Chapter 46 – Rae
Our footsteps echoed across the smooth floor. Strings of Italian muttered softly behind me, as Luigi’s brothers had a private conversation. No doubt talking about what just happened.
“Will he be alright?” I asked the mobster to my left.
Luigi shot a look in my direction. His lips tipped up in a reassuring smile. “Of course! It’s Nico.”
“But that means….” The weight of what happened slammed into me, again.
Nico was next in line to be the boss. He was going to rule. But he would probably have a target on his back.
I swallowed thickly.
I would have a target on my back.
“By the way, congratulations,” Luigi laughed softly. “Looks like I need to prepare my best man’s speech.”
My thumb stroked the ring. It was heavy and solid on my finger. It represented a future filled with certainty amidst the chaos. I had a family here. I would never be on my own again.
We rounded a corner only to stop short as two older women faced us. Mrs. Grimaldi’s face twisted in disgust, while her friend only showed mild curiosity.
“You!” she barked.
“Hi!” I lifted my hand.
The signora sniffed. “You don’t belong here.”
Luigi pulled a cigarette from the breast pocket of his suit. “This should be fun.”
“Sir, this is a library,” the other woman gasped. “You can’t smoke here!”
The click of the lighter was the only answer. “Are you going to stop me?”
“Magnolia, this is entirely inappropriate.” Mrs. Grimaldi’s voice turned to iron. “The staff don’t attend family events outside the home.”
“Oh, she’s been upgraded,” Luigi chuckled.
“Yeah, she’s one of us now,” one of his brothers chimed in.
Their confidence bolstered me. I lifted my left hand and wiggled my fingers. “I guess this means I call you Granny now.”
The posh lady looked at her friend as if this was the most tantalizing gossip, apparently forgetting about the noxious smoke curling from the fiend at my side.
“We’ll discuss this at home,” Mrs. Grimaldi said through clenched teeth.
A flippant rebuttal was on the tip of my tongue, but a shadow creeping up the stairs beyond the signora caught my attention. I gave the younger woman a curious look.
Arabella shook her head and pressed her fingers to her lips. She darted behind a marble pillar.
At my side, Luigi stiffened.
“Perhaps we should go back to the party,” the other woman suggested, tugging on Mrs. Grimaldi’s arm. “The rare book collection can wait for another day.”
With a look that promised this wasn’t over, the queen of society let her friend drag her away. The moment their heads disappeared down the staircase, Arabella popped from her hiding place.
“Luigi, put that out,” she snapped.
His brothers laughed, but Luigi only scowled at them. To my surprise, he obeyed.
“What are you doing here, carina?” he murmured.
Arabella stopped beside me. “I came for Rae.”
“Why?” the brother I was pretty sure was called Joey quipped. Since they were dressed in tuxedos, they looked like twin penguins. Plus, I’d only met the brother Emanuele once, and that was during a shoot-out.
But I had a feeling I was going to be seeing a lot more of these three in the future.
“I’m making an Irish goodbye and getting the hell out of here,” Arabella stated. “She’s my ride.”
“I am?” Shit. I’m going to have to tell her about the don.
“You can’t leave,” Joey teased. “You haven’t cut the cake.”
Arabella bristled. “Try and stop me.”
“And I don’t have a car.” I jerked my thumb at Luigi. “I came with him.”
Arabella’s eyes flashed. “Perfect!”
“How did you slip past your security detail?” Emanuele asked, giving his brother a firm shove.
“I’m just that good.” Arabella tossed her hair. There was no missing the way she snuck a look to the side.
Oh, boy….
Linking her arm through mine, we began to descend the staircase.
It took balance I didn’t have to maneuver the skirt one-handed and not fall flat on my face in the pointy, tippy heels.
Being distracted with the impending chat about the don didn’t help.
By some miracle, I made it down without breaking my neck.
Once we were safely on the ground floor, I pulled Arabella to a stop. “I should probably tell you something.”
The younger woman looked at me expectantly. “What is it?”
“Your godfather had a heart attack.” I braced myself for her grief and added, “I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
“He didn’t have a pulse,” Joey muttered dryly, and I wanted to smack him for being so blunt.
Arabella pulled her arm from mine, pressed her fingers to her lips, and whispered, “Davvero?”
I frowned.
Luigi helpfully inserted, “Yes, it’s true.”
Eyes gleaming, Arabella crossed herself. “Finally!”
It was plain as day that there was no love lost between the girl and her godparents. But the outright delight scrawled across her enchanting features was a surprise.
“Arabella?” I breathed.
A frenzy crossed her face, and she took off running down the hall. “What are you guys waiting for? Let’s get back to the house!”
We looked at one another before following the newly minted adult. It wasn’t until we were safely packed into the back of Luigi’s SUV that I was able to piece together anything sensible from her rambling.
“You know you robbed Nico.” Luigi broke our conversation from the driver’s seat.
Arabella shrugged, though the mobster couldn’t see her. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The supplements? You had me bring you a higher dose,” he muttered, tapping on the steering wheel. “Don’t play dumb now, missy.”
I rounded on the woman. “You said you were helping the don!”
“You assumed; I didn’t correct,” Arabella responded, dropping her gaze to the floor. She worried her bottom lip.
I gasped. “You poisoned the don?”
When she lifted her gaze, her eyes were soft and searching.
“He shouldn’t have made me his ward,” she said quietly. Under the hushed tone was a bite. “I didn’t want to live with them, and I’m fairly certain the Grimaldis are the reason my parents died.”
“That hasn’t been proven,” Joey said from the passenger seat. “It’s a pretty safe bet that was a real boating accident.”
With a flip of her hair, Arabella huffed. It was an act. I saw the pain she tried to hide.
“Well, he’s dead now. You don’t have to do what he wants.” I patted her hand reassuringly.
She fell silent and didn’t speak again until we pulled up at the main house.
“I’m leaving,” the girl declared.
Pursing my lips, I took a deep breath. “Is that the best idea?”
Arabella glared at me, fire raging in her eyes. “Rae, don’t ask me to spend another night in that house.”
I lifted my hands. “I’m not. Just…take it from a runaway, you need a place to crash.”
“She can stay with our dad,” Emanuele offered from the back seat. Luigi hissed, but his brother talked over him. “He won’t bite, and he knew your parents.”
Arabella seemed to consider it. “Let me pack.”
“I’ll help you,” I offered, not trusting to let the wild child out of my sight. She was feeling too much.
Plus…if she was capable of poisoning someone, I had severely underestimated her.
Pushing through the front door, we were greeted by yet another unpleasant manifestation. The housekeeper looked fit to be tied.
“Look, it’s been a long night,” I started, but she cut me off with a brutal Italian curse.
Arabella locked arms with me. “Do not test us, cagna. We don’t have to listen to you anymore!”
“You’ll be sorry,” the housekeeper promised. “You’re fired, Magnolia. And when the signora gets back, we’ll have you placed in custody!”
I opened my mouth to tell her how wrong she was, but Arabella moved quickly.
The princess grabbed Luigi’s belt—and held on tight as he scrambled back.
“What are you—”
Luigi never finished the sentence.
Arabella whipped around with his gun. I cried out, but she pulled the trigger without properly aiming.
Blood and ichor exploded from the housekeeper’s belly.
Time slowed. Sanderson gripped her abdomen with both fingers as if it would keep her life from leaking out. It poured from her insides, staining her uniform. Her ancient, ghastly uniform.
The first drop fell to the floor.
The gun banged again, and this time, the horrid woman toppled over.
Air wouldn’t go past my lips. Probably because both my hands were pressed against my mouth. Shock, icy and strong, made me stand rooted in place.
Luigi ripped the gun from Arabella’s fingers before she could unload the rest of the clip into the housekeeper.
“What?” the young woman breathed. “I’m sick of captivity.”
Grabbing her roughly by the elbow, Luigi hauled her up the stairs. “Grab your shit. You’ve done enough damage for one night, I think.”
Arabella’s cackle of delight floated from above.
“I’ll get a bucket,” I offered.
Joey held up a hand. “Take a seat.”
Emanuele lit a cigarette with a rough laugh. “Seriously, Rae. You look like you’re going to pass out.”
I collapsed on the bottom step. By the time Joey came back, I would feel better. I would help him clean up this mess and dispose of the body. I just…needed a minute to process the fact that the wicked witch who’d made my life here a living hell was dead.
And that Arabella might be the biggest psychopath in this house of horrors.