter sky. It was fucking cold this morning, but here in this wasteland, the temperature dropped significantly and I can’t stop but shivering.
I knock on the door. The seconds pass in weighted silence, heavy and slick.
When Louis opens the door and his familiar dark eyes under thick eyebrows meet mine, I release a sigh. “Thank fuck, you’re okay.”
I take the step over the threshold and wrap my arms around his thick body. He’s shorter than Andrea. And less solid somehow.
“My Giulia,” he breathes into my hair but I don’t hear it, the throat clearing behind me alerting me that Nico doesn’t appreciate the familiarity of the gesture. That small hug was all I wanted to give, anyway.
“Come in, come in,” Louis says enthusiastically. “We haven’t met, I’m Louis.” He thrusts a hand to Nico, who shakes it with a stiff hand and the other hovering over the side of his belt where I know he hides his firearm.
Louis is none the wiser and closes the door behind us.
I take in my surroundings. The foyer is narrow and dark but leads to an open floor plan kitchen and living room that resembles Andrea’s house. So much so it’s uncanny. Visible wood beams on the ceiling, a cognac leather couch though this one looks pretty new, an oak tree wooden coffee table and dining table to match. The only difference is in the furniture bordering the walls, all made of black metal, giving the room a sharp edge.
Nico and I sit on the sofa, and Louis brings us coffee.
“With plant-based milk and sugar cubes, just how you like it.”
His knowledge of such a simple routine makes me cringe and I glance at Nico to see he isn’t picking up the cup and gives me a subtle shake of his head. I’m not comfortable either, but this is Pierce’s ex CFO. Someone I know. He takes care of his ailing mother; he’s harmless.
“Thanks. I heard about your mother, Louis. I’m so sorry. Is she here?”
“Oh no, I placed her in a home not far from here. She loves the nurses and gets better care than I can provide all on my own.”
“Good, good. I’m glad. So listen, I know you don’t know much about me and my family.”
“I’d beg to differ,” he says, a mysterious smile grazing his full lips.
“Right. Well, a lot has changed in three years since we last saw each other…”
“Since you dumped me via a note scribbled on a piece of toilet paper, you mean.”
My patience is starting to fray at the edges every time he interrupts me. It’s not that I can’t hear what he says because I do. I hurt his ego, but I’m here for his safety now.
Nico clenches the armrest of the sofa like it physically pains him not to hurt Louis. Unfortunately, my conscience won’t let me leave until he knows he’s in danger.
“Right. Listen, I’d say I’m sorry but I’m not. We weren’t compatible, and I was expected elsewhere.” He opens his mouth to speak and I raise a hand up. “I swear to God, Louis, if you interrupt me one more time, you won’t like the consequences.” He reclines in his seat in front of us with what looks like amusement in his eyes. I ignore him and continue. “My family’s… Well, we have different business interests across Europe and now, my husband and I are being targeted. People I knew end up dead, so I’m here to warn you. You should disappear for a while.”
His eyes flash with an emotion I can’t distinguish until he hides it again. He turns his attention to Nico. “You don’t like coffee?”
My mouth hangs open at his dismissal of what I just revealed.
“Louis, this is serious,” I insist.
“Is it?”
Unease prickles my skin and I look at him a little closer. Our eyes meet and the ember I see within turns my blood to ice. I saw that same mad fire in the eyes of another man, long buried.
“Well, I came to warn you and now, I did. Let’s go.” I stand up.
Faster than I anticipate from a man I thought harmless, Louis pulls a gun from under the cushion of his seat and Nico does the same with his.
Shots fire, a bullet grazing Louis’s temple and the other missing him completely. If he hadn’t shot at the same time, the recoil shifting his body to the left, the bullet would be embedded in between his eyes.
Nico isn’t that lucky, the wounds at his stomach and chest from the two bullets already licking blood. A deafening wail escapes my mouth as he crumples to the floor, but the trigger detonates once more.
I don’t register the pain for long seconds. Until the weight of it consumes me.
“You’re not going anywhere! Did you really think I wouldn’t shoot her just to get her?” he asks Nico, raging. “Now, drop your weapon or I’ll have to see how many bullets she can take until she passes out.”
Crimson liquid seeps from my veins and taint the pretty pink sweater I wear at shoulder level. I watch, wild-eyed, as the red seeps into the threads of fabric and the stain grows. Another puddle appears under Nico’s limp body, so red it’s almost black.
I jump in front of him, protecting him with my body.
“Please, please, stop.”
“Sorellina, no…” Nico’s voice comes out laboured behind me.
“Please Louis. I’ll do anything you want.”
My Giulia.
That’s what Louis called me.
I close my eyes, and wish I didn’t let a man hurt me, yet again.
It was never Addams, nor Carmichael, nor the Russian mafia dropping bodies of my exes at my doorstep.
“It was you,” I breathe as I clutch my shoulder to stop the blood from pouring out of the gunshot wound.
“I tried to warn you, my Giulia. Of the consequences of associating with another man. But you didn’t listen. Always so stubborn. Now two people died because of your selfishness. How many bodies will your choices reap?”
“They didn’t die! You killed them!”
Louis just shrugs like life and death are just the same to him.
I walked right into a trap, like a lamb to slaughter.