20. Giada
Giada
Chapter twenty
Waking in the hospital, or rather the doctor’s house, was a surprise, to say the least. When people say they don’t remember their accident, I don’t understand how. I remembered every second of it. The fear in my husband’s eyes when he saw me bleeding in the car will forever be ingrained in my memory. As soon as I realized what happened in that car, I was terrified. I was certain that when my eyes closed, they would never open again. And I couldn’t stop it from happening. When I did eventually wake up to Luca sitting beside me, I was so damn thankful. I don’t know how I would’ve possibly handled him lying unconscious in a hospital bed.
The doctor kept me for a few days for observation. Thankfully, the bullet went all the way through, and no major damage was done. He said the shot was one in a million. I’d be good with not testing those odds ever again.
Instead of heading back to the penthouse, Luca and Finn decided to have us stay at Finn’s estate outside of Boston, where we’ve been for the last two weeks. They aren’t sure how the shooter knew where we were, but best guess is they were watching Maeve and Cormac’s house for any signs of us. At least, we’re assuming they were after me and Luca since Eoghan found pictures of the two of us in the hit man’s car.
The one thing I know for certain, deep in my bones, is my brother ordered it. Though no one from the Cataldi organization will touch him with a ten-foot pole now, it’s not as though he couldn’t go out and hire any asshole off the street. Any reservations about what Finn and Luca plan to do to my brother when they find him were wiped away with that bullet. Not that I have any. We all know what being in this life means. My loyalty to my brother ended the day he was willing to give me away to our enemy. Before that, if I really think about it. My allegiance to the Monaghans was solidified the moment Luca told me what Carlo did to Alessia. I had a choice to make in that moment, and I chose my husband and his family. And I don’t regret it for a single second.
Since it’s been nearly three weeks since the shooting, the doctor has cleared me for light duty, not that I have anything to do in the house. Today, I decided to try my hand at baking. I called Isabella, and her mom sent me some of my grandmother’s old recipes. I’m assuming they were the ones my mother used to make with me in the kitchen when I was younger, but I really have no way of knowing. There are so many things I’ll never know about my mother, but Luca was right when he said we can separate the person from their mistakes and love them regardless. Today, the urge to somehow be closer to the woman who died with so many secrets is strong.
While I’m putting the finishing touches on the fiocco di neve, Finn and Alessia come back from their morning run.
“Oh my God,” Finn groans, walking up to the counter as I sprinkle the powdered sugar on the pastries. “Is this what it's like being married to a proper Italian woman who actually cooks?”
I laugh and shake my head. I swear this man loves to goad his wife into an argument any chance he gets.
“Keep it up, husband, and I’ll be sure to have Giada bake these for your funeral next week.” Alessia shoots Finn a sharktooth smile while her eyes stare daggers into him.
“You love me too much to ever kill me,” Finn replies, walking over to give his wife a smacking kiss on her cheek. I’m honestly surprised he has the balls to stand so close to her.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, dear.”
Luca enters the kitchen in a pair of gym shorts with a tight workout shirt stretched across his broad chest. God, he looks edible. It’s been weeks since we’ve been able to have any more intimate moments together. Luca sleeps next to me every night, but he hasn’t touched me since the shooting. Yes, there’re sweet kisses every day and lingering looks, but other than that…nothing. I realize I was just given the okay, but he’s been treating me like a fragile glass figurine, as though if you knock into me, I’ll fall and shatter.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he says, coming up and giving me another sweet kiss on the mouth. He pops one of the bite-sized pastries in his mouth and lets out a nearly indecent moan. God, what I wouldn’t do to feel that moan on my body. He licks the sugar from his lip, and I’m staring at his mouth so hard Alessia clears her throat and sends me a knowing look.
“What do you say to some target practice?” she asks.
“That sounds like a great idea.” That’s what she does when she’s stressed or is trying to work something out in her head. Seems like I could use some of that.
“Are you sure that’s okay with the doctor?” Luca asks.
I swear, the first time I attempted to brush my damn teeth, he asked if it was “doctor-approved.” I told him yes, that five out of five dentists recommend it. He didn’t find it amusing.
“I spoke with Dr. Simmons two days ago. He said I was fine for light work. I told you that.” Irritation is evident in my tone, but he’s acting like a mother hen at this point.
“Is shooting considered ‘light?’”
“If it aggravates my shoulder too badly, I’ll stop. Deal?”
“I don’t know abo—”
Before he can finish his sentence, I shove a fiocco di neve in his mouth. “I said I’ll be fine.” I turn to Alessia. “Come on. I want to see your present from Finn.”
When we get downstairs to the range that doubles as a safe room, Alessia pulls out the custom 9mm Finn had made for her birthday.
“Isn’t she pretty?” Alessia says when she hands me the gun. I make sure it’s pointed at the ground when I take it from her grip and promptly check if it’s loaded.
“Good girl,” she says with a wide smile.
“I don’t know much about guns.” I look at the engraving. “My heart, my loyalty, and my life,” I read out loud. “That’s sweet.”
Alessia smiles. “My husband can be quite the poet when he wants.”
Handing the gun back to Alessia, I stare at the wall of firearms.
She grabs a .22 and hands it to me. “I think this one is good enough for now. Less kickback.”
I load the gun and grab ear protection while she loads a paper target for me. As soon as I begin firing and my sole focus is on hitting the target, my worries begin to melt away. The only thing I’m focused on is keeping my arm steady and my aim true. Well, as true as it can be for someone who’s only had about a week’s worth of practice. When I press the button to bring the target back to me, I see I hit the paper seven out of ten times.
“You’re getting better. I think that’s the most you’ve hit in one go.”
“I have a good teacher,” I say, smiling at Alessia.
“So, what’s really going on? I sensed a little tension upstairs.” She nods toward the floor above us.
Letting out a sigh, I set the gun on the counter and turn to her. “Luca’s just being overprotective, and it’s starting to wear on me.” She offers me a sympathetic smile as I continue. “We’re safe, but he’s acting like Carlo is going to jump out of the shadows at any second and finish the job himself. Or I’m going to start bleeding out if I move wrong. I mean, I appreciate having someone worried about me, but I want a partner, not an overprotective father.”
“I can understand how that would be frustrating.”
“Was Finn like that with you after everything that happened with my brother?”
“Not to the same extent, no. But Luca isn’t Finn, and I wasn’t the one lying in a hospital bed. You didn’t see him when we brought you in, honey. I’ve never seen a man more scared that the woman he loves is going to die before he’s had a chance to live a life with her.”
“He’s never said he loves me.”
Alessia laughs. “That doesn’t mean shit.,” she says, waving her hand. “I knew I loved Finn way before I told him. I knew I wanted a future with him, not because I was tied to him for our business's sake, but because I couldn’t imagine another man on the planet making me feel the way he does. Physically and emotionally.”
I groan in frustration. “That’s another thing that’s bugging me. The doctor told me three days ago I was fine to resume normal activities, and Luca acts like we never had that conversation.”
“Ahh, I see.”
“See what?”
“You’re horny.”
“Oh my God, Alessia!” I exclaim with wide eyes. “That’s not what I said.”
Her laughter booms off the steel-reinforced walls. “You didn’t have to. Listen, talk to him about it. Maybe he’s taking his cues from you and he doesn’t think you're ready.”
“Talk to my husband? What a novel concept.”
When we’ve finished with target practice for the day, we head back upstairs in search of our husbands. My shoulder is a little sore, but that’s to be expected for a few more weeks yet. Not that I’ll tell Luca. He’ll just fuss over me some more.
Alessia knocks on the door to Finn’s office and opens it to find him and Luca.
“Fuck. I feel like we’re missing something. The asshole’s out there somewhere,” Finn says to Luca.
“What are you guys doing?” Alessia asks, rounding the corner of her husband's desk to have a seat on his lap.
“Trying to figure out where the hell Carlo is hiding,” Luca answers as I have a seat on the leather club chair next to his.
“Me and Mario have had guys on all his known associates, even the other capos, to make sure they weren't blowing smoke up our asses at the meeting, and we haven’t seen any sign of him. We’ve been searching every known Cataldi property and still nothing,” Finn says, frustration lacing his words.
“Can I see the list of properties?” I ask.
“Sure.” Finn hands me a piece of paper with all the businesses, houses and any other piece of land my family owns. I look through every listing, most of them I don’t recognize since I was never privy to the daily operations of the business, but I notice one missing.
“There’s a lake house we own that isn’t on here. My mom used to take Carlo and me there…” A memory I’d long since buried surfaces; it’s of the last time we were there. “We were there right before my mom died.” I look at Luca. “Marco was with us. I remember walking into the kitchen late one night because I wanted a drink. They were standing there, and he was holding her. I didn’t see them kiss or anything, but when she saw me, she pushed away from him and rushed over to me. I remember being a little freaked out from her over-the-top reaction, worried I was in trouble for being out of my bed. But Marco was staring at me with this big grin on his face.” My hand comes to my mouth. “Do you think she told him I was his daughter that night?”
Luca reaches over and grabs my other hand, kissing it softly. “She could have. Her letter made it sound like she was going to.”
“I remember my dad coming the next day with three of his men. He was so angry, not in a yelling kind of way, but with that quiet rage that used to scare me. He put Carlo, me, and my mom in the car, and on the drive home, I remember my mom crying silently in the front seat. I was so mad at my dad for not comforting her, but I was too scared to say anything. When I saw my mom later, I asked where Marco was and she told me he got another job. She died in a car accident two days later. Or what I thought was a car accident.”
“Why are there no property records for the house?” Finn asks.
“I have no idea. I don’t even remember exactly where it is. I know we passed through a little town called Shine to get there though. I thought that was a neat name for a town when I was little. That’s where we’d stop and grab groceries. The house was maybe another half hour from there.”
“I’ll call Ozzy,” Finn says. “He might know where you’re talking about. Fuck, he’s gonna be pissed. If that’s where Carlo is, he was right under their noses the whole time.”
While Finn is on the phone, I turn to Luca. “Who’s Ozzy?”
“Remember the MC president your brother pissed off?”
I nod. “Why he went on the run?”
“Yeah. Ozzy’s president of the MC and the woman your brother tried to sell into the skin trade is his woman.”
Holy shit. It’s a small freaking world.
Finn disconnects the call and rubs a hand over his face. “Lake Masqak. He said that’s where a bunch of rich assholes own vacation houses, and it’s about twenty-five miles north of Shine with nothing in between.”
“That has to be it,” I say, looking between Finn and Luca.
“Would Carlo be that fucking brazen to stay so close to Shine?” Finn asks.
Luca and I answer with a resounding yes.
“He probably knows there’s no record of my family owning the place, and it’s not like we ever went back after my mom died. Plus, if he’s there, he’s getting some sick satisfaction knowing he’s so close and we have no idea.” Disgust laces my words with the knowledge Carlo could be there, that his presence is tainting a place that holds memories with our mother. He doesn’t deserve to be there. Not after…everything.
“Don’t suppose you remember the address?” Finn asks, already knowing I don’t.
“I was five the last time I was there, so no. But I’d definitely recognize it if I saw it.”
“There’s no way in hell you're going up there with us, Giada. I won’t allow it.”
I turn to my husband, who has obviously forgotten who he’s speaking to.
“You don’t order me around, Luca Bennetti. This is the first lead we’ve had. If he’s there, we’ll finally be able to end this bullshit once and for all. What would your plan be? To go up there and drive around calling his name to see if he comes out of the house? Get real. You need me to find the house.”
“I’m not putting you in danger again, Mrs. Benneti.”
“My last name was Cataldi first, and it’s going to take a Cataldi to catch one. If you think you're going to stop me, then you have another thing coming. You can’t keep me here locked up and hope Carlo what? Turns himself over to you? We’re in danger every time we leave this property until we find him. I’m not going to be a prisoner in this house.” I turn to Finn. “No offense.”
“None taken,” he replies, looking between me and my pigheaded husband. “She’s right, though.” Luca looks ready to murder his cousin where he sits. “Look, I don’t like the idea of putting her in danger, but we need this over. I need this over. I can’t watch anyone else I care about be hurt by that piece of shit. I’ll call Ozzy. I’m sure we can stay at the clubhouse for a couple nights. Plus, I know he wants his pound of flesh. It’s a win-win.”
“Easy for you to say; it’s not your wife who’s going to be putting her life in danger,” Luca spits out.
“Hey,” Alessia barks. “My life was in danger in this very house. He came in here and shot my friend and almost took me to God knows where to do God knows what. And if you think I’m going to let the three of you go without me, then you’re fucking crazy. If Giada’s going, then I’m going.”
“I don’t want either of you going. That’s what you're not getting,” Luca says, looking between me and Alessia.
“You don’t have a choice. So you can stay here and sulk, or we can go and finish this. But either way, I’m going to Shine, with or without you,” I say firmly, getting up from my chair and walking out of the room.
Later that night after Luca and I have done a fantastic job of avoiding each other, I’m brushing my hair in the en suite bathroom when Luca walks into the room. He sits on the mattress, his elbows on his spread knees with his head hanging low.
“You don’t know what it was like for me in that car,” he starts, his voice low and full of pain. “When I saw the blood, your blood, soaking into my shirt.” He looks up and meets my eyes in the mirror. “I didn’t get to you in time. He got a shot off before I covered you, and I wasn’t fast enough.”
I set the brush on the counter and turn to my husband, who has guilt swimming through his blue eyes.
“It wasn’t your fault, Luca. You tried to get control of the car. You threw yourself over my body to protect me. It could have easily been you instead of me lying in that hospital bed.”
“But it wasn’t.”
I walk over to him and step between his knees. Luca’s hands grip my waist and rests his forehead against my stomach.
“I can’t lose you, not like that. I can’t have your life snuffed out because you were born into a life you never asked for. I promised I’d protect you, and I failed.”
My hands tunnel through his dark hair, that’s gotten longer than I’ve seen it in years since being confined to the house with me.
“You have done everything you can to keep me safe, including marrying me to keep me out of the Russians’ hands. Don’t you understand? It's my turn to protect you and everyone else we care about. If Carlo isn’t stopped, who knows who he'll go after next. Are you willing to risk Alessia or Finn? What about Eoghan or your aunt? This is our best shot. I’m your best shot.”
His deep breath is full of resignation as he grips me tighter. “I’m not going to be able to talk you out of coming, am I?”
“No,” I answer simply. “There’s no use fighting about this. It’s not going to change anything.”
This has to end before anyone else I love dies.