Chapter 10 Megan #2
“Did I hear voices?”
Shit!
“I banged my foot on the bed.” I hobble over to the door and yank it open, my dry lips dragging across my gums as I try to flash an apologetic smile Demi’s way. “I should be more careful.”
She glances down at my foot. “You should rest it a while.”
Not trusting myself to speak, I follow her back to the living room, where I resume my spot on the sofa and settle my foot on a cushion.
My thoughts are scrabbling around the conversation with Bianca, replaying it over and over, and trying desperately to think of a resolution.
How can I convince Gio to let Tommy Romano go without telling him what his sister told me? I feel guilty for going behind his back, but I can’t risk this all blowing up if it means that I’ll never see Amber again. If there’s even the slightest chance that Bianca can help me, I can’t dismiss it.
But the thought of releasing the man being held captive in the war room, surrounded by Gio’s security team is impossible. Unless…
I glance at Demi. Would she help me if I told her what Bianca said?
She’s busy scrolling through her phone, her mouth set into a thin line, and I already know that she would go straight to Gio.
I lean my head against the cushion and close my eyes, buying myself some time. I don’t have Demi’s training or Gio’s background. I know nothing about hostage situations and subterfuge. And all I know about Tommy Romano is that he tricked my best friend into leading Amber’s father to us.
Anger crawls back inside my head and settles there like a bird in its nest, growing ruffled feathers that won’t settle. The thought of him walking free when Nikki is dead and Amber is missing makes shivers run down my spine, but if that’s what it takes to save my sister, I can’t think about it.
Karma.
It can get them both once Amber is safe.
Right now, I need a plan.
Firstly, I need to somehow get into the other cabin and speak to Tommy alone. Find out how many bodyguards are in there. Figure a way to get him out of there without anyone stopping us.
I groan inwardly.
Who am I kidding? Gio might’ve unwillingly agreed to me speaking to Tommy about Nikki, but he’ll never leave me alone with him, and even if he did, how do I then get him out of there unnoticed?
I don’t know how long I lay on the sofa thinking about all the thrillers I’ve read.
All the horror movies I watched with Nikki when we were teenagers where the heroine always walked straight into a trap and somehow managed to extricate herself, even if she did end up getting stabbed or shot in the process.
When I finally open my eyes, a half-formed plan is starting to take shape in my head, and Demi is watching me like she can see straight through me.
“I need to go for a walk.” I sit up, fighting off the queasiness that seems to resurface every time I try to get up.
“I’ll come with you.” Demi is already on her feet.
I smile. Keeping it normal. Of course, she would come with me. The Fish is lurking out there somewhere, and everyone is trying to keep me safe while they try to find Amber.
I go to the kitchen first, run the cold tap and fill a glass with water, hoping that Demi will wait for me by the door, but she’s like my shadow, clinging to my every move.
So, when it’s obvious that she isn’t going to give me a moment, I go to the bathroom instead and find a pack of old-fashioned razor blades in the cabinet on the wall.
I hide one inside my sleeve. It will have to do.
Outside, the air is surprisingly warm, as if I’ve been living with a permanent chill since he took Amber.
The sky is clear, obscenely blue. Anger rears inside me again at the thought of the world continuing as normal without my little sister, as if her life is inconsequential.
A statistic. A story that might be written one day by a journalist with nothing better to do.
But it makes what I’m about to do a little easier.
The unfairness of it all.
“I wish I could tell you that it will all be alright, Meggie.” Demi slows her pace to match mine.
I don’t speak as we approach the other cabin where Gio is inside with the man who destroyed my best friend. I have to stay focused. If they find out what I’m about to do, it will ruin everything, and I might never see Amber again.
“We’ll explore the unused ski resorts this afternoon.” Demi is still talking. “I know Gio’s men have already searched them but, well, sometimes it takes a woman to know where to look.”
Tears sting my eyes. She’s trying to help, and she would be angry if she knew what I had to do. For a fleeting moment, I’m tempted to tell her, but then I remind myself that she’s a cop, and she doesn’t understand the kind of world the Sabatelli family inhabits. Not really.
“If you’re still feeling up to it,” she adds.
“I am.”
I don’t want her to get suspicious, and besides, I’ve spotted the van with the blacked-out windows parked around the back of Gio’s makeshift war room. I gravitate towards it, wondering if the driver will have left the keys in the vehicle, when Demi grabs my arm.
“Hey.” Her voice is gentle, concern shining in her eyes. “It’s okay. We can go back inside whenever you want.”
“I’m fine.” I seem to be saying that a lot lately.
Closer. The driver’s window is rolled halfway down, and I think I catch a glimpse of metal swinging from the ignition.
The universe is sending me a sign.
I stop in my tracks. “I’m ready to meet him.”
Demi stands in front of me, uncertain where I’m going with this. “Meet who?”
“Tommy Romano.” Before she can try to talk me out of it, I add, “My best friend is dead because of him.” I don’t need to force tears into my voice; they’re already there.
She shakes her head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. What are you hoping for? An apology?”
She’s right. I haven’t thought this through, but now that the words are floating between us, I know exactly what I want.
“I want to know why he did what he did.”
“Okay.” She holds my gaze. “And then what?”
“Then, perhaps I’ll get closure.”
She inhales, puffing up her cheeks, and releases her breath slowly. “I think you’ll be disappointed, Meggie,” she says softly.
I look her directly in the eye. “Disappointment is nothing compared to what I’m feeling right now.”
I watch her battling with my request internally until finally she says, “I’ll come with you.”
The door is opened by a bodyguard I may or may not have seen before. I’ve been too preoccupied to memorize their features. He hesitates, guarding the interior with his bulky frame and wide shoulders.
“We need to speak to Giovanni.” Demi takes control.
The man’s gaze hops between the two of us. Without a word, he closes the door, leaving us outside. Moments later, Gio opens it again.
“Meggie?” He steps outside, pulling the door behind him to guard what’s going on inside. “Are you sick again?”
“No.” I shake my head.
God this is so hard when I’m standing in front of him, harder than I thought it would be, but I have to try. For Amber.
“I want to speak to Tommy Romano.”
A look passes between him and Demi. “Meggie, now is not a good time.”
“Please, Gio. I just want to see for myself the kind of person he is. I want to hear him say the words out loud.” Inside, I’m screaming. This is the last thing I want to hear right now.
Gio carries out his own debate inside his head. Finally, he says, “I can’t leave you alone with him. Do you understand?”
I bite my bottom lip and nod. I just need to get inside the cabin. Hopefully, the rest of the plan will work itself out as I go.
“Meggie, perhaps I should warn you…”
I can see it in Gio’s eyes: I’m not going to like what I see. But he should understand that I’ve already seen things that are worse than whatever he’s about to show me. I saw Nikki’s lifeless body lying on the ground. I watched Amber’s father carry her away struggling and screaming out my name.
This will never erase those images from behind my eyelids.
Especially when I’m about to betray Gio’s trust in me.
The lump in my throat won’t go down. Am I doing the right thing?
This all happened so quickly that I haven’t had a chance to consider the outcome or the repercussions of helping a prisoner to escape.
But the very real threat that it will end badly for Amber if I don’t see it through is what drives me to stand on tiptoe and kiss Gio, cupping his face in my hand.
“You don’t have to say anything, Gio.”
Demi waits by the door while I follow him inside, my pulse racing.
My bravado slips a little when I realize that the furniture has been moved out of the living room.
Men are sitting around the dining table in the kitchen, tablets and iPads in front of them.
An image of them discussing battle formations like army generals in smart uniform and peaked caps pops into my head closely followed by hysterical laughter gurgling inside my chest.
I’m just a girl from London.
I work in a boutique cake shop.
This kind of thing doesn’t happen in my world.
Until it does. The words arrive unprompted. Because if I want to spend the rest of my life with Gio—which I do! —then I must accept that this kind of thing does happen.
Gio stands between me and Tommy Romano when we enter the living room, blocking me from seeing the man who was gaslighting my best friend.
My stomach rolls. I can’t get sick again. Not here. I need to hold it together until I figure out how this is going to go.
He stands aside, and I find myself gazing at a man bound to a seat, with uncombed raven-black hair, bloodshot eyes, and gray skin with a layer of thick stubble.
Blood drips down his ear and the side of his face, pooling on his shoulder, and there are patches of blood on the carpet under the seat.
At first, the thought of him with my vibrant fun-loving friend is incredible, a far-fetched joke being played by a deluded man with a penchant for beautiful young women.