Chapter Forty-Two
Valentina
T here’s no way I’m leaving Aurora alone tonight, so when Enzo pulls up to her flat, I get out with her. Matteo doesn’t argue, even though I can see in his eyes that he doesn’t want to spend the night away from me.
Aurora disappears into the bathroom the moment we cross the threshold. She doesn’t immediately come out, so I busy myself in the kitchen. I don’t know when the last time she ate was, but there isn’t much to work with in her fridge.
A knock at the door stiffens my spine. I reach into one of the kitchen drawers for a knife and hold it behind my back as I go to the entryway. A peek through the keyhole reveals a beautiful woman of Middle Eastern descent holding a leather bag.
“Miss da Silva?” she questions, somehow sensing my presence.
Wariness settles over me. “How do you know my name?”
“I’m Doctor Nasr,” she replies. “Matteo Leone sent me to do a physical examination of your friend. He mentioned that you might not open the door and that I should say the word “ pavona ” to verify my identity.”
My heart squeezes at Matteo’s attention towards Aurora, and for knowing to send a female doctor and not a man. He may come in the prettiest of packages, but it’s his kind heart that I find most attractive about him.
I open the door and move off to the side. “Come on in.”
Doctor Nasr strides past me into the flat and sets her bag down on the kitchen table.
“She’s in the bathroom. Let me tell her you’re here.” I walk to the back of the apartment and knock on the door. “Aurora?”
Her voice is hushed when she tells me it’s unlocked.
I walk in to find her standing in front of a mirror in nothing but a towel. She stares at herself, her hair dripping down her back. Her eyes are heavy and hallowed.
“There’s a doctor here to examine you.” She shakes her head but doesn’t say anything else. “You don’t want her to?”
“No,” she replies quietly. “It’s not necessary. They forced me to strip naked and paraded me in front of two dozen men.” Her eyes swim with tears. “But they didn’t touch me.”
I cross the bathroom and pull her into my arms, hugging her tightly. We got there in time.
The relief makes me want to weep.
I believe in fate. The parallels between her and Adriana are too many to count, but they differ in one crucial way—their endings. It’s fate that introduced me to Aurora, fate that built a friendship between us, fate that put me in a position to save her. It heals a part of me.
“I still think you should get examined. To be safe.”
She nods. “Okay.”
I exit the bathroom and wave the doctor in, leaving them to it as another knock sounds at the door. This time, the keyhole reveals a young man holding two large paper bags.
“Who are you?” I ask.
Like the doctor, he doesn’t startle. “ Don Leone sent me, Signorina da Silva. I’m supposed to give you the code word “cherry”.” He lifts the bags up to the keyhole. “These are for you. Teas, face masks, snacks, and hot food. He wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for so there’s Italian, of course, Colombian, and Japanese meal options in here. If none of these are to your liking, I can go pick up whatever you’d like, just let me know.”
God, I love him .
How can he have asked me not to fall in love with him and then done everything in his power to make sure I did?
I open the door. “This is perfect, thank you.”
He hands me the bags, inclines his head, and disappears.
Doctor Nasr comes back into the living room as I’m laying out the food on the coffee table. I straighten, wiping my hands on a napkin.
“How is she, Doctor?”
“Physically? She’s okay. Mentally? It’s hard to say. She’s in shock right now. Only time will tell how she processes the trauma. I’ve recommended her to a psychologist, I hope she calls her.”
“I’ll talk to her about it. Thank you, Doctor.”
I see her out and turn back into the kitchen to find Aurora padding quietly into the living room. She’s in a hoodie and matching sweatpants, her hair loose and still drying.
She eyes the food as she drops onto the couch. “Don’t you think you went a little overboard on the ordering?”
“Matteo sent it.” I point to the toiletries I laid out on the kitchen counter. “He also sent a bunch of self-care things.”
Aurora stares blankly back at me. “I know I must be in shock because I can’t bring myself to react to the fact that the Don of the Italian Mafia—my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss—sent me sushi and face masks. And I know normal me would find that absolutely fucking crazy.”
“Don’t forget the cannoli,” I say, picking them up and bringing them to the coffee table. I sit next to her on the couch, tucking my feet under my butt. “Stupid question, but how are you?”
Aurora lifts empty eyes to mine. “I don’t know,” she says. “I honestly have no idea. Everything is a tangled mess inside me.” She reaches over and grabs my hand. “All I know is how thankful I am. Some obese, fifty-year-old Russian bought me. They were taking me to him when you found me. Who knows what would have happened to me if you hadn’t.” She shudders. “You want to know the worst part?” The corners of her mouth suddenly start to wobble and she looks away. “He bought me for twenty thousand pounds. That’s how little my life is worth apparently. Isn’t that sad?”
Alternating waves of disgust and anger surge inside me. I swing violently between the two emotions.
Anger apparently wins.
“Aurora.” The undertone of fury in my voice has her looking quickly back at me. “Those men are the foulest, most revolting creatures on Earth. Absolutely nothing about your life should be measured against their opinions,” I seethe. “If you want to know how much your life is worth, it should only be measured by the number of sexual abusers I’m willing to kill for you, and let me tell you, that number is fucking infinity . Those monsters don’t deserve to breathe the same air as you, let alone to make you think any differently about yourself.”
A tremulous smile lifts the corners of her lips even as tears continue to shine in her eyes. “What you did—”
I wave her away. “You would have done the same for me.”
Aurora gapes at me. “Um, no, I couldn’t have. You were like Catwoman back there.”
I laugh and she grins. Her smile lights a warm flame that heats the center of my chest.
“Can I ask you a difficult question?”
“Of course,” she answers.
“It’s about that place. I don’t want to make your trauma worse, but—”
“Ask me,” Aurora interjects.
“I came to Firenze because I was looking for someone.” I pull up a picture of Adri and I on my phone. “This is my sister, Adriana. Like you, she was kidnapped nearly two years ago now, and I believe sold to Femina Fortis , the place we found you in.” Aurora’s eyes grow sad and sympathetic. She takes the phone from me and stares at the photo as I keep talking. “This is a long shot, but did you see her when you were there? She might have looked different—maybe she had longer hair or was skinnier?”
My breathing slows, stagnating in my chest as Aurora keeps looking at the photo. Then, she lifts her eyes and hands it back to me.
“No, I’m sorry, she wasn’t there.” Equal parts disappointment and relief cave my chest. “That doesn’t mean she hasn’t been through the house though. They moved dozens of girls a day the three days I was there. Most of them didn’t go to auction in that house. I don’t know where they were taken, but there has to be a larger network.”
I grip the phone tightly in my fist, the hard edges digging into my palm deeply enough to bruise. Aurora sees it and taps my fingers, quietly and gently urging me to relax my hand.
“I’m sorry. I wish I had a different answer for you.”
“Don’t be,” I say, exhaling a shaky breath and pasting on an even shakier smile. “I’ll find her.”
“I know you will. You found me.” Aurora looks down then whispers quietly, “I don’t know how I’m going to go back to Firenze . Whoever that Serbian man was, something tells me he’ll make sure we’ll never see Amadeo again, but Guido…”
“You’ll never see Guido again either, Aurora,” I vow. “Matteo will find him and deal with him.” I open the banking app on my phone and tap away for a few seconds. “As for Firenze , you’re not going back there either.”
Her phone pings and she frowns at me. Picking it up, she gasps when she looks at the notification on her screen.
Her head whips back to me. “What did you do?”
“That money isn’t mine, it was given to me. I don’t need it, I have my inheritance. That part’s a longer story,” I add. “Anyway, it’s for you. For a fresh start.”
Aurora gives me an incredulous look. “Who gave you this much money, Valentina?”
I blush, my cheeks going red. “Matteo.”
The whites of her eyes grow even wider. “Why?”
“Back when I was dancing, he paid for a lap dance. I told him he couldn’t touch me unless he paid extra.”
“And he was willing to pay two million pounds for that?”
Remembering how his hands had roamed greedily over every inch of my body, I blush even more deeply. “Yes.”
“That’s not a man who’s going to be able to walk away from you, Valentina. No matter what he says.”
I look down. “He will, and soon.”
A throbbing ache burns in my chest. I know my time with Matteo is running out. I can feel it. His new position established distance between us, as did my quitting Firenze . Those were the first steps to an inevitable rupture between us, and overhearing him tell Enzo to schedule the meeting with the Marchesani family was the final nail in the coffin.
My heart caved in at his words, but I can’t say I was surprised. He’s Don now. I knew that meant his engagement would be confirmed, the wedding imminent after that. He seems as disgusted by the idea of marrying Marina as I am, but his feelings don’t matter. Not really, not when he has no choice but to marry her.
“Have you even told him how you feel?”
I shake my head vehemently. “No, and I won’t.”
He can’t choose me, and I would never ask him to even if he could, no matter how much I long to. Not when I know what being Don means to him.
And it’s obvious how well the position suits him. He’s a natural born leader and seeing him step into that role and the associated spotlight fills me almost to bursting with pride.
No matter how much it tears my heart to pieces, no matter how much it feels like I won’t survive without him, I know I have to let him go. It’s because I love him that I’ll quietly walk away whenever he tells me it’s time, not because I want to or would ever choose to.
I don’t look forward to the martyrdom, but I love him enough to do it. I’ll put his revenge first, like he’s done with mine the entire time we’ve been together.
“For what it’s worth, I think you’re making a mistake,” she says. “And, thank you, but I can’t accept this. If you don’t want the money, you should give it back to him.”
“I want you to have it,” I say emphatically, clasping Aurora’s hands in mine. “Use it to put what happened behind you. Use it to start over, in whatever way you decide to do so. If nothing else, consider it worker’s comp from the Italian Mafia for you being kidnapped during work hours.”
That draws the first laugh out of her since she went missing. The sound of it pulls me in, and then we’re both laughing until we’re crying.
“Can we please put some trashy TV on and eat now?”
“I thought you were never going to ask,” she replies.
We settle deeper into the couch. I glance over at her, taking note of the trace of a smile still on her face.
She’ll be okay.
???
The next morning, Aurora is still sleeping when my phone rings. My stomach knots when I see Thiago’s name on my screen, a premonitory sense of foreboding telling me this is a call I have to pick up and likely not one I’m going to enjoy.
I pad out of the bedroom and into the living room, careful not to wake my friend. “Hello?” I whisper.
“Nice of you to pick up my phone call for once,” Thiago’s guttural voice growls in my ear.
“Good morning to you too.”
“It’s noon.”
Is it? I didn’t realize. Aurora and I were up until six watching reality TV. She didn’t say it, but I knew she was afraid of going to sleep. It’s only when exhaustion finally pulled her under that she gave in.
Thiago gives an aggrieved sigh. “This is exactly why I made this decision. Arturo hasn’t seen you in months. Neither have I, except briefly at the Tellier gala before you ran away like you’d seen a ghost. You don’t pick up my calls and hardly answer my texts. No one ever knows where you are. It can’t go on like this. I’m too busy to be worrying about you constantly. It’ll be someone else’s job now.”
A cold draft floats down my spine, snapping it straight. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I have my wife to take care of. It’s about time you be someone else’s priority.” There’s a beat of silence before he continues, “I’ve finalized the terms of your engagem—”
The cold draft hardens to icy realization and sinks like lead balloon straight to the bottom of my stomach.
“No.”
“—of your engagement.”
“ No .”
“ Vale …”
“No! Thiago, don’t do this,” I beg. “Please don’t do this. I’m not ready.”
Hysteria echoes in my words. I’m no longer being careful to whisper. My denials echo loudly in the quiet apartment.
“I’ve vetted him, Vale . He’s a good man. Young, rich—”
“ I don’t care . I don’t fucking care.” I shake my head like he’s standing in front of me and can see it. “I won’t do it. Whoever he is, I won’t marry him.”
For long seconds, Thiago stays silent on the other end of the line. Finally, he says, “I wasn’t expecting you to necessarily be happy about the news, but I certainly wasn’t expecting this reaction either. You’ve never pushed back this seriously when we’ve discussed it in the past.”
I didn’t fight it in the past because I was a lifeless, empty shell. Because I had no one else in my heart. Not being with Matteo is one thing, but being forced into the arms of someone else is another altogether. I’m seconds away from being sick to my stomach at the thought of touching another man.
“Maybe I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it,” I snap angrily. “Maybe I didn’t think you’d sell your only remaining sister to a stranger.” He inhales sharply. It’s a low blow and I know it. I don’t allow myself to regret it. “I’m allowed to be furious, I have every right to be.”
Thiago is pissed, I can tell by the tense silence echoing through the line.
“Is there a reason you’ve changed your mind?” he asks silkily. “Maybe someone who’s changed it for you?”
I know that tone. I recognize it instantly.
There’s a reason my brother’s nickname is Diablo , and it’s not because he’s a particularly nice guy. That tone of voice usually precedes him inflicting unspeakable pain on another man.
I won’t let that man be Matteo.
My lips thin into a firm line. “No.”
“Are you sure?” he hums, voice outrightly dangerous now. “Because I will happily remove any obstacles to this engagement for you if need be.”
“There aren’t any,” I grit through clenched teeth, hating my brother for the first time in my life.
“Good,” he bites back sharply. Then, as if remembering who he’s speaking to, his voice softens. “I’m not giving you away to just anybody, Vale . He, along with many others, were carefully and extensively vetted before even being allowed on a list with your name at the top. There’s a reason I picked Carlos Córdoba. He’s a good man and you’ll get along very well; I believe you’ll even grow to love him one day.”
Thiago has no idea just how impossible that is. Time won’t dull the pain or shrink my love for Matteo. There’s no room in my heart for anyone but him and there never will be.
“You’re ruining my life,” I croak past the mass blocking my throat.
Pause. “I’m sorry you feel that way, hermana .”
I always thought that our story would end with Matteo walking away from me. I never considered that it could be the other way around, that I’d be the one setting him free.
Maybe it’ll be a kindness for him. I have to try and see it that way.
“There’s no other way to feel about it. You’re projecting your story with Tess onto me, but it won’t end the same way. I won’t love Carlos. I’ll spend a life in misery because of you,” I accuse. “That’s what you’re sentencing me to and I’ll never forgive you for it.”
I hang up before he can say anything else, then run to the bathroom and vomit my heart out right into the toilet.