Chapter 39
“I’m guessing you’re still at the hospital,” Abaddon says on the phone as soon as I pick up.
“No, I’m on my way home.”
“What a fucked-up mess you got yourself into, my friend.”
“Did you drop Elodie at the apartment like I asked?”
“Yes.”
“Did she say anything?”
“She didn’t say a word the whole way. If you want my opinion, you’re going to have to go after that one. Elodie doesn’t strike me as the kind of woman who submits to something like what happened last night.”
“What was I supposed to do? Capria’s pregnant with my child. Besides, when I asked you to take Elodie back to the apartment, I didn’t know all the facts yet. What went through my head was protecting her.”
“And what happened?”
“Capria and her friend lied. There was an argument between her and Elodie, but my girlfriend didn’t do anything. Capria hurt herself.”
“Honestly, Gianni, how did you manage to be with someone like that for years?”
“I don’t want to hear that kind of shit right now. It’s done. What matters is getting this under control.”
“With Elodie, or with the child that’s on the way?”
“Both. I’m not with Capria, Elodie is my woman. However, I can’t turn my back on my child.”
“I don’t envy you right now. You’re going to have an eternal link to your ex.”
I rake a hand through my hair as my driver gets closer to the apartment. I called him to pick me up as soon as I left the hospital. “You said you wanted to talk to me.”
“Yeah, but given the amount of shit that hit your life yesterday, what I’ve got feels small now. Your target doesn’t exist anymore.”
“What?”
“Angelo got sent where he always belonged—Hell.”
I should feel relieved because the promise I made my grandmother has finally been fulfilled—the last of the bastards is gone—but the opposite happens.
I feel a rage I’ve never known spread through my veins.
That son of a bitch was mine.
It’s like life is suddenly slipping through my fingers in different directions.
“Was it the uncle?”
“No. LeBlanc, from what I heard. But of course there’s nothing tying him to Angelo.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am. The uncle has already named someone to take the bastard’s place, which means he already knows what Angelo was doing behind his back and couldn’t care less about LeBlanc’s move.”
“I’m getting home.”
“I won’t toss this phone yet, just in case you need me today.”
I hang up and get out of the car. That’s not a common offer for Abaddon to make.
What the hell is going through his mind?
I open the front door and ignore the elevator, taking the three flights of stairs. I gave Elodie a key as soon as we got to Paris, in case she wanted to go shopping in the afternoon. Now I pray she didn’t leave it stuck in the door, otherwise I won’t get in.
It would be just punishment, and I wouldn’t put it past her.
Before I slide the key into the lock, I brace for the argument I know we’ll have. She must be hurt, or she would’ve picked up the phone.
She’s fiery and she’s wounded, but I know that just as I’m crazy about her, the reverse is true, too.
The instant I open the door, though, a cannonball drops into my gut, because the first thing I see on the hall console is the apartment key acting as a paperweight on a sheet of paper.
I pick up the note and read it twice before crumpling it.
I went to meet Amber. I need some time alone.
I don’t let go of the note, my knuckles going white with frustration.
I grab my phone and call her. Again, it goes to voicemail.
Seconds later, it buzzes in my hand, but it isn’t Elodie, it’s my older brother, Tommaso.
“Are you still in Paris?” he asks as soon as I answer.
“Yes. What happened?”
I know it’s serious just from his voice.
“Mamma.”
“What?”
“There’s no easy way to tell you this, Gianni. I’m sorry. She asked me to keep it secret, but we talked and decided you have the right to know.”
“Know what?”
“She was diagnosed with cancer months ago. Today, she had to be admitted. Come home. I’ve already told the others.”
“You shouldn’t have kept it from me,” I say to my brother in the hospital corridor in Florence, hours later.
“She asked me to.”
“She’s my mother, too, for fuck’s sake.”
She’s in surgery to remove a lump in her breast. Only Tommaso was supposed to know, but at the last minute, he decided to tell the other kids. I know why: he’s afraid something will go wrong.
She wanted to say goodbye.
Fuck.
“The surgery isn’t high risk, Gianni.”
“Any surgery is a risk. Even anesthesia at a dentist can go wrong.”
I look at my other siblings sitting nearby. I should be comforting them, but I’m too overloaded.
“Where’s your girlfriend?”
I don’t even ask how he knows about Elodie. Like I told her, Tuscany is the oldest social network in the world.
“Gianni, did you see this?” my sister Donatella says, coming up with her phone in hand.
“I’m not in the mood for social media, piccola.”
She’s a famous YouTuber with millions of followers. She lives plugged into the news. I hate social media, and as much as I love my sister, I couldn’t care less about her work.
“Trust me, you need to see this.”
“What is it?”
I take the device, annoyed. When I start reading, I want to hurl it across the hall.
“Fuck me!”
The others get to their feet, and as Donatella passes the phone to each of my siblings, the looks of shock repeat, one after another.
When it reaches Tommaso, he reads and asks me, “Is this true?”
“About Capria being pregnant, yes. About us being engaged? No way. I’m dating Elodie.”
“Then why did that Satan in a skirt dump this crap on the internet?”
In the piece, Capria claims we’re thrilled about the heir on the way and hints we’ll be getting married soon. The “engagement” bit is the reporter’s, who says she can’t wait to see the size of the diamond.
I quickly tell them what happened last night, and when I finish, I see outrage on every face.
“Where’s your girlfriend?” Tommaso asks.
“She went to the United States to meet her sister.”
I don’t elaborate. I’m not ready to face the fact that I was abandoned.
I step away from them, and after one more failed call to Elodie, I try Abaddon’s phone.
“You knew she’d left, didn’t you?” I ask when he answers. “That’s why you said you’d keep this number in case I needed you?”
“I didn’t know she’d gone, but I’m not surprised. Elodie’s got hot blood in her veins. I only found out she’d left France after we talked this morning. But don’t worry. I got ahead of it.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m on my way to the States. I know you want me to keep an eye on her so nothing happens.”
“Yes. Even with Angelo out of the picture, I won’t take chances. I can’t leave Italy right now—my mother’s in surgery as we speak—but I need you to find her.”
“In New Orleans?”
“Yes, that’s where I believe she went. She left me a note saying she was going to visit Amber. Don’t lose sight of her.”
“You know I’ve never done that kind of job, right? I’m way too expensive to work as a bodyguard.”
He’s being sarcastic. I know him well enough to realize that, in his crooked way, he also feels responsible for Elodie.
“We’re not putting a price cap on this. Protect her. As soon as you find her, call me.”