Chapter Thirty
When I finally have a minute alone with Lincoln, I lose any restraint I had been holding onto until now. Throwing him up against the wall and pinning him in place, “Tell me you didn’t know!” I scream.
“What are you going on about?” He asks, throwing his hands up in surrender.
“The night of Bianca’s eighteenth birthday.” I hiss, “When Vivian broke her arm, and you went to get dad. Did you see a woman with him?” For a moment, Lincoln’s confused face almost makes me second guess what Bianca revealed to me, but the second recognition hits, I see it. His eyes widen slightly before the confusion returns. “Tell me you didn’t know that the woman they were terrorizing was Bianca.”
“It was… no. Allister told me that the woman was getting punished because she deserved it, that she had wronged all of the families. When I tried to question him about it, he kept telling me to drop it.”
“You saw all of the bosses torturing a woman, and you didn’t do anything about it?”
“What was I supposed to do? I was barely twenty-two. I had no rank, and I would have been going up against four mob bosses.”
I push off of him, “Go. Get out of my sight.” I hiss .
I know he’s not wrong. If he had spoken out, he would have gotten sent back to resistance training or worse. Still, the fact that he saw her and couldn’t even recognize her tells me just how bad she had been beaten that night.
I pace around the living room with a glass of bourbon, downing the glass before pouring myself another. Our reservation is in thirty minutes and Bianca still isn’t ready.
Last night I woke up to Bianca screaming. I checked the cameras I have hidden all over the house, to find her thrashing in her bed, kicking the air at nothing. I hated seeing her like that, scared and afraid of her own mind, of the idea of Manzo.
The moment I told her she was coming to the restaurant tonight, I saw it in her eyes. The way her face paled and the brightness slowly returning to her eyes instantly being snuffed out. Yet the relief in her eyes when she saw me as she woke up from her nightmare, made my cold, dead heart begin to warm. Like a body rising from the grave.
I used to want to pull out all of her fear, to make her hate me, but now, the idea of her being terrified at the sight of me sends anger coursing through my body. It just confirms the plans I’ve already set into motion. Tonight, I will attack Manzo, knocking him down a few pegs.
I’m dressed in my suit to look more professional. Jeremy walks in, looking disheveled and worn out. “Pucker up, Lover boy, the day has barely begun.”
He groans, running his hand through his hair as I pour him a drink. He swirls it around in the glass before taking a sip. He starts to pace as he downs the whole glass.
“Are you two fucking?” He asks as he runs his hands through his light brown hair again. I don’t answer, and I lift my chin when he looks at me. “Jesus fuck.” He whispers under his breath, almost inaudible. “Don’t hurt her.”
“Are you in love with her?” I ask.
He pauses his pacing as he looks up the stairs. “I was.” “Not anymore?”
“Our relationship was always weird. We had that brother-sister love for a while, but something changed a few weeks before she was found. Almost like…” He sighs and sits back down on the couch. “When she killed Hawkins’ father, everything changed.”
“She needed the comfort,” I say, and he nods.
“She never loved me.” He sighs and leans back on the couch. “I’m not sure I ever loved her either. I just think we both needed someone that felt like home.” Jeremy pauses and turns his attention to me. “I know you don’t need my permission, but I’m the closest thing she has to family, so I swear to God, if you hurt her, I will kill you.” He says in all seriousness, and I can’t help but chuckle. It pulls one out of him, and we laugh together for a minute.
“Is it serious? Between the two of you?” He asks, and I shrug. “We had sex.”
“I only ask because aren’t you known for fucking anything that walks?”
I chuckle, “I guess. But right now, I have a lot of shit going on, and so does Bianca. Anything serious is off the table. She doesn’t seem like the type to want more than that.”
“Clearly, you don’t know her very well.” He rests his right ankle on his knee, “You are the only guy she has done anything intimate with.” With the lift on my eyebrows, he adds, “I don’t count that sleaze bag.”
I nod. “So, it meant something to her.”
“I see how she looks at you, like a wounded deer looking for her sanctuary. If you can’t or don’t want that, you should make that perfectly clear now because you will end up hurting her.” Her heels clicking on the hardwood pulls my attention. Jeremy and I stand, “Just so you know, I see the way you look at her too. Even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself, you like her.” He singsongs, smirking and playfully nudging me.
I roll my eyes and shove him. I don’t know when I started liking this kid. We both stand there staring at the stairs, waiting for her to descend. When I finally see her, my heart skips a beat. She is wearing a sparkly mid-thigh, black long-sleeve dress with matching three-inch heels. Her blonde hair is down and has been slightly curled, and her face is bare other than a bit of mascara and clear lip gloss.
She comes to stand in front of us, looking between me and Jeremy. “What do you think? Too much?”
I take a step forward and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “No, you look perfect.” I pull out the black box I was keeping in my pocket and hand it to her. She looks between me and the box before she slowly opens it.
It’s a pair of diamond earrings I had Vivian pick out for me when they went shopping. She hitches her breath as she looks at them. She holds one up to the light before putting it back in the box and shutting it. “I can’t. It’s too much, it isn’t me.” She whispers and looks at her shoes.
I reopen the box for her, placing the earrings in her palm, and lift her chin so she’s looking at me. “Just for tonight. ”
She nods, and I smile. For once, she doesn’t fight me, and I almost miss that sassy mouth.
She walks over to the mirror and puts both of the earrings in. I have this tight feeling in my chest as I look at her reflection. Jeremy nudges me, and when I look at him he’s smirking, his eyebrows raised. I roll my eyes, and he tries to hide his laughter behind a cough.
“I look ridiculous,” Bianca mutters under her breath as she takes another step forward.
She runs her hands down her dress, smoothing out a few wrinkles as she stares at herself—the look of disappointment and sadness echoing around her, as if she doesn’t recognize the person staring back at her. I hate to admit how much I despise when she doesn’t recognize how beautiful she is.
“I haven’t seen myself like this since before my fifteenth birthday. Whenever I wear anything like this, I have to pretend to be someone else, making sure I stay hidden with an identity I don’t identify with.” She turns around to face me. “I stopped being a princess of the Mafia the moment my mother died.” She says in a whisper.
“You’re right, you aren’t a princess, you are a Queen. This is you, you’re not in disguise, you don’t have to hide. Be the Queen we know is hiding under the warrior.” I lean down, planting a soft kiss on her lips. She wraps he arms around my neck, pulling me in closer.
After a few seconds, Jeremy coughs behind us and she pulls back. Her cheeks are flushed, and she looks almost embarrassed. I give her one more small kiss before grabbing her hand and leading her out to the car .
Both Jeremy and I follow her to the front door, down the steps, and into the car. Jeremy sits up front with the driver while I take the back seat with Bianca.
She places her hands in her lap, touching each of her fingers to her thumb over and over again. She keeps her gaze out of the window as we head closer to Manzo’s territory.
I place my hand over hers, stopping her nervous tick. I feel her gaze on me, but I keep mine forward. She squeezes my hand once. When I finally look over at her, I know she doesn’t need to voice the words. I lift the corner of my mouth and rub my thumb against hers, soothing her.
Her breathing begins to pick up, and she swallows hard before shaking her head. “I don’t know if I can do this.” Her voice cracks, and at the one sign of weakness I’ve seen in her, I visibly see her slowly shutting down.
I place my hands on the side of her face, “Look at me,” she shakes her head, but my hands force her head still. “Angel,” I whisper. She takes one more deep breath before opening her eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you. You don’t need to be afraid of him anymore. You are mine as far as he’s concerned. Do you know what being mine means?” I continue when she doesn’t answer, “It means you are untouchable. You are protected not only by my entire Empire but also by Hawkins backing us. Manzo can’t get to you.” I tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She leans into my touch, a look of defeat serging through her baby-blue eyes.
The driver pulls the car to a stop, and Bianca lets out a shuttered breath. With one more squeeze of her hand, I open the door and help her out of the car. The moment she sees the restaurant, her face turns stark white.
“He named it Bella’s?” She whispers, not taking her eyes off the sign .
I rack my brain trying to figure out why Bella sounds so familiar, then I remember the day Manzo found her at the motel, and everything comes rushing back. It’s the name he called her when he was raping her, and I’m guessing that it wasn’t the first time he called her that.
“Come on,” I say, placing my hand on the small of her back, putting on the smallest of pressure to push her forward.