Chapter 22 Savannah
SAVANNAH
The call comes at two in the morning. I'm half-asleep when my phone buzzes on the nightstand, and I jolt awake. I’ve been on edge for days, and the call could be Romeo if he left to handle something, or my father, or Thad…
I look at the screen and see Giulia’s name. When I answer, her voice sounds tight and panicked.
"Savannah, listen to me carefully. Romeo's been arrested."
The words don't make sense at first. I sit up in bed, my heart already racing even though my brain hasn't caught up yet. "What? When? What happened?"
“He was on his way back to the penthouse when they pulled him over about an hour ago.
They had a warrant—weapons possession, racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder.
" She's talking fast, like she's trying to get all the information out before I can interrupt.
"It was a setup, he said, but Thad has judges and prosecutors in his pocket, and he's using them to—"
"How long?" My heart is beating too hard in my chest, and I struggle to think clearly. "How long will they hold him?"
"Seventy-two hours minimum before the lawyers can get him released on bail. Savannah, you need to listen to me. You're not safe there alone. I'm coming over. Don't open the door for anyone except me. Do you understand?"
"I understand." I’m still trying to process the fact that Romeo is in custody. "Giulia—"
"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Lock the door. Don't answer if anyone knocks." She hangs up before I can say anything else.
I sit in the dark for a long moment, my phone still clutched in my hand, trying to breathe through the panic that's rising in my chest. Romeo is in custody. Thad orchestrated it. And I'm alone in an apartment that suddenly feels like a trap.
I get out of bed and check the locks on the door.
It’s all secure. But it doesn't make me feel any safer.
I pace the living room, my bare feet silent on the hardwood floor, and I try not to think about what Romeo must be going through right now, what it means that Thad has this much power, or what happens if the lawyers can't get him released.
Giulia arrives exactly twenty minutes later, and I can hear her voice through the door before I even look through the peephole. "It's me. Open up."
She's carrying an overnight bag, and her face is pale, and she looks older than she is, her face drawn with worry. She locks the door behind her immediately, checking each lock twice, and then she turns to me and pulls me into a hug.
"He's going to be okay," she says, but I can hear the uncertainty in her voice underneath the reassurance. "The lawyers are good. They'll get him out. But in the meantime, we need to be smart. We need to—"
"Why did you bring a bag?" I pull back and look at her. "You're staying?"
"I'm not leaving you alone. Not while Romeo's in custody and—" She stops herself. "Just trust me, okay? I'm staying."
Within a half hour, I’m glad she is. Neither of us can sleep, so we make tea and sit on the couch with all the lights on, while Giulia tells me stories about Romeo when he was younger. She’s trying to distract me, and it mostly works.
By morning, she makes breakfast, and we sit around more quietly than before, out of ways to not think about what’s happening.
My phone stays silent. No calls from Romeo.
No updates from the lawyers. Just the awful waiting, knowing that somewhere in the city Romeo is locked in a cell because of me—because Thad is willing to destroy him to get me back.
Giulia is in the kitchen making more tea when we hear three sharp raps on the door that echo through the apartment like gunshots. Giulia puts a finger to her lips and moves toward the door silently, and I follow her, my heart pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat.
She looks through the peephole, and her entire body goes rigid. "Fuck," she whispers, and then she's pulling out her phone, typing something fast. "Savannah, go to the bedroom. Lock the door. Don't come out until I tell you to."
"Who is it?" My stomach drops, and my hands start shaking.
"Thad. And he's not alone." She's still typing, her fingers flying over the screen. "He has cops with him. Go. Now."
The knock comes again, louder this time, and then Thad's voice filters through the door—smooth and controlled, and terrifyingly calm.
"Savannah, I know you're in there. Open the door. I have a warrant for your protective custody. You’re being held against your will by a criminal organization. I’m getting you out of here and taking you home. "
It's a lie. All of it. But he has cops with him, and he has a warrant. Suddenly, I understand why Giulia told me to hide.
"Savannah." Giulia's voice is urgent. "Bedroom. Now."
I run. I don't think about it, just move on instinct and adrenaline.
I lock the bedroom door behind me and press my back against it, my breath coming in short gasps.
I can hear voices in the living room—Giulia's, sharp and defiant, and Thad's, still calm and controlled.
Then other voices, male and authoritative, the cops demanding entry, demanding to see me and that Giulia step aside.
"You don't have jurisdiction here," Giulia is saying. Her voice is cold and dangerous, nothing like an eighteen-year-old’s should be. This is a woman, I realize, who has been taught all her life what to do in this scenario. "This is private property. You need to leave."
"We have a warrant." I hear one of the cops, his voice flat and professional. "Step aside, ma'am, or we'll have to remove you by force."
"Try it." Giulia's voice drops lower, and I can hear the threat in it, the promise of violence if they push her. "See what happens."
There's a moment of tense silence, and then Thad speaks again.
This time his voice is directed at me, loud enough to carry through the bedroom door.
"Savannah, this is ridiculous. I'm here to help you.
Romeo Ciresa is a criminal. His family is under investigation.
You're in danger, and I'm trying to get you somewhere safe. "
I press my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming back at him, to keep from telling him exactly what I think of his lies and his manipulation, his fucking audacity to show up here pretending to be my savior.
My phone is on the nightstand, and I grab it with shaking hands, but I don't know who to call or what to do. I don't know how to make this stop.
There's a crash from the living room—something breaking, furniture scraping across the floor—and then Giulia's voice, sharp and furious: "I said don't fucking touch me."
"Ma'am, you need to calm down—"
"I need you to get the fuck out of this apartment before I make you regret ever putting on that badge."
I can hear them moving closer to the bedroom, can hear Thad's voice getting louder, more insistent, and I know they're going to break down the door.
They're going to drag me out of here. Giulia can't stop them alone, no matter how fierce she is.
My phone buzzes in my hand—a text from Giulia: Luca's coming. Hold on.
The bedroom door handle rattles, and then Thad's voice comes through, closer now, intimate in a way that makes my skin crawl. "Savannah, open the door. Don't make this harder than it needs to be. I'm trying to protect you."
"I don't need your protection." My voice comes out stronger than I expected. "I don't want you here. Leave."
"You don't know what you want. You're confused. Romeo has manipulated you, made you think—"
"I know exactly what I want." I push myself to my feet, my back still pressed against the door and my voice carrying through it with absolute clarity. "And it's not you. It will never be you. So take your warrant and your corrupt cops and get out of Romeo's apartment."
There's a pause, and then Thad laughs—a cold, humorless sound that makes my stomach turn. "Savannah, I have enough of them in my pocket that it doesn't matter. You think you can fight me? You think Romeo can protect you from prison?"
"I think you're pathetic." The words come out before I can stop them, before I can think about whether it's smart to antagonize him.
"I think you're so desperate to control me that you're willing to abuse your connections and pretend you're doing this for my own good.
But we both know the truth, Thad. You don't love me.
You never did. You just can't stand the idea that I chose someone else. "
I can feel his rage radiating through the door, can imagine the expression on his face as he realizes that I'm not going to come quietly. Then I hear Giulia's voice again. "That's enough. You've made your point. Now leave before this gets ugly."
"It's already ugly." One of the cops speaks again, and his voice is harder now, less professional. "We have a warrant. We're taking her into protective custody whether she wants to go or not."
"Over my dead body." Giulia's voice is flat, absolute, and I can hear the promise in it—the willingness to make good on that threat if they push her.
And then I hear new voices in the entryway of the penthouse as the door opens—multiple voices, male and authoritative and absolutely not on Thad's side. Someone says, "What the fuck is going on here?"
It’s Luca, I realize, and he's not alone.
I unlock the bedroom door and step out into the living room, and the scene that greets me is surreal.
Giulia is standing between me and three cops who look increasingly uncomfortable, Thad has his hand on his phone like he's about to call for backup, and Luca is walking in with at least six men behind him, all of them looking like they're ready for violence if that's what it takes.
"Savannah." Luca's eyes find mine immediately, and there's relief in them, and concern. "You okay?" His gaze switches to Giulia, the concern deepening.
"I'm fine." My voice is shaking, but I force myself to stay calm, to not let Thad see how terrified I actually am. "They're trying to take me into 'protective custody.'"