Chapter Thirteen
Gabriella
So here I was, back at the safe house, alone in a strange bed, haunted by Gaetano’s absence.
My life wasn’t my own anymore. I tried to accept that, as I could understand his reasons, but I was frustrated and restless.
We’d come back to the city as Tano was in demand at the hospital, and he couldn’t put off his responsibilities there any longer.
I was supposed to go to his house, but I wasn’t comfortable being in his family home without him. I still hadn’t met his mother or his Nonna, only the scary brother and his sidekick, and there was no way in hell I wanted to be around them without Tano protecting me.
Having never grown up with brothers, it was way too much male-dominant energy for this girl to handle alone.
Since he dropped me off a week ago, I’d been struggling with my life choices.
When I was with Tano, I got sucked into his universe and all I saw was the sun through a pair of rose-colored glasses, but when I was alone—and it felt like I was always alone—everything felt so uncertain.
My glittering engagement ring caught my attention, teasing me with opulence, a reminder that even when we weren’t together, he was with me. I leaned back on the bed and blew a stray strand of hair out of my face. My thoughts were pure torture, sending my nerves into overdrive.
It was unfair of me to judge Tano for spending double-shifts at the hospital when he was forced into this schedule because of me.
Hell, if I had a choice, I’d be at work, too.
Meanwhile, I sat here in limbo. I couldn’t help feeling frustrated.
This was exactly why I questioned if he was right for me.
I hadn’t considered marriage before meeting him, and if we hadn’t been pushed together, would I want to be married to a surgeon, let alone one who was part of the largest crime family in the United States?
And around it went. Screw it! I needed a different perspective. I twisted the engagement ring around my finger. The stone caught the light, throwing tiny prisms across the wall.
Not long ago, I would have said I wanted freedom more than anything. Now I wasn’t so sure. Freedom sounded wonderful in theory, but it was also lonely. No one waiting for you. No one worrying when you were late, or caring if you made it home safely.
The realization unsettled me. I wasn't questioning Gaetano because I doubted my feelings for him. I was questioning whether I fit into the life that came with him.
Surgeons worked impossible hours. Mafia families lived under impossible pressure. And somewhere between those two worlds, I was supposed to figure out who Gabriella Calabretta wanted to become. Would there still be room for school? For a career? For dreams that belonged only to me?
Or would I wake up one day and realize I'd traded one cage for another? The thought lingered longer than I wanted it to.
Using my burner phone, I called my old roommates, who were ecstatic to hear from me. When they asked to meet me for a drink, I didn’t even hesitate before agreeing.
Sneaking away from the safe house might not be easy, but I could flag a cab once I got out of the burbs and make my way to cocktail heaven. It was far enough away from the hospital that I shouldn’t be recognized, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t owned by the Vitales.
I told them to give me an hour and hung up. Choosing an outfit suitable without six-inch heels was a bit of a challenge, but finally I put my hair up in a messy bun and threw on a sexy summer dress paired with flat Grecian sandals. With my purse and burner phone, I snuck down to the main floor.
The guards were sprawled on couches in the living room, watching a show.
They’d become lenient since I’d become compliant.
But there were more of them outside, and stealth was required.
Disarming the code, I slid out the door and rearmed it.
They’d gotten sloppy, but that was their problem, not mine.
Looking out my bedroom window night after night had given me a good working knowledge of when and where the guards outside patrolled.
I just waited for the right moment and slipped away.
I should have felt guilty sneaking away from the people set in place to protect me, and maybe I did just a little, but I needed something in my life I could control and that was me.
Firming my resolve and staying low to the ground to avoid the prying eyes of the guards, I crawled along the hedge until I was shadowed in darkness by the house. But what I didn’t anticipate was a sensor light blinking on suddenly and shining right at me.
Shit! All caution forgotten, I took off for the woodsy area that ran behind the row of houses and didn’t slow down until the realization hit me that I wasn’t being followed. Maybe they assumed it was a cat that set off the light. Once through the narrow woods, I emerged onto another quiet street.
I walked two more blocks to be sure they weren’t following me, then phoned for a taxi.
Once I was safe inside, relief like nothing I’d ever experienced washed through me.
Finally, a moment to myself without being guarded!
My spirit immediately felt light, and I tapped my toe to the music the driver was playing, despite not really liking it.
A grin spread across my face. Soon I would be drinking and dancing and forgetting all the heaviness!
I wouldn’t think about Tano or our impending nuptials.
I wouldn’t think about those men back at the safe house or what may happen to them when the boss found out they’d let one lone woman escape them.
And I definitely wouldn’t think about my father and the plans he’d made to use me.
The cab pulled up in front of the club and I spotted my bitches heading in. Jumping out of the car, I raced to join them. The doorman let us through and voilà, it was like someone had waved a magic wand. The music was pumping and people were dancing.
“Come on!” I cried, running out to the floor and tugging Lucy and Shay along with me, while Janet volunteered to stay behind and get the drinks.
Shaking it on the floor felt amazing. I lost myself in the beat so completely, it was like being high. Yet despite the sheer pleasure of the moment, an innate sadness filled me that I couldn’t explain.
When Janet waved us over, I downed the shooter and reached for the other drink she had waiting for me and went straight back to the floor. Lucy followed and we continued to bump and grind.
“What’s gotten into you?” Lucy asked when we needed to hydrate and hit the bar for more shots.
“I just really needed this.”
“We’ve tried not to pry, but can you tell me what’s going on? The last we spoke, you said someone was coming by to grab your things and we haven’t heard from you since.”
Could I share the burden of what was happening with someone other than Tano? The urge to spill to another woman was overwhelming. “Let’s go back to the floor and I’ll tell you what I can.”
Taking our drinks with us, I told Lucy a much-abridged version of events, beginning with running away from home in Toronto because my father wanted me to marry some guy I’d never met to strengthen family ties. It was a partial truth at least.
“But why all the cloak and dagger?” she wanted to know. “You said no, that’s the end of it, right? They can’t make you get married.”
Now it would get tricky. “Yes, well, my dad has ties to the mafia and it’s a little more serious when you don’t keep your word in that world if you know what I mean.”
She nodded her head sagely while shaking her ass. “I totally get it. Well, your secret is safe with me, Gabriella.”
The fine hairs on my neck stood up. I’d never told her my name was Gabriella. “Let’s grab another drink,” I said as lightly as I could. When we got to the bar, I excused myself to go to the bathroom.
Pulling out my phone, I saw several texts from Tano, but I had no time to read those messages. I phoned him, but got voicemail. Shit!
“Tano, listen, I’m at the Cock & Tail Club with the girls and something’s not right. I need help!”
Just then, someone booted in the bathroom door and heavy feet clattered on the tiled floor.
“Tano, they’re here,” I whispered as the door to the stall was practically ripped off its hinges. In its place stood four goons with stony expressions.
“Can I help you, boys? I think you’re in the wrong bathroom.” I’d tried to sound amused, but my nerves made my bold words come out small.
“You’re coming with us, Allegra Calabretta.”
One yanked me to my feet while another took my phone and smashed it before putting the broken pieces in the toilet and flushing it.
A third took my purse and threw it in the garbage.
They hustled me out of the bathroom and towards the exit.
Casting a glance back into the club, I saw my three friends staring after me.
Two looked alarmed, but not Lucy, she looked guilty as hell.
“Bitch!” I mouthed.
Outside, I was pushed into a blacked-out SUV with a guard on either side of me and two more in the front.
The severity of what I’d done chose that moment to hit me full-on in the chest. All that whining about Tano, but he’d been the first person I called and the only person I truly trusted.
The guilt consumed me, tears stung my eyes.
What had I done?
“Who do you work for?” I asked. I felt I had a right to know if these men, who were clearly Russian, worked for Dimitri Peskov, my birth father, or Sonja’s father, Ivan Knyazev, but they ignored my question.
Way to go, Gabriella. You totally screwed up this time.
The ride to wherever they were taking me was dark and ominous, with the promise of something even more sinister to come. I was so na?ve in believing I would be safe on my own!