9. Dario
9
Dario
T he harsh fluorescent light brought Thea’s hollow cheeks and sallow skin into sharp focus as she scrubbed her eyes and fought back a yawn. It made me want to wrap her in my arms and never let her go. I caught Carmel watching her a few times, her eyes alive with curiosity.
I’d been coming here for years, but always alone. Carmel had become like a surrogate grandmother. She’d kept me on the straight and narrow when my cesspit of a life threatened to drown me.
The fact I’d brought Thea here must have had her head buzzing with questions, but she’d refrained from interrogating me.
“You need sleep,” I told Thea. She yawned again. We’d spend the last hour talking about my father. Reminiscing instead of dealing with the two elephants in the room, namely her plan to rid the world of Francesco and my discovery she was pregnant.
Many times I’d almost told her I knew about her little secret, but something stopped me. Perhaps it was because being here, having her all to myself with none of the usual friction, felt right, and I didn’t want to trigger another argument where she stormed off and refused to speak to me for days.
My need to protect her was stronger than ever. Being pregnant made her vulnerable. God, if Francesco got his hands on her… it didn’t bear thinking about.
“I can sleep when I’m dead,” she quipped.
“Not funny,” I snapped. The thought of losing Thea on top of losing my father made me want to kill something, or rather someone.
She shook her head and sighed. “Sorry. Bad joke. Come on, let’s go. I think your friend would like to lock up and leave.”
“I would like to head home, yes,” Carmel grumbled. “Some of us have to work early tomorrow.”
Since Francesco had made it abundantly clear at the cemetery that he wanted to talk to me in the morning, I also needed to get some sleep. The trip from Naples to Palermo wasn’t far, but I’d booked a seat on the 7 AM flight, which meant getting up in… fuck me , less than five hours.
“Take care, you two,” Carmel said, giving me a quick hug before locking and bolting the door behind us.
“I’ll walk you back to your apartment,” I told Thea. The street was empty, but I wasn’t taking any chances. This was a rough area. Full of drug dealers, addicts, and petty criminals.
“You shouldn’t be seen with me.” Thea looked up, her face mostly hidden under the hood she’d pulled over her newly cropped hair. It was strange seeing her with short hair, but I had to admit, a pixie cut suited her fine, elfin features.
“I’m not letting you walk anywhere alone.” I held out my arm and after a moment of hesitation, she slipped her hand through, huffing softly.
“Anyone would think I was a poor, defenseless female,” she muttered. Having seen the gun she’d tucked down the back of her jeans, and knowing full well she probably had at least one knife strapped to her person, defenseless was the last word I’d use when describing my girl.
“This is where you’re staying?” I scowled at the scuffed door with its inadequate lock. Why on earth would anyone pay money to stay in this shithole? “Did you even read the reviews before booking it?”
“No.”
“Figures.” She tapped in a code and waited for the lock to turn green. When she stepped inside, I followed her.
“Don’t you have to be somewhere?” she asked.
“Not tonight, no.” I had a hotel room waiting for me, but the truth was, I didn’t want to be alone. Not tonight.
For once Thea didn’t fight me. She sighed and waited for me to close the door, then I followed her up two flights of stairs until we reached a second, even less secure door. This one needed a key.
One hard kick and it would fall apart. The idea of her choosing to stay somewhere so unsafe, without anyone to watch over her, made me clench my fists with rage. If Kyril was here, he’d have gone berserk. I was almost tempted to take a photo of the shitty door and send it to him, so he could see the kind of danger she’d put herself in.
But if I did, the stupid fuck would catch the first flight out here and cause all kinds of bother.
“Well I’m off to bed. There’s a blanket on the sofa for you.” She kicked her boots off and shed her coat. The apartment was small and bland, with some generic art on the wall and a beige sofa positioned in front of a large, flat-screen TV. Homely it was not.
“We know about the baby,” I said before she could leave. The minute the words fell from my lips, she froze.
“What baby?”
“Don’t act dumb, Thea. Michael found the pregnancy test and thought it was Eden’s. She was forced to admit it was yours. We were all there at the time, losing our shit because you’d fucked off in the middle of the night.”
“I had no choice, Dario. My father is a threat to me, to us all,” she replied, neatly side-stepping the baby issue. “I’d have thought you, of all people, would understand.”
“Who’s baby is it?” The fact it wasn’t mine bothered me more than I cared to admit.
“Does it matter?” She turned to face me, her face blank, but her dark eyes gave her away. She was afraid. Mostly likely terrified. And with good reason.
“It matters. Kyril assumes it’s his, which creates a whole new set of problems none of us wish to think about.”
“Yes, it’s his.” She placed a protective hand on her flat stomach. “We didn’t use protection at the Christmas Gala before it all went to shit. I was supposed to take a morning-after pill, but then…”
“Then Torrance came after you and threw you in your father’s dungeon,” I finished. “Which meant it was too late.”
She nodded and stared at the floor. “I have no idea what I’m going to do.” The hitch in her voice tugged hard at my heartstrings. Thea rarely showed her vulnerable side. She’d learned the hard way that it was a bad idea, for many reasons.
“You have time to consider your options. It’s your body and your life.” I knew damn well Kyril would never condone her aborting his baby, but he wasn’t my concern.
Thea meant everything to me now my father was gone. If for whatever reason she decided she didn’t want the baby, I’d make sure she had the means to end the pregnancy. We weren’t living in fucking Idaho or Arkansas or some other place where abortions had been banned.
“I’m not getting rid of the baby,” she said, her voice firm as she fixed me with a hard look before slumping down on the sofa. “Are they mad I left?” I knew she’d gone radio silent before I flew here three days ago, but I hadn’t spoken to any of the assholes since then.
“They were worried, not mad.”
She chewed her lip and tugged at the short strands of hair around her ears. So cute.
“I couldn’t stay, not with Dad still out here. We both know he won’t stop until he’s handed me over to that fucking monster.” I moved to sit down next to her, conscious of how late it was. Too late to be sitting here talking, but I was powerless to move. “Fausto told me Dad’s in debt to the cartel. And because I escaped the wedding from hell, Marku’s on his case as well.” She threw me a small smile. “Karma’s a bitch.”
I chuckled.
“One thing that puzzles me, though,” she continued, “Is why he has beef with Lucian Forsyth. Any idea why he’s going after him? It makes no sense. Lucian isn’t someone to mess with, and Dad knows this. He already has the cartel gunning for him, so why waste resources on Lucian?”
She made a good point. Unfortunately, Francesco had never discussed his operational motivations with me - I was his soldier, not his general - which meant he’d not shared his thoughts on why he’d ordered me to plant a recording device in Cassian’s hotel room.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” I admitted. “Torrance would probably know why. Those two have been allies since Francesco’s father died. He helped Francesco take the reins and eliminated any dissenters.” My father had spoken of how ruthless a much younger Francesco had been when a few of the older guys questioned his abilities in running the family business.
Thea shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m sure he has some bullshit reason in his head, even if that reason is simply that he wants more power. The only thing he told me was Lucian’s anti-organized crime initiatives were causing him issues, which kind of makes sense. But still, my gut tells me there’s more to it.”
I agreed with her but now was not the time to analyze Francesco’s motivations. “You need to sleep,” I reminded her as she fought back a yawn.
She nodded and stood. “I have to be up early. I have a ferry to catch to Palermo.”
“Why don’t you fly?”
“Because Dad’s men will be watching the airport. It’s easier to blend in on the ferry. Buona notte , Dar.”
I watched as she disappeared into the small bedroom and closed the door. After checking the locks on the main door again, I settled down on the sofa and closed my eyes. Only sleep refused to come.
All I could think about was my father’s final moments. Did he suffer? The coroner had told me not, but my brain liked to torture me with all kinds of sick images. Being burned alive was a nightmare scenario second only to being eaten alive by wild hogs.
I tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable on the lumpy sofa. My legs were too long and my shoulders too broad. Just as I was about to get up and call it quits, having decided I may as well mainline coffee until I needed to leave for the airport, I heard a faint whimper from the bedroom.