23. Chapter 22
Arianna
The look Tucker gave me when I said we needed to talk said it all. He suspected what I was going to say. After looking around, he turned his attention back to me. “Let’s go back to the room for privacy.”
That was probably a good idea. I didn’t have any reason not to trust his security, but this wasn’t something I could just say in front of anyone.
The walk back to our room was spent in silence and as soon as the door was shut and locked behind us, Tucker turned to me. “Talk.”
“I did it.”
His jaw clenched. “How? We’ve been here for a week.”
I pulled him over to the couch so we could sit.
I didn’t want to have this conversation by the door.
“Two days before the wedding, I snuck into his room and took one of his migraine pills and replaced it with one that had xylometazoline powder in it. I made sure it wasn’t at the top of the bottle, that way we’d be out of New York before he took it and we couldn’t be framed for it. ”
“There’s no framing if you're actually guilty, Ari.” He growled. Tucker was pissed, but it was probably more fear than anger.
“And there’s no murder without evidence.
While it’s possible to detect that on an autopsy, they’d have to be looking for it directly.
It’s not on typical tox screens because in nasal spray form, it’s available over the counter.
I only dosed one pill, so if they test the rest in the batch, nothing will come out suspicious.
” I’d made sure to dot every I and cross every T.
There was no way this would be pinned on me.
Tucker took my hand in his, his fingers fidgeting with my ring. “Sandro said that the guards said he was complaining of a migraine. Those can cause strokes, right?”
“Yep. All signs will point to a stroke and the autopsy won’t show any evidence of foul play.”
“What if there’s video footage of you tampering with his pills?”
I shook my head. “There won’t be. Leyla gave me a device before we left Crestwood that would loop cameras. That way if I needed privacy, I had it. I made sure to use that when I changed out the pills, but no other time so it wouldn’t be obvious.”
His eyes snapped up to mine. “My sister can not be involved in this.”
“She’s not.” I climbed into his lap and put a hand to his cheek. “She has no idea. I didn’t tell anyone.”
Tucker let out a sigh and put his forehead against mine. “Who got you the powder? What if that person comes forward?”
“He won’t.” I pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
“He’s a hitman that lives across the country.
He goes by the Remnant. I’ve never met the guy, I have no idea what he looks like.
I didn’t use my real name or any bank accounts that are tied to either one of us.
The product was left in a locker at a bus stop.
The key for the locker was dropped off at my favorite pizza place, put in a bag in the ladies room. ”
I’d been really fucking cautious. I couldn’t have this coming back on me or Sandro.
Tucker took a deep breath and I felt him nod as he released it. “Okay. Tomorrow we’ll head back and act like the shocked daughter and son-in-law. But Ari?” I tilted my head to look up into his eyes. “Don’t ever go rogue again. I need to be in on any plans so I can help protect you.”
“Okay. Ride or die.”
He smirked. “Forever.”
The plane landed at the Crestwood airport and the number of vehicles that met us there was ridiculous. “A bit overkill, don’t you think?”
Tucker chuckled as he walked off the plane behind me. “I’m sure there will be more that meet us on the road when Dad and his brothers join us.”
The Givenchy men were going to New York with us. They wanted to show support for my brother and respect for my father, but didn’t want to drag the women and children into a potentially dangerous situation. While none of the other families had made a move yet, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t.
As much as I wanted to see Leyla, I didn’t want her put in danger if shit ended up hitting the fan.
“I know we’re supposed to get on the road and head straight there, but I’m starving.
Can we stop for food first? Please?” I’d tried to convince him to let us go to our new home first, one we’d only toured but never even gotten to stay a night in, so that we could get clothes for the next few days, but he said that his mom and Leyla would get everything we needed so we could be at the estate before nightfall.
He looked at Sean and Sean gave him a small nod. “Fine. But we’re picking it up and eating in the car. Tell Christian what you want from Maggie’s and we’ll swing by on our way through. I’ll take my usual.”
Tucker headed over to where Michael was standing, probably getting updated on anything that happened while we were in the air. I didn’t suspect there would be many new developments, though if a rush had been put on the autopsy, it was possible the results were back.
I figured my brother would be the one to give us those tonight.
Christian called in the food and within minutes, we were on the road. Everyone seemed to have ordered food. It wasn’t surprising considering it had been like six hours since breakfast and we were about to spend three hours on the road.
I was absolutely exhausted by the time we got to the estate and ready to crash, but unfortunately, that wasn’t in the near future.
“Ari.” Sandro met us at the door and took me into a hug. “I’m sorry your honeymoon had to end like this.”
I shrugged. “It could have been worse.” Like, he could have survived the pill. He could have taken it on the first day of our trip. Or, he could have never taken the pill and lived a long and terrifying life.
When Sandro released me, Tucker took him into a hug. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” He wasn’t, but we had to keep up appearances.
“Thank you. He’ll be missed.” More lies. “You’ll be staying in your normal room. We’ve got the entire south wing set up for your family and security, including the ground floor there. You guys can settle in and we’ll have dinner in an hour.”
Mom came running out at that moment in hysterics, crying like this was the worst thing to ever happen and taking me into a hug.
“Arianna. Dolcezza.” My father only called me that when he wanted me to feel better about whatever it was he was about to do that he knew I wouldn’t like.
My mother used it to put on a show. “I can’t believe he’s really gone. ”
If anyone should be grateful the bastard was dead it’s her.
Of course, she couldn’t openly rejoice or people would be suspicious.
“I know. I never imagined he’d go so soon.
” A tear escaped and I quickly wiped it away.
Crying was weakness, and though my father had just died, if I let it out like my mother was, I’d look weak.
But at the same time, if I didn’t at least let one tear fall in the comfort of my childhood home, people might get suspicious.
Tony, one of my fathers goons, stepped forward and handed me a handkerchief. I gave him a nod of appreciation and wiped my eyes.
Maybe I should take up acting after high school.
“I just can’t believe it. He was in such good health.”
That’s what had made planning his death so hard.
Almost anything would seem suspicious. But the frequent migraines were the perfect cover once I’d found the way to mimic a stroke.
“I guess this is a lesson to us all that death can find us at any time, so we should always enjoy dessert.” I smiled, but my mother was not amused.
She scoffed indignantly. “This is no laughing matter, Arianna. Your father is dead.”
I let out a breath and sagged my head as Tucker pulled me into his arms. “I know. I was just trying to laugh instead of cry. I’m tired of crying.”
Tucker placed a kiss on my head. “Let’s go try to catch a nap before dinner. It’s been an emotional twenty-four hours and you need your rest. We wouldn’t want you too stressed out if you’re pregnant.”
Those were the magic words. “Oh my. I hadn’t even thought about that. Yes, honey, go nap. Do you want me to just have food delivered to your room so you don’t have to deal with the stress of dinner?”
“No. I’ll be fine.” I gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed off upstairs with Tucker. When we were up the stairs and in his wing, which I knew would already have devices in place to interrupt the camera feeds, I leaned in closer and whispered. “You’re a fucking genious.”
There was no way I was pregnant. We’d used condoms on the honeymoon and when we’d gotten on the plane to head off for our honeymoon, Rowdy, Sterling’s cousin and temporary security for the Givenchy’s, gave me a Plan B pill for if I wanted to use it.
I did.
But no one outside of the Givenchy family knew that, so they all thought it was possible I was pregnant. That would play to my favor for however long we had to be here. It would give me the excuse to hide in this bedroom for many hours each day.
“Let’s just hope Sandro isn’t as desperate for us to have an heir as your father was.”
I hopped onto the bed and climbed under the covers, getting comfortable since we wouldn’t have much time. “He won’t be. He’s going to have so much on his plate now with taking over. He’ll also need to marry and start having kids of his own so there’s a line of succession.”
Sandro was absolutely going to hate that. He’d fully intended to wait as long as he could and live the rich bachelor lifestyle. I would probably feel a little sad for him if I hadn’t just gotten married a couple of weeks before starting my senior year of high school.
Tucker climbed in behind me and pulled me back against him, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I’ll talk to him later and offer to hold off on having kids so that he can have one first so there’s not a possibility of his oldest being challenged for his place.”
“That only works if his first kid is a boy. With the luck we seem to have, he’ll have a girl and we’ll end up with a boy.”
Tucker chuckled. “It buys us time. That’s all we can ask for right now.”