Chapter 18 – Serena
“That kiss was a distraction,” I muttered to my reflection, shaking the excess water into the sink. “I had to throw him off the scent somehow.”
Then why are your lips tingling?
“Because I’m nervous!” And that martini was strong.
Patting my warm cheeks, I took a deep breath. So long as there was no one in the hall, I was good to go. With a tug, I opened the bathroom door and casually strolled out.
There was no one around.
Instead of turning right to the bougie club, I made a beeline for the entrance. My steps slowed as I passed the hostess, but the twit was too busy on her phone to notice. I slipped through the door, angling my face away from the bouncers, and hurried into the night.
I did it.
“I did it!” I said.
Barely able to keep from shouting it, I clip-clopped down the sidewalk. It took a concentrated effort to keep my steps slow and focused. Once I rounded the corner, I paused to peek backward. No one followed me.
Holy shit, how was that possible?
“Some mafia,” I muttered.
Their situational awareness sucked. I used the bathroom and walked out the front door. Something like a warning crackled down my spine. It didn’t feel right.
“That’s just because you’re high on adrenaline.”
And pirate kisses.
Rolling my eyes, I hurried away. Just because they were too lazy to keep watch on one lousy prisoner didn’t mean they wouldn’t hunt me down. I wouldn’t be safe until I left this city and was back in Chicago.
My stomach dropped. I did it. I escaped.
And now I was returning to Chicago and the famiglia. To the gilded cage I grew up in. The place where I’d been equally imprisoned.
“Sandro and Leo are my family.” But that ache in my chest was from missing Sandro’s wife. Penelope was no doubt going out of her mind, worried sick about me.
But even though I had a sister-in-law whom I cared deeply for, returning meant going back to the status quo. Which meant guarded shopping trips and days at the spa, unable to chat with anyone from society. And loneliness. Endless, suffocating hours spent alone.
“Urge, he’s going to be impossible now,” I groaned, crossing the street with seconds to spare.
If I thought it was bad before having a great and powerful mob boss as a brother, Alessandro would be insufferable now that I had been kidnapped. I didn’t want to call him, let alone go back.
The diner I spied on the way here had a big yellow sign and promised waffles. I took the hundred-dollar bill from my bra, went to the counter, and ordered a coffee. Even if I was hungry, there was no way I could eat.
“What else do you want, hun?” the man in the apron with kind eyes asked.
His question repeated in my head, but with that eerie calmness of deep revelation. What did I want?
My lips tingled in response.
I was almost twenty-five years old, and I finally found a man I enjoyed kissing. One who kissed me back as though he needed my mouth to breathe.
Turning to the couple giggling in the booth, I pointed to their platter. “I’ll have what they’re having.”
“One All-Star Special coming right up.” The cook grinned.
I scrubbed my hands through my hair. I’d meant the couple’s happiness. Their devotion. The fact that they were sharing food and talking like the oldest of friends.
That would be Alessandro and Penelope in thirty to forty years, once the greys took root and the lines carved their faces.
If I went back, that would not be my fate.
Sure, the great and powerful don could fix his sister up with a husband.
He would even let me choose. One thing he and Leo had always promised was that I wouldn’t be sold to make a profitable gain.
They’d worked too hard to forge our family’s legacy and build their empire without needing to sacrifice me.
Which was better than most women in my position had it.
But just because I would have a say in my future marriage didn’t mean it would be a love match.
How could it if I wouldn’t be allowed to kiss—to spend time with—any potential suitors?
That was how a woman reached the ripe old age of twenty-five only to be kidnapped before meeting someone interesting.
Overprotective brothers who scared the shit out of any boy I might meet was not the way any girl wanted to grow up.
Am I trading one prison for another?
That was utterly ridiculous! But I had to ask myself the question.
Avoiding an honest answer, I asked the cook if I could borrow a phone.
“Sure thing, hun.” He pointed at the landline by the register.
Fingers trembling, I picked up the receiver.
But I hesitated over the numbers. Who to call?
Both brothers would be incensed. It was a question of who would listen to reason—who would calm the other down when they relayed the news?
Biting my lip, I chose the brother I spoke to less.
After I disguised the call, I dialed. It was his private number that very few had access to, and the one he always answered.
Leonardo picked up on the second ring. “Yes?”
“It’s me,” I whispered in Italian. “I’m just checking in and—”
“Serena.” That one word packed a punch. Spoken in a deadly bite and full of something that could easily be mistaken for disgust.
I would have preferred Alessandro’s explosion of violence. He might seem the cold, calculated brother, but Sandro was easily pushed to the edge. Leo? He was iron, unmovable and used to looking down on the world from his golden throne.
“I’m okay, I’m safe,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry. I saw an opportunity and carpe diem!”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he spewed.
My shoulders hunched, and I wanted desperately to turn invisible. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t see me. After days and days without contact, and this was how he greeted me.
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” I snapped back, glad that I couldn’t see the terrible wrath scrawled over his unforgiving face.
“You have everyone thinking you’re dead,” he fumed.
I laughed under my breath, shaking my head at the ceiling. “Let me guess, you knew all along this was just another one of my stunts.”
“Damn right I did,” he barked. “I told Sandro you weren’t mature enough to take a trip by yourself.”
I fisted my hand, words coming hot and ready to my aid. “And how the fuck would you know? You’ve seen me less than a dozen times since you moved out!”
“A cry for help—disgusting.”
I loved how he just assumed the worst.
My eyes closed. Yeah...there was no way they would let me have even a fraction of the freedom I had enjoyed heretofore.
“You’re right, I was just having a good time,” I lied, digging my nails into my palm until half crescents formed in my flesh.
His voice dropped to that scary level of cold. “It’s time to come home. Where are you?”
I bit my lip. A few words and this would all be over. Even if I couldn’t make it to the airport, even if I’d been followed, this call would save me. Alessandro would send his men south. Leonardo would pay for the freaking military to storm the city and rescue me Black Ops style.
Laughter followed by teasing sounded from the corner of the restaurant. There was a piece of chocolate pie in front of the couple. One had placed whipped cream on the other’s nose while stealing a large bite.
They were so...happy.
Their banter couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. And then, the man swatted the woman’s hand away. He lifted the fork and brought a large bite to her mouth. She stared adoringly at him as her lips slid over the utensil.
What did I want?
I want that.
Taking a deep breath, I did the bravest thing I’d ever done. “I’m taking charge of my life. I just called to tell you I was fine, and I’ll check in when I can. Don’t worry about me.”
I slammed the phone back on the receiver, silencing his torrent of words. I did it. One simple act, and I was cut off from any aid. For the first time in my life, I was well and truly on my own.
A shaky breath left my lungs. Free. Even if this wasn’t the perfect daydream I craved, I was...free.
My feet seemed to barely touch the ground as I walked back to my seat, where a delicious looking platter waited for me. I dove in, shoveling the greasy food down my throat. The platter was clean in less than five minutes.
“Can I get you anything else?” the cook teased.
“Yes, one slice of chocolate pie to go.” When he gave it to me, I handed him the hundred. “Keep the change. I don’t need it anymore.”
His eyes about fell out of his head, making me laugh as I left. The need to escape was gone. I chose my prison, and now it was time to serve the sentence.