23. Liana
LIANA
Dario knocks on my door around midnight but I’m already up, sitting fully dressed on the edge of the bed.
I chose jeans and boots and a black turtleneck, not sure what to expect.
Dario’s dressed semi-casually in a pair of tailored slacks and a button-up shirt.
“No suit?”
“It’s not that kind of meeting.”
His words are mysterious and he doesn’t follow them up with any kind of explanation.
Marie is in the room next to Sonny’s, so I wake her up to keep an eye on him.
My heart pounds as I get into my car, waiting for him to pull off.
He does after a few minutes, and the drive into town is deathly quiet. I think about turning on the radio but something just doesn’t feel right.
I feel cold, which doesn’t surprise me in this weather, but I also feel pale, like the blood has drained from my face. Something’s wrong. I just can’t quite put my finger on it.
The warehouse Dario leads me into is empty and I frown, looking around.
Dario puts a finger across his mouth to gesture to me not to speak, and I nod slowly.
A split second later, he curses and shoves me down on the ground, behind a crate. Bullets whiz by us and my heart threatens to gallop out of my chest.
Dario draws his gun, shooting back and the cry of someone in pain fills my ears. Good. He got one of them.
Why would he bring me here? Why would he put me in danger?
I peek around the crate to see Dario tackling one of the gunmen. Some of the others scramble to their feet, running away. There’s only one man on the ground, presumably dead, and the one that Dario is grappling with.
“Who sent you?” Dario hisses, hitting the man again and again. He’s absolutely pummeling him, towering over the smaller man.
Something cold snaps in my lower abdomen and it starts to heat up, instead. I’m utterly terrified, but I’m aroused, too, watching him handle it.
Growing up in this lifestyle has clearly warped me.
“Don’t kill me,” the man babbles. Dario stops hitting him, breathing hard and looking down at him.
“I’ll take your pinky first,” Dario says, like a madman, but it’s calculated and his low tone sends another thrill through my body. “Then your thumb—”
“No, no, I’ll talk. Whatever you want to know, boss.”
“Who sent you here?”
He hesitates and Dario hits him again, making the smaller man spit out blood onto the floor.
"Beth,” he finally rasps out. “She sent me to kill you.”
Dario stops hitting him and stands up, pulling his gun from the back of his pants.
“No, wait—” The man’s pleas are cut short by two gunshots muffled by a silencer.
I clap my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.
Beth? What was he talking about? Beth didn’t do this. She wouldn’t send someone to kill Dario. He’s her cousin.
Just because they don’t get along doesn’t mean she’d....
Would she?
My breath catches in my throat. She knows Dario is Sonny’s father. She knows how I used to feel about him...
She wouldn’t.
Wouldn’t.
I stand up shakily and Dario turns toward me, panic evident on his face.
“Are you hurt? Hit?”
His hands hover over my sides, not quite touching.
I shake my head. “I’m okay. I’m not hurt, but... what is this, Dario? What are you trying to prove?”
“That you can’t trust Beth!” he blurts out, running a hand through his hair. “That you need to stay with me. You’ll be safe with me, Li.”
Safe?
“I just watched you kill two men right in front of me,” I say flatly. “And you think that makes me feel safe?”
“I had to! They were after me—”
“And you blame Beth? Why would she do it? She’s my best friend. She wouldn’t hurt...” I trail off, not wanting him to know how I still feel about him.
“She hates me, Li. Always has. Please use your head. She’s trying to kill me!”
“But why? She doesn’t want the empire, and she’s not next in line for it, anyway. Think about it, Dario. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re the one not making any sense, belissima,” he huffs out. “You were never in any danger, Giovanni and Rocco are out back.”
“I got shot at, Dario!” I nearly screech. “I can’t believe you don’t understand how that’s a bad thing. If you suspected Beth, you should have just talked to me about it.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me!” he yells back, his face flushed with anger. “You wouldn’t have let me get a word in edgewise about your precious Beth.”
I glare at him. “You can’t be fucking serious. You’re jealous of her.”
He scoffs. “Jealous?”
“Yeah. Because she’s there for me, because she’s always been there for me, and you can’t stand it.”
“She doesn’t deserve you.” There’s a pleading edge to his voice. “Just... stay with me, Liana. You and Sonny can stay as long as you like.”
I shake my head slowly, backing away from him as he takes a few steps forward.
“I’m leaving. And don’t follow me, Dario, I’m fucking serious.”
Anger rolls through me. I can’t believe he’s done this to me. I can’t believe he’s so fucking jealous of Beth that he’d try to pin disloyalty on her.
“Li, don’t!”
He chases me outside and I huff out a breath when I reach the car.
“Don’t follow me. Don’t call me. This is over, Dario. For good. I’ll get the annulment as soon as I can, and in the meantime, I don’t want to see you.”
“Li, don’t do this,” he pleads, his dark eyes shining as he steps closer to the car.
“Just leave me and Sonny alone,” I choke out, but he takes another step toward the car. I draw in a shaking breath. “I hate you. I’d rather fucking live in my car then spend another second living with you.”
His expression shatters, only for a moment before his features go blank again.
“L-Li,” he stutters, but it’s low and quiet and my heart cracks right through the middle.
I get into my car and speed away, hoping that I’ll make it to his place before he does.
I do make it, and I rush around packing up a couple of overnight bags for me and Sonny. I’ll worry about the rest of my stuff later.
Right now, I just need to get away. Somewhere safe.
Somewhere Dario can’t find us.
So I don’t go to Beth’s. That’s the first place he’ll look.
I check into a hotel under the name Elena Villanova, one of my aliases that I’ve used in the past.
Sonny’s blissfully asleep through the whole thing, only whining slightly when I put him into the hotel bed. I give him a pillow to hug and sit on the edge of the bed, staring into space.
Something is obviously up between Beth and Dario, but it doesn’t have anything to do with me. I don’t believe she actually tried to kill him, but clearly they’re in some kind of fight.
I’ve just been dragged into the middle of it.
But Beth will know more. She’ll understand why I’m so upset.
I call her, and she picks up on the third ring, sounding almost out of breath.
“Liana? Where are you? I’ve been calling you all night.”
I haven’t even checked my phone. I was nervous about where Dario was going to take me.
“I’ve been.... tied up,” I say, my voice growing hoarse from emotion and the late hour. “You were right about Dario. I should have never trusted him.”
She hums. “I won’t say I told you so. Where are you?”
“I’m at a hotel downtown.” Something in me hesitates before telling her the address, but that’s just me being paranoid.
Dario’s lost his mind if he thinks Beth’s really trying to kill him. This is just some silly fight they’re having, something that got taken too far.
Beth will explain, when she gets here.
After I give her the address, she hangs up.
And I just wait, trying not to listen to my racing thoughts.