12. SIENNA
12
SIENNA
Athens
Branson whoops in excitement the moment the boat docks and the crowds outside the gates start screaming his name. I can’t help but smile at the sheer joy on his face. When he and I worked together the first time, we developed a friendship, one I had to keep there because the man is notorious for his man-whore ways, and he sleeps with any woman that so much as gives him a willing smile. The past two days haven’t been any exception. Still, he’s a good man, and his fame and fortune haven’t made him a snob. Instead, when I called him to ask if I could hitch a ride, he readily agreed and delayed his departure for an hour so I could get there.
Being out at sea is always fun, and the yacht has all kinds of luxuries, but I’ve spent the time sleeping and catching up on the work I’ve neglected. Much to Branson’s dismay, but thankfully he didn’t push too hard. Well, other than insisting he and I have dinner last night before he started his party with the few groupies he allowed on board. The women hadn’t been happy, shooting me daggers, but when I walked out of there and told them to go on in, the ugly looks disappeared and they were more than happy to forget about me.
Of course, that meant I had to dig out my noise cancelling headphones and sleep with my own music playing in my ears to drown out the sounds of the orgy in his bedroom above mine.
We already said our goodbyes, and I disembark with his security, keeping my sunglasses firmly in place, my tablet in hand so that I appear to be nothing more than an employee. I get jostled a bit as the crowd converges, wanting autographs and pictures, but with my height, I easily blend in to avoid any pictures, or being grabbed. I doubt Alessio would grab me in broad daylight like this, but I’m not taking any chances.
Branson finally gets to his car, and his groupies give cries of anger and shock when they realize they can’t get in with him. This is where their fun ends. I roll my eyes, because what did they expect? That he was going to fall in love with them all and keep them around? It’s well known that he loves to pick up new women in every city he visits.
Myself, I give him a quick wave as he rolls down his window to wink at me, and then I start to head away with the crowd. I hear women gushing, men’s awestruck or jealous musings, and even some disappointed grumbles they couldn’t get an autograph. It’s madness, but it’s the perfect distraction I need, and I make my way down the crowded street toward one of the cafes I visited last time I was here.
I haven’t eaten since last night, too nervous to eat this morning. But if I’m going to keep up my energy, I need to force something down. I’m not stupid enough to think that Alessio hasn’t closed in on my location, and I need to be ready to come face to face again with the pissed off mafia Underboss. I also need to get ahold of Rori and let her know I’m alright before she freaks out. I was able to call her briefly to let her know that Alessio found me but I got away, and that I would be offline for another couple of days until I got to my next destination.
She wasn’t happy, but she understood and promised to be on the next flight if I needed her. The last thing I want is for her to be in the middle of this mess, though she did remind me that if I just gave in to Alessio, that it wouldn’t be such a huge one. I hate that she’s right, but something inside me is telling me not to give up yet. If I do, I’ll be giving Alessio more than just myself, and I’m not giving that up without a fight.
I get my drink and food and make my way to a table near the window that will allow me to have my back against the wall, and a view of the restaurant and anyone coming down the street. No point in being taken by surprise, is there? It also lets me relax just enough to think through my plans. This is only a temporary stop, and hopefully one that will keep me just enough ahead of Alessio and anyone else.
After I finish my meal, I need to make my way through the city and find the villa that Branson owns. He won’t be staying in it since he will be sailing back to Italy for a show after the festival tonight, and that means I have the place all to myself. It’s going to be a bit of a hike, but I want to stretch my legs and enjoy the sights and smells that are so uniquely Greece. Then, I’ll spend the night and continue on my way in the morning. Branson also owns a few cars he’s offered me the use of while I’m here; that will help me figure out where to head next. I’ll make sure the car is delivered back to him, of course, but no one will be looking for me under his name, so it will hopefully allow me to stay under the radar.
When I finally leave the cafe, I feel more relaxed and refreshed. I take my time as I make my way through the streets, following the directions that I searched up on the yacht last night. People call out friendly greetings as I pass, while others try to coax me into their shops to view their wares. I politely decline, telling them maybe another time, and they take it all in good stride.
I missed this. I’ve always loved Greece, having been here a few times throughout the years. It’s one of my mother’s favorite vacation spots. We usually try to come when it’s not so busy, but the hustle and bustle works to my advantage this time.
I finally find the street the villa is located on, and I groan when I realize this is going to be the steepest part of my journey. The villa sits at the crest of a hill, a simple road weaving up and around. By the time I reach the top, I’m a bit breathless, and silently cursing myself for skipping cardio recently. I’ll have to get back to that when I finally get settled.
I pull out the key Branson gave me, along with the security code, and hurry inside, locking the door behind me. I take in the beautiful space with a smile. Of course, Branson would spare no luxury. As soon as you walk in, you look straight through the wall of windows to the infinity pool that overlooks the crystal blue sea. I don’t think I could ever get tired of that view. I’ll explore the house later, but right now, it’s calling to me.
I open the doors and step out into the sun, closing my eyes and allowing myself a moment to bask in it before I move over to one of the many loungers out here in the shaded area. I settle in, setting my bag down and curling my legs under me.
I put the SIM card in my new burner phone and call Rori. She picks up almost instantly. “Where the fuck are you?” she demands.
“I’m in Greece at a friend’s place,” I tell her honestly. “Just got in. I had to take my time to make sure no one followed me.”
“Namely what is sure to be one very pissed mafia man,” she chuckles. “Fuck, I still can’t believe you managed to tie him up and hold a knife to his neck without getting yours snapped. You really are insane. And everyone said I was a bad influence.”
I smirk. Yeah, that moment is going to be playing in my mind for a long damn time. “You are, but this time, it was all my idea. He might just kill me if he catches up with me.”
“You could beg his forgiveness and go with him,” she points out drily. “I’m serious when I say that you really need to think about it, Sienna. You’re playing with forces you don’t understand. One wrong move, and you’re dead, or worse. Don’t be so stubborn that I end up attending your funeral, Sienna, or I’m going to be fucking pissed.”
“I’m not going to die, Rori. At least, I don’t intend to, anyway. I have a plan on what to do next, and then hopefully I can stop running.”
She’s silent for a moment. “Why do I have a feeling that I’m still not going to like this plan?”
“Because you probably won’t, but at least I’ll be safe until this all blows over.”
She makes a frustrated sound. “That’s just it, Sienna, it will never be over. I get that you’re running scared, and that you’re trying to keep the freedom you’ve always had, but sometimes you just have to play the cards you’re dealt and deal with it. This war might be over, but what about the next one? Because there is always some sort of scuffle going on in the criminal world. And now that people know who you are, you will always be a target. Maybe not to this family, and maybe not to your bio family, but to someone. Someone will see you as a bargaining chip and take you to hold for ransom. You said you have a sister and she’s married to another Don, right? Who’s to say they won’t figure out your connection to him, and one of his enemies comes for you and takes you to get him to pay? You will always be running, Sienna. Always.”
I stare out at the blue water, my stomach sinking as her words hit their mark. Fuck. I had to give myself one more shot at freedom. “Fuck,” I whisper. “Fuck. Fuck, Rori. What the hell am I going to do?” I don’t even bother to hide the pain and despair in my voice.
She’s silent for a moment. Finally, she sighs and says, “You need to make a choice, Sienna, and then you need to stick to it. You need to consider your future. Your family’s future. But you are going to need someone in your corner besides me. Because when it comes to this shit, I only have so many connections. You know I’ll always share them with you, but even I know it’s not enough. I’m not saying you need to align with this Alessio guy. Your sister married that other one, right? Maybe he can keep you safe, and you can meet your sister, who from what you said before has had a rough time of it too. Or, you bite the bullet and make a deal with Alessio, and find a way to be happy and make it work. Maybe that’s not marrying him, but you find a way to live near him and work for him or something. I don’t know, but if you’re going to stop running, you don’t have many other choices.”
“These are the times that I want to find the remotest place on earth and live there,” I tell her jokingly, while at the same time, completely serious. “I mean, aren’t there islands out there that people are banned from visiting? Maybe I can go there. I don’t have a lot of survival skills, but I could learn.”
Rori snorts. “Babe, we both know that if you do that shit, you’d be dead in less than a week. And you’d go nuts without technology of some kind around.”
I pout. “I could figure it out. I could always build myself a boat to come back to the mainland for a couple of hours if I need to do something technological.”
“And they’d all be waiting for you the moment you did.”
“Maybe I should move to Antarctica.”
“Good luck with that. You’d be dead for sure. You hate the cold, and you can’t get endless supplies and shit sent to you to keep you alive or they’ll find you for sure.”
“Stop finding faults with everything. Look, I know I’m fucked, but I don’t understand why I have to be a damn pawn in this game. Why can’t they all just leave me the fuck alone?”
“Because most women in that life are a commodity, not a person,” she replies bluntly. “You’re only good for what your body can do, whether it’s keeping a cock wet, or birthing a bunch of kids for some sick son of a bitch so he can build his empire. You haven’t seen some of the shit I have, Sienna, and I really do hope you never do. The women and children I’ve helped save by picking up some of these men on their warrants, their stories will keep you up at night. A lot of them are so broken they’re nothing more than a shell of their former selves, and all because a bunch of men decided what they were useful for. Being a woman in this world is dangerous, and sometimes it’s far more than that. Unfortunately, the dealer of fate has given you a card that fucking sucks.”
“You and your poker analogies. But, yes, I get your point. I’m just so angry, Rori. I’m so angry they would ruin my life this way, all because they want to grow more powerful. They don’t care that I don’t know the life, or that I don’t know them. They found me, and decided that was good enough.”
“The people that smuggled you out are going to pay dearly for helping you.” My stomach churns at the thought. I don’t know my aunt, but knowing her days might be numbered makes my hands sweat and my heart pound. All because she wanted to make some extra cash and maybe help out someone she was friends with, to give my parents a child that they desperately wanted. “You need to make sure you don’t make that sacrifice worthless, Sienna. You got out, and now you’re being pulled back in. You can fight it tooth and nail until you wear yourself out and are forced into it, or you can be smart and align yourself with people you think will treat you at least fairly. Hell, maybe that’s not any of them, but someone else. There are plenty of dangerous people out there, and you need to be ready for the price they’re going to ask you to pay.”
“If you were in my shoes, what would you choose?”
She’s silent, and I know she’s pondering my question. Out of everyone, Rori’s opinion matters the most to me. Sometimes even more than my parents; mostly because they want what’s best for me and will sugarcoat things, while Rori will be blunt and give me the nitty gritty that I might not want to hear.
Finally, after a few more moments of silence, she replies, “I think you need to talk to Alessio and figure this shit out. He’s not going to give up, and he’s a force in Europe. I’ve done my own digging on him. He’s known to be a ladies man, so I can’t say he’d be faithful, but he’s also known to be fair, as well as feared. I mean, the shit he’s accused of doing is scary as fuck, but even with all of that, and the shit you’ve pulled on him, he’s never hurt you, and you will not get the same treatment from some of the other fuckers after you. But I also think you have an ace up your sleeve if shit goes south. Approach your new brother-in-law and see if he’d be willing to take you in if you can’t take living with the Carusos, or working for them or whatever.”
She’s right and I hate it. Thinking about Alessio and the fury on his face when I left him in Spain, I wince. Yeah, he might not be so willing to work with me after that. My new brother-in-law might be my best bet. At least with him, I don’t have to worry he’s going to want marriage in return, considering he’s currently married to my sister.
“I think I need to find a way to contact my new brother-in-law,” I tell Rori with a sigh.
“You’re not going to try and work it out with this Alessio guy?”
I give a wry laugh. “Babe, he’d sooner see me tied up on a spit and roasted over an open fire after what happened in Spain. Maybe in a while, after he’s calmed down and I have everything figured out with my brother-in-law, I can talk to him again and we can get to a friendly state.”
“And how are you going to talk to your brother-in-law?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet. There has to be someone out there that can get me his number or give me a way to get in touch with him. Alessio told me the first night we met that his name is Nico Armani.”
“It’s ringing a bell. Pretty sure that’s the name of one of the other Dons in New York that I came across in my search. From what I remember, he’s one of the top ones, even above your family. So if you’re going to have another badass in your corner, I don’t think you can go wrong there.”
“Hopefully I’ll be safe with him, and I can get to know my sister. I just have to hope she’s a good person and not a total bitch, but Alessio seems to like her, and he doesn’t seem to be the type to deal with a bitch.”
Rori snickers. “Other than you, you mean?”
“Fuck off,” I huff without any heat. “And like I said, he’s probably going to just kill me instead of dealing with me anyway, if he catches me before I can contact Nico.”
“Alright, well, I’m glad you have a plan, but you need to have a back-up to that plan, babe,” she cautions. “I also think you need to consider talking to Alessio sooner than later. The last thing you need is him after you too. Now, go and relax and let me know if you need me, alright? And if you leave sooner than you plan, make sure you let me know where you end up, or I’ll be tracking your ass down, and I’ll be far scarier than any of those mafia assholes.”
I chuckle. “I believe that. I will, promise. Love you, Rori.”
“Love you too, babe. Talk soon.”
We hang up, and I sit and stare out at the sea for another hour, my mind swirling with so many thoughts and issues until finally, the sun starts to set and I force myself to get up. I contemplate taking a dip in the pool, but I have shit to do so that’s going to have to wait. I head back inside, shutting and locking the doors behind me, and then I set out to find a shower.
I avoid the master suite, considering I don’t want to deal with whatever Branson has done there, and instead find a bedroom on the main floor that has a beautiful ensuite. It’s got a walk-in glass shower with a free-standing tub under the long, slim window on the outside wall. Thank god this place is as high up as it is or I’d have to worry about someone being able to see in.
I leave my bag on the bed and pull out some fresh clothes before heading back into the bathroom and stripping down to get in the shower. The water is refreshing and I stand there for a moment, letting it stream over my face as I try to calm my thoughts. I need to have a clear head before I start working on how to get a hold of Nico, and also deciding where I’m going next. Should I head back to the states to find his place? Or should I try and talk to him before I get there?
At the same time, I have to fight the urge to ignore it all and keep running. Or do I give up and wait for Alessio to find me? The man is far more dangerous than anyone else that might get a hold of me. After what happened a few days ago, it’s clear he is far better than what people have suggested. Even now, my body is still tender and sore, and bruises have formed in all the places he bit me, but instead of being fearful or pissed about it, the reminder only makes my blood heat.
Which is exactly why I can’t let him catch me. If Alessio catches me—and doesn’t kill me—I’m going to lose myself in him, and I never want that to happen. So I need to steer clear of him, and maybe some day, well after he’s found some other woman to fuck into a coma, I can approach him and we can find a way to be civil with each other. And who knows, maybe by then I’ll have found someone for myself and it won’t matter at all.
I finish my shower, determined to figure this out. I’m good at finding things online when I set my mind to it, so hopefully before I go to bed I can make headway. But first I need to get something to eat because I’m starving.
I walk out of the bathroom, drying my hair with my towel, and think that I should turn on the light now that it’s dark out and even darker in here. That’s when I hear, “Hello, coniglietto . Miss me?”
Fuck. He’s found me.