Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rayna
Ithought I would have at least a few more days before I had to yell at more Moretti men, but apparently, that idea was too good to be true. I only make it two before one of them earns a fierce tongue-lashing.
“What the fuck do you mean I can’t see her?”
Elio gives me a bland look. “Exactly what I just said.”
I recoil from his tone. “Since when are we not on the same side?”
He doesn’t reply. He sits stiffly on my couch, fists tight and clenched, like he’s holding something back. As if he didn’t just drop the bomb of all bombs on me. Yes, Sienna is safe. But no, I can’t see her.
Fucking bullshit.
Elio and Apollo came by specifically to update me about Sienna and this is not what I expected to hear from them. I haven’t heard from my best friend since the Moretti family dinner, and the last message I received from her phone was that she was safe with Elio.
I gave her time to settle into her new situation, even though I had no details about what that situation even was. But after forty-eight hours without an update, I am demanding answers. Answers that Elio apparently doesn’t want to give me.
I was under the impression that we were good friends, but right now he seems like he’d rather be anywhere else but here with me.
“I’ll take it from here, Elio,” Apollo says sternly. “You can go back now. You clearly aren’t in the headspace to be here yet.”
Elio doesn’t argue, standing up quickly. “Fine.”
He storms out of the living room, and eventually the apartment, front door slamming behind him.
“What the hell was that about? Why does he seem livid with me?”
“He saw Sienna’s face, Rayna. He’s still consumed with guilt and anger on her behalf. He’s not livid with you, he’s livid with the world.”
My resolve softens. I should have expected him to be upset. Sienna kept her health and well-being hidden from him. And if she hadn’t, he could have prevented the worst of it. But he couldn’t, and now…
She’s never going to be the same again.
“I can understand that,” I admit quietly. “It’s jarring. Most of the time I was able to see her in person, she was swollen from surgery or fillers or something. So I get it, but why the hell can’t I see her if she’s okay?”
Apollo sighs, long and exhausted.
“You can’t see her, because as far as the mafia world is aware, Sienna Bianchi was kidnapped two nights ago. She’s officially missing and in order for her to stay that way, she can’t have visitors.”
My jaw drops, gut sinking. “Kidnapped?”
“Yes.” He nods once. “This is the story Abramo and I came up with. That we could agree upon without making waves.”
“How on earth does her being fucking kidnapped not make waves?”
“Because her parents won’t make it public,” he replies, jaw ticking. “They’d rather die than face the rumors. It will be kept quiet while they look for her, and since she’s with us, they’ll never find her.”
“They’d rather die than have people think Sienna has been ruined in some way,” I spit out venomously. “It’ll be harder to marry her off to someone of Emilio’s caliber if she’s been kidnapped in the past. They’ll assume the worst happened to her, and that’ll knock her value.”
I’m gonna be sick just thinking about it. My stomach churns and the back of my throat constricts with a burn.
“More than likely, that is on their minds, yes.”
My hands run down my thighs as I sit, the soft denim under my palms. I reach my knees and squeeze hard, wishing I could get rid of this awful feeling. A twisted combination of anger, sadness, and disgust.
No one deserves parents like hers, but Sienna is my best friend, so it feels even more unjust. I know how kind and loyal she is. How smart and creative, how strong and resilient…Why her?
Why can’t her parents see her the way I do?
How could they see her sweetness and beauty and still destroy it?
“So, where is she? If I can’t see her, you need to tell me what you’re doing to take care of her. She was locked up in her parents house, I doubt she’s thrilled to be locked up in your version of it.”
Apollo looks like he’s taking a moment to decide how to report the news, face still in concentration. “Sienna will remain secluded in a secure safe house that only Elio, Armani, and I have access to.”
“Oh great, a new prison for her,” I snap, practically hissing. “What the fuck Apollo? Why couldn’t you guys just tell Abramo she’s coming here and to deal with it himself?”
He stiffens. “For someone who has been a victim of the complications of complex mafia relationships, you still seem to have a naive outlook on it. This is the way things work, Rayna. It’s a delicate balance. There’s give and take, and strategic ways to make moves without bloodshed.”
“I—”
“Your friend wanted her family alive, this is how she gets her way. Abramo can only do so much while his father is still in charge. And no one would willingly give a mafia princess to another family without a marriage contract in place. Would you rather I saddled her with a husband instead?”
A husband is the last thing she would want.
Someone vying for her hand in marriage now would only prove to her mother that she did the right thing. She’d see the interest of a man as evidence that she was justified in changing Sienna’s face and body.
Sienna would probably internalize that too. Even if she was in on the plan, I can’t imagine the mental damage it would do to her to hear her mother celebrate her twisted success.
My bottom lip wobbles, emotion welling up. “How long is this going to last? Is she going to be all alone?”
“When Elio went to get her, he also took another woman. Sienna’s childhood nanny. I’m told the two are close. She has no living family, and agreed to go into hiding with Sienna.”
“Edith is with her?” A small glimmer of hope fills my chest.
The older woman hasn’t been able to spend much time with Sienna since the surgeries started. Mrs. Bitch Bianchi started to distance the two of them, not liking the mother-daughter relationship they seem to have fostered over the years.
“She is,” Apollo confirms. “Elio and Armani will also visit her. They know how to travel without being seen, and no one will suspect they’re visiting Sienna.
You, on the other hand, are a known associate of hers.
If you’re tracked going around mysterious areas by the wrong eyes, you could give her position away. ”
“You didn’t answer me before,” I say, suspicion growing. “How long is this going to last? You better not say this is permanent, Apollo Moretti.”
“It will not be permanent.” He huffs. “And you will be able to talk to her, but only on a burner phone. I have one for you.”
I don’t miss him evading the question.
“How long, Apollo?”
He sighs. “Until she turns twenty-one, or Abramo’s father is dead.”
Until she turns twenty-one? That’s almost three fucking years.
“What? Why?” I demand, voice hard. “That’s ridiculously long.”
“When Sienna turns twenty-one and remains unmarried, she’s officially free from her parents. That’s how the Casa Nostra works. Once she hits twenty-one, she has the right to stay here. She can come out in public and they can’t force her to return.”
“The amount of ridiculous rules in this world make me wish my head would explode,” I growl. “She’s nearly nineteen, she should be able to make her own decisions now.”
“There’s always hope that Abramo will have his father executed before then,” Apollo replies lightly. “I have a feeling his death might come before Sienna’s twenty-first. He has many enemies, and his own heir despises him.”
“Well, who could blame him,” I grumble. “This news feels much more bittersweet than I expected.”
“Even a family as powerful as mine has limits,” he says carefully. “We could go in guns blazing and risk lives, but given the fact that Sienna doesn’t want her family slaughtered, my hands are essentially tied here.”
I blow out a puff of air, and lean back into the couch. “I understand. I’m not trying to sound ungrateful. It’s just so unfair.”
“Which is why Elio is so angry,” he says, voice soft. “Sometimes there are things in life, awful things, that we can’t prevent or control. And when it happens to people that we care about, it’s all the more frustrating.”
Tell me about it.
“You’d think there would be more perks to being engaged to The Outfit’s heir,” I drawl sarcastically.
Apollo lifts a brow, slow and smooth. “If you’d like to ask a favor as my fiancée, you’ll need to actually be wearing my ring. Care to legitimize our little farce as you so lovingly called it?”
“I—” I choke. “What?”
“Kidding, Rayna,” he explains, looking amused. “You’re so easy to rile up. You should work on that. You wouldn’t even need to break in an interrogation, your face would give away everything in minutes.”
“Stick to mentoring Yordan.” I huff. “I can handle myself.”
“I heard my name.” Bursting into the living room with a full plate of cookies, Yordan drops down on the couch, filling the space between Apollo and me. “Hope you don’t mind, sis, I saw these on the cooling racks and I couldn’t resist.”
“Of course you did,” I tell him, pretending to be upset. He grins, holding the plate out to Apollo. “You have to try the double chocolate, they’re like crack.”
“You don’t have to have one,” I interrupt, nudging Yordan. “You have to stop forcing my baked goods on everyone. Does Apollo look like the kind of man who often snacks on cookies?”
Yordan makes a pshhh sound. “Shows how well you know him, Apollo’s sweet tooth is worse than mine. Martha bakes almost exclusively for him, Matteo, and Jade.”
My lips part, shocked at Yordan’s casual confession.
“Don’t look so shocked, Rayna.” Apollo extends a hand, stealing two chocolate cookies from the plate. “I’m perfectly secure being the kind of man who often snacks on cookies.”
“Yeah,” Yordan tacks on. “Manly men like sweets, Rayna.”
“My bad.” I huff, holding my hands up in mock defense. “I didn’t mean to imply that men can’t like sweets. Apollo seems more like a black coffee and bacon kind of man than a cinnamon roll for breakfast kind of guy.”
“Cinnamon rolls go great with black coffee,” Apollo replies, punctuating his claim by taking a large bite of one of his cookies.
“And bacon,” Yordan adds, smiling cheekily. “Now I want cinnamon rolls. Let me know when you make those next.”
I hide a smile, rolling my eyes. “You two are too much.”
“These are good,” Apollo says roughly, taking another large bite.
His comment makes my face heat, but I hide it with humor.
“Call the press,” I chuckle. “Apollo Moretti compliments Rayna Todorov. Pigs must be flying, demons must be ice skating in Hell.”
“He compliments you,” Yordan argues, face scrunching. “He tells me all the time that I’m lucky you did a good job with me.”
A shockwave hits me right in the stomach. Eyes going wide, my gaze swings from Apollo to Yordan. “He does?”
“Duh.” My brother chuckles. “Just because you’re mean to him, doesn’t mean he’s insulting you behind your back.”
“I’m not mean to him—”
My brother doesn’t let me finish. “Rayna, I’ve heard you call him names you would try and ground me for saying.”
Apollo grins. “That’s just how she shows her affection.”
Cracking up, Yordan tips his head back and laughs. “I can’t wait for like a year from now when you two actually get along and I get to remind you about all this bickering.”
“Don’t hold your breath, milichko,” I advise, sniffing. “I doubt there will be a day that Apollo and I aren’t verbally sparring.”
“We’ll see,” he says, lips twisting. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Yes, we do,” Apollo agrees.