Chapter 26 – Rae
The bastard took my keys.
It wasn’t the first thing I noticed when I woke up.
No…oh, no. That was the lack of clothing.
I was completely naked. I skimmed my hand along my body and cupped the empty spot between my legs.
Inside, my muscles pulsed. While I knew he couldn’t stay forever, I was sorry the night was over.
A shudder of loneliness rocked through me.
If I listened to my body, I was never going to leave.
Sitting up, determined not to fixate on something that was out of my control, I hunted through the blankets for my shorts. Frowning, I sat back. The bra and shirt were also gone.
Oh, no.
I scrambled out of the bed, and was about to search for a laundry bin, when I noticed the fresh outfit from my suitcase. It sat on the nightstand. Along with a pair of underwear that most definitely weren’t mine.
Green wrath flared through me, and I promptly ripped them in two. I was not wearing another woman’s panties.
It was time to get the hell out of here.
I snatched the shorts and fumbled into them. My gaze darted around the room. I needed to find those shorts from yesterday, my keys, my driver’s license, my cash—
The lump in the pocket made me pause.
What the….
Slowly, I pulled out the wad of cash and the plastic GA card that gave me permission to drive. He moved them. And that wasn’t the only surprise. There were more bills in the folded stack.
Dropping beside my suitcase, I ripped the zipper open, pushed the clothes aside, and peeled back the lining.
The stash was still hidden.
Which meant Nico had added to the small sum in my pocket before transferring it to the clean clothes. Did he miss the keys? I pulled the shorts on, forgoing underwear in my haste, and searched the bed again.
And then the floor.
I checked the bathroom counter for good measure.
No keys.
My gut told me that wasn’t a coincidence. Chewing on my cheek, I tugged a tee over my head and went off to see if my keys were, in fact, missing…or if my suspicion was correct. Rushing into the living room, I discovered a different beast flipping through the pages of a book.
“Where is he?” I demanded.
Luigi looked over his book. “Well, good morning to you too, sunshine. Or, good afternoon, rather.”
“Luigi!” I shouted. “I’m fixin’ to blow a gasket. Where the hell is Nico?”
I was treated to a wolfish grin. All teeth. “He’s workin’, sweetheart.”
I gaped at him. “Mocking my accent now?”
He shrugged. “It’s a hard one, but I’m getting’ good, ain’t I?”
“Fuck you.”
He shuddered. “No thanks.”
If my eyes rolled any harder, they were going to fall out of my head. “I can’t find my keys.”
Casually crossing one leg over the other, Luigi flipped the page in his book. “Oh, yeah, they’ve been confiscated.”
My heart sank. I knew it. I freaking knew it!
“He can’t do this to me,” I breathed, fighting the rising panic. “It’s my car.”
“Don’t worry, Dommy-boy didn’t drive it,” the bastard chuckled.
I raked my hands through my hair. That wasn’t what I was talking about! But how much did this friend know? Enough that he was babysitting me.
Luigi closed his book. “There’s food in the fridge. It smelled so good when the delivery service brought it that we ordered another round and ate the first batch.”
At the thought of food, my stomach protested loudly. “I have places to be, and—”
“You’d better eat it before I do.” Luigi tapped his book against the couch. “And you’re not going anywhere, Rae. Not unless it’s back to the house.”
No, no! This was a disaster. I didn’t have a spare set of keys for the Camaro.
While I could hotwire it, my tools were back at the house.
Technically, a manual transmission could be rolled down a hill and started, but that was a two-person job, and it would take the apocalypse for Luigi to volunteer to help me.
“Fine!” I seethed and stormed to the fridge. I ripped the door open, and while it was virtually empty, there were takeout containers stacked neatly. Upon opening them, my mouth instantly watered.
Home cookin’.
I set the spread on the island. There was more here than I could eat, despite my famished state. I began to dive into the cold brisket while the grits warmed in the microwave.
Luigi let me start eating, but the moment the food started to take the edge off, he prowled over and began picking at the containers.
Reluctantly, I shared.
“I don’t understand why we don’t eat this way,” he admitted, scooping the greens up in large forkfuls.
I let out a short laugh. “Can’t beat good food.”
“True that.”
While we ate, there was no reason to talk.
But that was fine. I used the silence to think through my next steps.
I doubted I would be fast enough to attack my babysitter.
I wasn’t strong enough to choke him out and hitting him over the head with something heavy required precise timing.
There wasn’t a knife visible to stab Luigi with—and I didn’t want to hurt him badly.
But that seemed the only way I could escape the apartment.
“I need the keys,” I reasoned.
He shook his head. “Not going to happen.”
“Take me to Nico then!” It was doubtful I would have better luck with him, but it was worth a try.
Luigi shook his head. “Let me know if you want to go back to the Grimaldi’s, otherwise get comfortable.”
He rose, wandered back to the couch, and flopped down with his book.
I glared at him. “I’m not cleaning this up.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” He opened the book. “I’ll get it when I finish my chapter.”
Marching past him, I debated stealing the book and tossing it in the toilet. But that seemed unnecessarily cruel. The book hadn’t done anything to me.
“Magnolia,” the mobster sang out from his spot.
Planting a hand on my hip, I rounded on him. “Yes?”
Dark eyes watched me over the cover. “Would it really be so bad if you stayed?”
A thousand responses rushed through my mind. While my tongue paused to pick one, Luigi continued.
“I’ve never seen my friend like this before. You’re good for him. Give him a chance to prove he’s good for you too.” Luigi bent his elbow behind his head. “Nico’s the best guy I know. You can’t ask for someone more loyal.”
There was no good answer to that. I worried the inside of my cheek as I tried not to feel an emotional response to his words.
“He’s obsessed with you,” Luigi added.
My chest tightened. I’d noticed. It was hard not to when I felt the same way about him.
But that didn’t change the facts. “He basically kidnapped me and is holding me hostage.”
Luigi shrugged. “Kinda romantic, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t.”
He laughed softly. “He’s trying to stop you from making the wrong decision.”
“Who is he to say it’s wrong?” I asked sharply. Because if I didn’t focus on the anger, my emotions were bound to betray me.
“Any scenario where he isn’t with you is the wrong one.”
And that, right there, was the problem. If I stayed—my stupid heart pulsed at the thought. But I shook my head. We didn’t exist in a world where we could be together.
“I’m going to take a shower,” I said robotically.
It was no use.
“He’s fighting for a chance to be with you,” Luigi called out. “If there’s even the smallest part of you that wants that too, then stay.”
But I was already walking into the bedroom and closing the door. Luigi was a good friend, but he was asking the impossible. Setting the wad of cash and my driver’s license on the bathroom vanity, I tugged my shirt over my head. The plastic said Magnolia Rae Bennet.
I didn’t feel like that same small-town girl anymore.
I lifted my gaze to face myself in the mirror.
Staring back at me was a woman who wanted to be a mafia princess. In order to do that, I would have to let go of a piece of my foundation. I would have to learn to trust, and if there was anyone who seemed like he wouldn’t make me regret that decision, it was Dominico Grimaldi.
“I want to trust you, but I’m so scared,” I whispered to the idea of the monster.