Chapter 13
13
CELIA
T he next morning, I felt incredibly rattled by my experience the night before. Gabriel was long gone. His lack of sleep left me increasingly sure we weren’t the same species.
Lying in our empty bed, I tried to make sense of my life right now.
I glanced around the room. I’d expected that I must be watched, but I couldn’t find the cameras. I’d been pretty successful in figuring out where Luca had hidden his.
But maybe Gabriel was even more resourceful.
When I made my way into the bathroom, I was relieved to see my makeup case waiting on my vanity. After I turned on the shower, steam billowing through the room and the sound of the spray echoing, I opened my makeup case. My things had been brought in while I slept. I wondered if Gabriel had carried them in himself; I couldn’t imagine him letting servants into the room when I was naked in his bed.
Gabriel liked to keep things private between us. I knew that after he’d sent Dante to me at the Obsidian, and I found it comforting. He was never going to humiliate me at the Obsidian like so many women.
I pulled out the cell phone Kara had slipped me. My heart raced as I held it up to my chest, exhaling in relief.
I could reach my girls now.
I made my way through the quiet house.
After I showered, I hid the phone in my jeans pocket, pulling my hoodie down to cover it.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs. Patricia greeted me cheerfully. “May I get you something for breakfast, Mrs . Caruso ?”
She beamed at me, lingering over the words.
Her reaction made me think no one else knew about my kiss with Dante. Gabriel likely would’ve sworn his man who saw to secrecy. It wouldn’t have surprised me if had sent the man to be the advance guard of a new Alaskan mob, for that matter.
Still, I felt a pang of guilt at her approval, the way she seemed more fond of me today.
“I’ll have a cup of yogurt when I come in. There’s no reason for anyone to trouble themselves.” I hesitated. “Did Gabriel eat this morning?”
“He did. He was hungrier than usual.” She gave me a sly smile.
Well , terrifying your wife will work up an appetite .
But I could hardly pretend fear was the only emotion I’d felt last night.
For some reason, I was curious about my husband’s little habits. “What did he have?”
“Black coffee and an omelet. He was sorry he had to go to work before you woke.”
I doubted that, somehow. But I just thanked her and went outside.
I walked out through the garden, which was beautiful. There was a shimmering blue pool, and even though it wasn’t good pool weather, I had a sudden image of what it would be like for this place to be home—to lay out by the pool in the sunshine and to swim with Dante and Luca and maybe even Gabriel.
I found an isolated area of the garden, far away from the walls where I assumed there would be surveillance but also distant from the house. I had noted where the cameras were that I could see, but I didn’t trust Gabriel not to have any surprises for me.
I called Moriah, feeling anxious and desperate and hoping she would actually pick up. I was afraid my friend was in trouble, and I really wanted to talk to her, not just for my sake but for her own. How could Kara and I help her?
My heart sank when she didn’t pick up. I debated leaving a message. I knew that she had all of our texts and messages encrypted, and that she only accessed them when she was safe. Except…now I wondered if she was in the hands of someone just as clever and dangerous as she was. The thought was a disconcerting one.
Still, I needed someone to know what was going on in my world. I didn’t want to burden Kara with it when I doubted she could help.
“Hey, I’ve discovered that David is still alive. At least…I think so. I shouldn’t doubt myself, but this whole situation is insane. Hopefully I’ll get to talk to him soon. What do you need, Moriah? I’m so worried about you.”
I hesitated. If it was Kara, I would have tried to tell her that I loved her and worried about her, because I knew that that was what Kara wanted to hear. But Moriah always seemed a little larger than life and untouchable.
“Please message me,” I finished.
I worried about my friends as I hung up, then double checked that it was still set to silent.
I stared at the phone for a split second before I became aware of someone standing over me.
I looked up, panic surging through my chest.
Luca faced me, raising his hands. He winced slightly at the motion, obviously still healing. “It’s all right.”
My initial flash of panic turned to relief. “Is Dante okay?”
He frowned. “Hurtful.”
“Luca, please.” I didn’t try to hide the emotions crossing my face.
“Of course he’s all right.” Luca frowned slightly, clearly distressed by my distress. He put a steadying hand on my shoulder, a gesture that was affectionate rather than sensual. “What are you up to, Celia?”
“Nothing.”
He gave me a skeptical look. “I’ve never seen you up to nothing . You’ve always got a plan.”
A mischievous grin crossed his face, boyish and alluring. “We’re in it together now. I’d be pissed if you were hiding a phone from me, but the way I see it, you’re hiding it from Gabriel.”
I slid the phone into my pocket. “He lets you out of your room?”
Did that mean Dante was around here somewhere too? I needed to talk to Dante now.
I needed to talk to David .
“Yeah. My function really is just to keep you under control, because he thinks you care about me and that the threat of hurting me would cause you to do his bidding.” He gave me a lopsided smile. “Let’s keep his delusions going. It’s safer for me.”
I scoffed. I did care about Luca, though I wasn’t sure that he deserved it. “If you had been nicer to me, I might not have run. We might not all have ended up here.”
He quirked a brow. “You were always going to run. You want to be free, and I have a feeling you don’t trust any man in our world is going to give you that freedom. You want to seize it yourself so you can trust it’s real.”
He wasn’t wrong. I lifted my chin, annoyed that he had seen through me so thoroughly. “Do you know where Dante is?”
“No. I assume he gave you the phone? He’s always been a softy. He and I were supposed to be working together. But it seems like he was always working for you, not with me.”
“How can you not know where Dante is? The two of you were sharing a room.”
“When Gabriel goes out, he usually drags one or both of us along. I think he’s making sure that you don’t go very far and that the three of us don’t plot something together.”
Gabriel had taken Dante with him? Fresh fear spiked through me. Our night together after the Obsidian felt distant and dream-like. So far, Gabriel had chased every moment of tenderness between us with rejection, as if he were trying to shake off any affection he felt. In the cold light of day, Gabriel’s crueler nature might emerge.
I regarded him suspiciously. “Are you working with Gabriel?”
“I don’t think anyone works with Gabriel. As far as Gabriel sees it, we all just work for him.”
“Don’t lie to me, Luca. I don’t know what exactly the circumstances are between you and Gabriel, but I know you have a deal. And I know that when men like you make bargains, it’s not good for women like me.”
“I’m hurt that you don’t trust me, after everything we’ve been through together.” Luca managed to look injured.
“Everything we’ve been through together has been your fault.” I pointed out.
I needed to ask him if David was alive. But the words seemed to stick in my throat. I wanted David’s survival to be true so badly. In the cold light of day, part of me wondered if Gabriel was right and I was going insane.
Dante looked nothing like David. And David had been shot in the face, which seemed…like a decisive end.
But I’d never seen David’s body. The last glimpse I’d had of David, he’d been alive. Amato had dragged me toward the house. Royal and Gabriel had both been present, summoned by my father.
Luca was starting to say something, a playful look written across his face that would have been endearing, as if we were partners in crime now, united against Gabriel.
“I need to see Dante,” I blurted out.
“I know.” Luca’s face was sympathetic. “But Gabriel took him along when he went out to?—”
“Murder a dozen people?” I asked, because I was still thinking of how I’d assumed last night he’d slake himself in violence to make up for having cuddled me the night before. He was a deranged mafia man who needed to watch Bluey and learn about feelings.
Luca shrugged that accusation off. “Maybe. Anyway, Dante told me about last night…I’m glad he was the one who was there for you.”
He said the words as if it were an effort, as if he were jealous.
“No. That’s not why I need to see him.” I shook my head. “It’s not about just sex .”
He gave me a curious look. “I thought sex was a big deal to you.”
“Please. I’d have sex with Gabriel if I need to, and I hate him.” It would probably be amazing sex , another reason to hate him . “You gave me some pretty great orgasms and…” I swept my hand in an encompassing gesture. You’re unhinged . I hate you . Etcetera .
Luca smiled, confident no matter what I said. “You don’t hate me, starlight.”
“I will if you lie to me,” I promised, and his eyes widened. I rushed my question before I could lose the will to hear the words out loud.
“ Is David alive ?”
Flashes of expression crossed his face so quickly, but I was sure I saw at least one of them I understood. Relief .
“Yes,” Luca said.
My legs went thready, as if I’d received bad news, not good. The wash of emotions felt as if would crush me. He caught me with an arm looped around my waist.
“It’s all right,” he said, and his usual smirking mannerisms had fallen away. “He’s alive, and you’re going to be with him again. We just need to figure out…”
It was as if all the grief that I had felt for David, and all that yearning over all those years, had suddenly been ripped open again. Tears stung my eyes, and I felt completely overwhelmed.
“Celia,” he said, cupping my face with his hands tenderly. “I have to tell you everything. I’m sorry, Dante’s right, I should have?—”
He cut himself off abruptly, stepping away from me, his hands falling to his sides. I looked up at him, stricken.
His eyes flashed to mine, and he gave me a quick shake of his head. I could barely see him through the blur of my tears. Desperately, I fought to get myself under control. But how could I? David was alive!
Marcus stepped into the clearing. He shot a suspicious look at Luca, but his next words encompassed us both. “Gabriel wants to see you both.”
Panic rocked through me. The thought of being around Gabriel, with those piercing blue eyes, and the phone on my body felt heavy, like he must discover it.
Marcus waited for us, so we began to walk toward the house. He walked backward, effortlessly, as if he knew the terrain of the garden that well, his black shoes sliding back over the white gravel of the pathway. “And another thing, Mrs. Caruso. Gabriel wanted to make sure you knew we were having guests.”
I tried to ask, but my voice came out a hoarse whisper. I cleared my throat and tried again. I raised my chin, because I didn’t want this man to see me weak. “Who are our guests?”
“Your father and your brother, Mrs. Caruso.”
Luca shot a quick glance my way, but I forced myself not to react. If everyone thought I was an ice queen, I’d give them the ice queen. Even though I never felt like that person on the inside.
Gabriel had told me to go shopping when my father and brother visited so I wouldn’t even have to be on the same property as them. It had been a kindness.
Now, I worried Gabriel’s kindnesses, fragile as they were, had been destroyed.