Chapter 7 Giovanni
GIOVANNI
I stir when I realize that Meggie isn’t in bed with me. That’s all it takes. Her presence has, in such a short space of time, become a constant, my North star, my guardian angel, the lighter half of my dimmed soul.
My head feels groggy. I reach for the jug of water on the nightstand, fill a glass, and drain it, waiting for the cold liquid to revive me. The room spins slightly as if I’m drunk, and I wonder if I’m getting a fever. I barely finished half a glass of wine with dinner.
Then it comes back to me, like a polaroid being developed, the image sharpening as it comes into focus. Meggie was sick. I need to find her.
I throw back the covers and stand up, swaying while my brain cells play catch-up. I can’t remember the last time I was sick, and I refuse to succumb to it now, not while Amber is still missing and Meggie needs me.
I pull on pants and a light sweater, and make my way to the bathroom, frustrated at the unexpected fuzziness in my head.
The bathroom is silent. I sense its emptiness before I flick on the light switch.
I try the kitchen next. Perhaps Meggie got up for a drink of water or some food; she barely touched her meal. But the lights are off, and the only sound is the subaudible hum of the refrigerator. The living room is the same.
Goosebumps pop on my arms and the back of my neck as I go back to the corridor, and I realize that a breeze is coming from somewhere.
I discover the open window in the guestroom and cross the space in a few strides. Peering outside, I can see where the plants have been flattened.
That’s when I spot movement in the foliage surrounding the cabin.
I don’t go back for my phone. There isn’t time. Because my first thought, with the fog in my brain, is that The Fish is abducting Meggie from right under my nose.
I climb out of the window and slink through the bushes, trailing the movement.
But as the cool night air blows away the cobwebs inside my head, I know this isn’t The Fish.
If he wanted Meggie, he’d have taken her when he had the chance; he wouldn’t have snuck in through a window and carried her off like a caveman staking his claim.
Besides, my target is making painfully slow progress.
It isn’t until they emerge from one bank of brush and hobble towards the next that I realize it’s Meggie.
She’s alone.
She left the cabin while I slept, climbed out of a window, and no one fucking stopped her.
But my rage will have to simmer until I’ve figured out what she’s up to. Because whatever it is, she clearly didn’t want anyone to know, and that can mean only one thing: she knows we’d have stopped her.
While I follow her, I plan all the ways in which I’ll keep her locked up until this is over. She won’t like it, but it’s for her own safety, and I’ll deal with the fallout later, once this is over.
She slows down when she nears the bottom of the slope.
I instinctively slide a hand into the pocket of my pants and swear under my breath when I remember that I don’t have a weapon.
Fuck!
I’ve reacted too slowly as if my brain is wading through Jell-O. I’m too far away to stop her without drawing attention to both of us, and unaware of her intentions, my best option is to remain invisible.
We must both spot the figure emerging from the shadows at the same time.
I gauge the distance between me and them. Meggie is closer, but her plaster cast will slow her down, and if I can find a way to keep her hidden, whoever is waiting for her will focus on me instead.
I’m about to jump out and run towards them like a man on fire when the person lowers their hood and activates a flashlight.
Lucia?
This is who Meggie risked her life for?
I watch her limp towards the woman I agreed to marry when love didn’t feature in my world, and my heart is wrenched open by how broken Meggie appears to be.
The feisty vibrant sexy woman I met in LA is gone, and in her place is a young woman with hunched shoulders and pain etched into every fiber of her being.
Still, something inside me burns with love when I hear her demand, “Where is my sister?”
It catches Lucia off-guard momentarily. “We need to talk about Giovanni.”
“Gio?” Meggie halts in her tracks. “What about him?”
It’s fear I hear in her voice. Not the fear I heard when she was trapped in a mountain hut with explosives strapped to her chest but something altogether different.
This is fear tinged with doubt. She’s frightened that Lucia will tell her I’m behind her sister’s abduction, that I’m closer to The Fish than she could’ve ever imagined.
Lucia steps closer. “You need to let him go.”
“I… what?” Meggie sways but manages to remain standing. “What are you talking about?”
“I know what’s going on.” Another step. “I know you think you love him, but there will be no one to love if you don’t let him go. Now.”
“I-I don’t understand.” Meggie peers straight at me as if she knew all along that I was following her, and then back to Lucia. “The note. You knew about it?”
“Ha! Who did you think left it for you?” She pauses. “Fuck! You thought you were coming here to meet The Fish? Are you out of your fucking mind?”
Meggie’s shoulders drop. “Do you know where Amber is?”
“No. I told you, this is about Giovanni.”
“We’re done here.” Meggie goes to walk away, and my chest swells with pride for her strength and resilience against all odds.
But then Lucia grabs her arm, stopping her. “You want to save him, don’t you?”
Meggie stares at the hand on her arm until Lucia releases her. “Say what you want to say and then leave.”
The two women face each other in a standoff. I could intervene, but I’m curious to hear what Lucia has to say first.
“The Fish will kill Giovanni.”
I knew it. This is about me—it’s the only thing that makes sense about him waiting five years to kidnap his daughter. But I need to find out how Lucia knows this too.
The queen paid him to capture the princess.
“Unless you walk away and leave him free to marry me.”
And there it is. This is Lucia looking out for Lucia as she has always done. I don’t know how, but I’m certain she isn’t the queen the foot soldier referred to.
“Why should I believe you?” Meggie asks.
“Because you’re not a part of this world, and I am. You have no idea what you’re playing with here.” Her gaze drifts down to Meggie’s cast boot. “If you love him, you’ll let him go and save his life.”
I wait for Meggie to turn around and walk back up the slope, but she doesn’t move. “What about my sister?”
“You’ll get your sister back. It’s Giovanni that the monster is hunting.”
I’ve heard enough.
My bare feet crunch twigs and stones as I approach them, announcing my arrival, and giving Lucia time to bolt.
She doesn’t. Instead, she faces me squarely, hands on hips.
I don’t even look at her but stand beside Meggie and pull her into my arms. She comes to me without protesting and rests her head against my chest, but she doesn’t hug me back.
I address Lucia. “Unless you have any information regarding Amber’s whereabouts, I suggest you leave.”
“I assume you heard what I said, Giovanni.” She doesn’t wait for me to respond. “Your life is in danger. I’m trying to help you here.”
“You’re trying to help yourself. You’re afraid of what will happen if your family finds out about your secret life in Texas. It’s over, Lucia. Our engagement is off. I am in love with Meggie, and I intend to spend the rest of my life with her.”
Meggie wriggles out of my arms then and steps away, almost stumbling over a rock until I catch her. “Maybe you should listen to her, Gio. What if she—”
“No.” I’m firm. “You don’t know Lucia. She will always put herself first. This isn’t about me or you or Amber; this is about her. She has taken the worst possible situation anyone could ever find themselves in and twisted it to her own advantage.”
Her expression crumples, and I pull her back into my embrace.
“Go, Lucia. I never want to see you again.”
She doesn’t move, but says, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Trust me, I won’t.”
I lead Meggie up the slope a few paces before Lucia’s voice slices the night. “Don’t be a fool, Giovanni. What will happen to your family when he kills you, huh?”
I stop and turn around slowly. “He has to get close to me first.”
“You don’t know what you’re dealing with. The man is fucking crazy and you’re his target!”
“You sound well-informed about his intentions, Lucia. Why don’t you share some useful information with us so that we can find Meggie’s sister instead of trying to con me into a marriage that we both know will never work?”
“Of course it will work. We both knew what we were signing up for.”
“Not anymore.”
I scoop Meggie into my arms and turn around again.
“Who do you trust, Giovanni, huh?” her voice follows us.
I keep walking.
“If it’s answers you want, you’re looking in the wrong place.”
Meggie goes limp in my arms. I don’t know if she’s sleeping, or if it’s the adrenaline crash after the disappointing rendezvous with Lucia, but she feels fragile. Like the fractures are slowly spreading until she is beyond being fixed.
Back inside the cabin though, she struggles against me until I set her down on the couch. She’s on her feet in an instant, pacing, limping, wringing her hands.
“I can’t stay here, Gio. I thought I would find out where Amber is. I thought… I should’ve told you, but I knew you would try to stop me.”
I block her path and reach for her hand, but she glances at me from beneath damp eyelashes and resumes her pacing.
“Fiore, please sit down. You should be resting.”
“I can’t rest!” she snaps, and tears instantly well in her eyes. “I can’t.” Softer now. “Where is she, Gio? Why won’t he let her come home?”
Because he’s a fucking monster with no scruples or morals or compassion?
Because he hasn’t gotten what he came for yet?
Because that isn’t how he plays the game?