Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Gia
Icouldn’t believe the turn my life had taken. Just that morning, I may have been anxious and nervous about marrying Luca, but I was happy otherwise. I had my family, friends, and wanted for nothing, and now I was basically on the run.
I couldn’t text or video call my friends. I couldn’t scroll on social media. I couldn’t even play dumb games or watch funny videos.
My life is over.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
No, it’s not. Don’t be dramatic.
I tried to talk myself off the emotional cliff I was teetering on. I didn’t want to have a nervous breakdown, especially in front of one of my dad’s goons.
Although he was the hottest goon I’d ever seen in my dad’s employ.
When we turned down a dark alley, my stomach tightened in fear. “Where are we going? My dad said to take me to your cabin.”
He rolled his eyes, smirking as he made eye contact with me in the mirror. His eyes were the brightest shade of blue I’d ever seen in person. “I know. I have to make a stop here first. Unless you want to take your husband with us.”
I frowned, but relaxed a bit. Enzo wasn’t planning to murder me and dump my body in some alley.
Or was he?
I listened to too many true crime documentaries to completely relax, but I knew Enzo wasn’t stupid enough to get on my dad’s bad side. That was a death sentence.
We stopped outside of a warehouse and Enzo got out and opened the overhead door. When he got back in, he drove into the darkened warehouse, then parked and got out again.
After closing the door behind us, he flipped on the lights, illuminating the large, but mostly bare space. Boxes and oil drums lined the walls.
Once again, my true crime obsession led me to the conclusion of how Enzo was going to get rid of Luca’s body.
A lump formed in my throat and I started to feel queasy. I closed my eyes as Enzo opened the back of his SUV and started rifling with the bags in the back.
Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it.
I kept my eyes closed until I heard him get back in the car. We reversed out of the warehouse, and Enzo got out and pulled the overhead door down and locked it with a padlock.
When he got back in the SUV, he made eye contact with me in the mirror and nodded. Swallowing the lump that was still in my throat, I darted my eyes out the window and tried not to think about what had just happened.
Enzo turned the radio on, and rock music started playing. Scrunching my nose in displeasure, I rifled through my purse until I found my earbuds, then stopped when I realized I didn’t have my phone.
My shoulders slumped and I sighed. What was I supposed to do on this trip with no phone, no social media, and no connection to my life?
My chest tightened, and I felt the sting of tears. Closing my eyes, I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned my head where my seat met the car door.
As I drifted off to sleep, I hoped that when I woke up that everything would be just a bad dream.
“Hey,” a voice said, sounding like a distant echo. I felt a nudge on my shoulder. “Gianina.”
My eyes snapped open and I jerked upright. “What?”
Enzo put his hands up in surrender and took a few steps back from the open car door. “Sorry to wake you, Sleeping Beauty, but we’re here.”
I glanced out the windows. We were in a parking lot. I furrowed my brows. “This doesn’t look like a cabin in the mountains.”
Enzo chuckled. “Because it’s not. We need to get supplies and I’m not leaving you in the car by yourself.”
“Oh,” I replied, wrapping my sweater tightly around me. The chill of the New York winter air drifted in through the open door. “Okay, let’s go.”
Enzo zipped his hoodie up and asked, “Do you have a heavier jacket? It’s going to be colder than this in the mountains.”
I shook my head as I followed him toward the store. “I was expecting to be in a tropical paradise for the next week so I didn’t pack a jacket.”
He nodded. “Well, we’ll have to get you one here; unless you want to freeze to death in the cabin.”
I didn’t want to be caught dead in a jacket from the store we were walking into, but I was trying not to be a spoiled brat considering the situation I’d gotten myself into. “Okay.”
He arched a brow. “Really? I thought you were going to be more difficult.”
I scoffed. “I’m trying not to be since you’re having to clean up my mess. I guess some things have been put into perspective after what happened tonight.”
When Luca had been attempting to rape me, I’d felt so small and helpless.
That wasn’t a feeling I’d ever felt before; my whole life I’d had the world at my feet and had everything I’d ever wanted.
I’d never been made to feel less than or be so easily disregarded.
And now that my family and I could be harmed or possibly killed because of my actions really made me see how precious my life was.
And I didn’t want to take it for granted.
Enzo nodded. “Life has a way of humbling you sometimes.” He grabbed a cart and pushed it to me, then grabbed another cart and started pushing. “What kind of food do you like to eat?”
“Believe it or not, I’m not picky. I like everything; except canned meat,” I replied, scrunching my nose.
A grin curved his lips. I couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was now that I had calmed down from the night’s events. “Well I’m glad you’re not as high maintenance as I thought you were going to be.”
I rolled my eyes, but was unable to keep from smiling. “I can be bratty yes, but that’s not entirely my fault. I was made that way from my upbringing so you can’t just expect me to be a normal girl when I wasn’t raised like one.”
“I guess you have a point there. Well, your father gave us a pretty high budget so get whatever you want. And I’ll try to add in the basics and emergency supplies.”
“Whatever I want, huh?” I asked, arching a brow. “You may regret that.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure I’m going to regret this whole thing so have at it.”
We went down every aisle, and as instructed, I grabbed whatever I wanted and put it in my cart.
Enzo made sure to add things like bread, eggs, milk, water, and canned goods to his.
He also grabbed a first aid kit, thick blankets, candles, lanterns, matches, a couple of space heaters, and two back up generators.
“Are we preparing for the apocalypse?” I asked as Enzo put the second generator in his cart.
He smirked. “Have you ever been in a cabin in the mountains during a winter storm?”
I shook my head. If we ever vacationed somewhere cold, we stayed at a luxury ski resort.
Enzo laughed. “Well, power outages are almost a certainty. So if you want to stay warm, we are going to need a back-up generator. Oh, and that reminds me, we need to get you a jacket.”
I scrunched my nose. “Ugh, don’t remind me.” I was glad none of my friends were going to see me.
Don’t think like that anymore. Name brands don’t matter. Be happy you’re the one that ended up alive.
“Do you have any warm clothes?” Enzo asked as we made our way to the women’s clothing section.
“No. Like I said earlier, I was expecting to be in Fiji for a week so I have mainly bathing suits and sundresses.”
He clapped his hands and laughed again. “Well, this is going to be fun.”
I couldn’t stop my eye roll. “Let’s just get this over with.”
After being forced to choose two week’s worth of sweaters, jeans, sweatpants, thick socks, thermal undergarments, and a couple of pairs of boots, we started to head towards check-out.
Enzo suddenly stopped. “I almost forgot.” He turned his cart around and my brow furrowed.
“Forgot what?” I asked as I followed him.
“We need some things to keep us entertained if the power goes completely out.”
Enzo led me to the aisle containing every board game I’d ever played, and some I’d never even heard of. He started grabbing various games, then put them in his cart. “What’s your favorite?”
I glanced from the shelves of games to him, then smiled. “Life; Clue is a close second.”
He smirked, then grabbed both from the shelves and put them in the basket. “What about you?” I asked.
“Monopoly, hands down,” he replied, his smirk turning to a full blown grin.
I laughed. “Monopoly is okay; it takes too long.”
Rolling his eyes, he chuckled. “Your generation is so impatient.”
I arched a brow and scoffed. “My generation? How old are you, Gramps?”
Enzo tossed a few more games into the basket and started pushing it. “Thirty-four.”
“Really?” I asked. When he gave me a look of offense, I continued, “I’m sorry, I just thought that since you worked with my dad that you were closer to his age.”
“I guess that’s understandable. Is there anything else you’ll think you need for the next few weeks? Even if there wasn’t going to be a storm, my cabin is hours from the nearest store.”
I couldn’t believe that I’d be away from home for possibly a month. And that I was going to miss Christmas with my family.
My face must have shown my sadness because Enzo’s brows pulled together in concern. “Everything okay?”
I shrugged. No. “Yeah. I’m just bummed about missing Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday.”
He nodded, his bright blue eyes full of sympathy. “Why don’t we get some Christmas decorations and presents?”
A small smile lifted my lips. “Presents? For who?”
He shrugged. “You get some for me, I get some for you. Just so we have something to open on Christmas.”
My chest tightened at the sweet gesture. “Okay.” I felt my cheeks warming and glanced away from Enzo to the full carts. “I think we’re going to need a third cart.”
Enzo chuckled. “Let’s get this stuff checked out and loaded into the car, then we can come back in and do our Christmas shopping.”
For the first time since I’d stepped into my honeymoon suite, I felt a spark of excitement. I couldn’t believe a stranger I’d just met hours before cared more about my happiness than my husband had. “Sounds good.”