Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Madi
“ M adi Ricci.” A smile stretches across my friend Elijah’s lips when he sees me. My name catches Sadie’s attention, and she leaps from the bar stool she’s sitting on.
“Madi!” she screeches. “Get over here! You have to tell me all about married life!”
“Married life?” Elijah’s smile twists into a look of shock. “When did you get married?”
I didn’t anticipate how awkward post-wedding conversations would be with all my friends I didn’t invite to the wedding. On the other side of Elijah sits Mathias and Eric, both sharing the same surprised look.
I lift my left hand, flashing the stupidly large diamond and gold band.
“Don’t get weird.” Sadie waves her hand at them. “She didn’t invite anyone; it was just family.”
“A Costello party and she didn’t invite us? Sheesh,” Mathias tries to joke, but the tension still hangs in the air. Elijah’s dark eyes hold mine, waiting for a reason for not telling them.
Elijah and the guys have been part of my life for years now, probably since Nonno bought me the studio and I started hanging out in the French Quarter. I met them the first time I saw them perform in Jackson Square. Every day at 1:00 p.m., the crowd gathers in front of the church, and they put on a show. Flaunting their best moves while Elijah makes jokes over the speaker and hypes up the crowd.
I was in awe watching them that first time. Still, after watching hundreds of performances, I can’t help but to be amazed. Mathias does a trick where he jumps over a line of men crouched on a blanket while the crowd cheers loudly. Their ability to bring a group of people from all over the place together for twenty minutes never fails to make me smile.
After my grandfather died, I needed those moments more than ever. I made sure to be in Jackson Square every day to watch them. And eventually, they invited me to go to Ginos, a local dive bar, with them afterwards.
And from there, a beautiful friendship blossomed.
On wobbly bars stools and sticky vinyl booths, I became a version of myself that wasn’t a mafia princess or Crazy Al’s daughter. They weren’t naive. It didn’t take long for them to realize I was a member of the Costello family, but they didn’t bring it up or press for details. Nor did they shame me for the actions of a family I couldn’t control.
I appreciated that. And in exchange, I like to think I give them great dating advice that they couldn’t live without. The success of Sadie and Eric’s relationship was my greatest brag. I introduced them in this very bar.
Eric wraps his arm around Sadie’s waist and drags her back into him. “I’m sure she had a good reason for lying to us,” Eric says, and Sadie jabs him in the ribs. “So what is it, Mads?”
I imagine these guys are what a real brother/sister relationship would be. The kind I never got with Marcus. They tease me and laugh at my mishaps, but they also call me on my shit.
Fidgeting with the strap of my purse, I sort through my brain for an excuse that’s not a total lie. But I also can’t tell them the truth. I was actually forced to marry a man I hate, and now he’s making me live in his super nice house, but I’m really hoping when my cousin gets out of prison, he’ll let me divorce him. Sorry I didn’t tell you.
“ I’m sorry,” I finally say. “I should have told you guys, I just…didn’t know how.”
Elijah must sense the pain that lingers in my words because he stands up, asking the bartender for vodka soda with lemon, my normal drink, and ushering our group to a booth.
I pull my vibrating phone from my pocket to see Adrian’s name on the screen with a new text message.
Adrian:
Where are you?
Madi
Out with friends.
His response comes back quickly.
Adrian
Where?
Madi
Out.
I send the text and tuck the phone back into my purse, refusing to report my whereabouts to my new husband constantly. Plus, he has a man on me. I haven’t slipped my leash again, not since the night of my faux bachelorette party where Adrian found me in an alley… I shudder at the thought.
I spend the next hour catching them up on my arrangement, leaving out the part where my cousin possibly kills my brother. I stick to the bigger topics. Adrian’s a lawyer. He and my family agreed that we should marry. And then they set a date.
“That’s archaic,” Eric says, leaning back in his seat while he takes a long sip of his drink.
“You should have told us,” Elijah says, but there’s no anger in his words. His dark eyes look over at me with empathy. “We would have been there for you.”
“I know.” I nod, trying my best not to let tears spring from my eyes. Deep down, I did know they’d be there if I’d asked. But bringing them further into my life didn’t seem like the best idea. People around me never seemed to last long and I can’t bear the thought of something happening to them, simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or worse, them witnessing something at my wedding they weren’t supposed to see.
I’m not dumb. I know what happens to people in this city who witness my family’s wrongdoings. It’s safer for them to be kept at an arm’s length.
“Well…” Elijah finally relaxes his shoulders. “Does he have a big dick, at least?”
“Yes! The good questions, finally!” Sadie cheers as she sits up from her spot leaning against Eric. “We need all the details!”
I can’t help the crimson blush that immediately rises to my cheeks. “Uhm…”
“Madi!” Sadie screeches. “You slut! Tell me everything. What was it like?”
Eric groans beside her. “We do not need to hear about Madi’s sex life, babe.”
“Speak for yourself!” She nudges him.
“We haven’t actually-”
“What?” Sadie’s voice is loud and filled with shock. “You haven’t had sex with your husband yet?”
I shrug. “I don’t even know if I want to…”
“But you’ve done other things?” she presses.
I’m sure my face is the color of a tomato by now, so I untuck my hair from behind my ear, letting it act as a shield. “It’s not like there haven’t been opportunities. I just don’t think I’m, ya know, ready.”
“Oh, that’s beautiful.” Elijah smiles. “We have our own blushing virgin at the table,” he mocks me, hand on his chest.
“Hah-hah.” I press my back into the velvet booth and cross my arms. “I don’t want to give him the impression that I like him, ya know?”
“Hate sex is sooo good, Mads,” Sadie says as she pops the cherry from her whiskey sour between her lips. “Besides, if you’re stuck with him, you might as well get the goods.” She winks.
“And what if the goods aren’t good for me?”
That’s a lie, because I already know what Adrian can do with his mouth and fingers. I can’t imagine what that dick would do if he stuck it inside of me. I cover my mouth with my hand and dip my head. I cannot be thinking about Adrian’s dick while I’m out in public.
“How do you know it won’t?” she asks.
I’d be lying if I said fucking Adrian hadn’t crossed my mind. I nearly begged for it the other night. Every time he gets close to me, I wonder what he’d be like in bed. Will he be good? Will he rush through it, or take his time with me? Based on his punishments alone, I think he’d take his time with me. Goosebumps creep up my arms at the thought.
I doubt he’d be the type of guy who finishes in two minutes. He seems like someone who likes to savor his moments.
“Sure.” I shake my head with a laugh. “I’ll give it a try and let you know how it goes.”
“Please do.”
When the door to the bar opens, I don’t even notice, thinking it’s just another person coming in. Gino’s is off the tourist path and less frequented, it’s not too busy at 8:00 p.m. on a Friday night, but still there are people here. I don’t notice as black dress shoes stomp a slow path to our booth in the back corner. It’s not until Adrian is standing directly in front of us that I finally see him.
Dressed impeccably in a fitted suit with his hair slicked back and the sides neatly trimmed, he looks down at the five of us with a heavy frown.
I realize I’m tucked between Elijah and Mathias, and from Adrian’s view, I’m sure we look too comfortable.
Before he even says a word, my heart is throbbing in my chest and my lungs contract, begging for air they can’t seem to breathe in. Fear blinds the edges of my vision, and my immediate reaction is to diffuse the situation.
“Adrian-”
“Adrian?” Elijah cuts me off. “This is your husband? Not bad.” He smirks, and I can’t help but think this is the worst time for him to be commenting on Adrian’s looks.
Adrian only smiles under Elijah’s gaze. “Madi,” he says coolly, even though I can see the tic in his jaw. “Care to introduce me to your friends?”
“Uhm-” I stumble. His demeanor isn’t threatening; he even looks interested in learning their names, but something about the situation sits uncomfortably in my gut. “This is Elijah, Mathias, Eric, and Sadie.” All four of them are looking at my husband, but his eyes stay glued to mine. “We’re just getting a drink.” I feel the need to say it, as if it’s an excuse for why I’m here.
Besides, Adrian never told me I couldn’t leave the house. He never gave me any rules, really. He can’t possibly be upset with me. I talk myself up in my head, preparing for whatever fight might happen once we’re behind closed doors.
“Nice to meet you,” he says, the corners of his lips lifting with a playful smile. “Unfortunately, I need to steal my wife from you. Madi.” He gestures with his hand, waiting for me to climb out of the booth and take it.
“See you next week?” I ask the guys.
“Always.” Elijah confirms our standing arrangement for drinks every Friday.
The soles of my white Keds have barely touched the sidewalk outside the bar before Adrian has me spun around, my back hitting the brick wall.
He cages me in with a hand on either side of my ribs, and my skin tingles at the heat of his nearness. As his head dips low, the scent of mint infiltrates my nostrils. Warm breath trails over my collarbone and up my neck, making me shiver, before his face settles in front of mine.
“Who are they?” he asks, his voice deep and throaty. He sounds different than he normally does, less in control. “To you?” he adds.
“Friends,” I breathe. “Just friends.”
One of his hands turns to a fist as he braces himself against the wall, his eyes closing for a brief moment.
“You don’t have to worry about them…” I mutter. For some reason, I want to reassure him. “I’m not going to fuck them or anything.”
Despite how many rules I broke or fights I picked with Marcus, the one thing I never did was bring other guys into it. Even with these three, I limited myself to Friday night drinks. Our friendship couldn’t exist outside the safety of the bar.
People around me die. It’s an undeniable fact.
“You don’t even get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
Dark eyes drill into me, and his parted lips hover above mine. My pulse pounds. I think he’s about to say or something…or kiss me.
And then he’s being pulled away. Dark-clothed arms wrap around him and someone drops a brown sack over his head.
I think I scream. My lips open, but I can’t hear past the sound of the blood rushing in my ears.
It’s seconds, not even a full minute, before they have him in the back of a blacked-out car and then he’s gone. Nothing but tire skids on asphalt.
“Jesus,” I hiss, my hands digging into my purse for my cellphone. It clatters to the ground, and when I bend to grab it, I feel the tears blurring my eyes.
Someone just kidnapped Adrian.
Someone just kidnapped my husband.