Abby
“Ugh, do you have to go?”
I jump, startled at Misha’s voice, and look up from where I’ve been tying my shoe.
“Hey, you’re the one who made plans, mister!”
We already said our goodbyes before he got in the shower, and I thought I’d be able to leave before he finished.
It’s not that I’m avoiding him per se, but I still feel weird about him having such a close female friendship.
I don’t mean to feel such jealousy, but I can’t help it.
Despite how incredible he’s been and despite how he cherishes me, I can’t compete with a woman he’s known and loved his entire life.
“Yeah, but I can cancel them. Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? I promise I won’t bother your girl time with Ellie. I can—”
That’s the other thing. I’m not technically lying…
I will be seeing Ellie later today for dinner with her family.
But my primary objective in leaving is to see a different Santori.
Nikki. I haven’t told Misha about our friendship yet.
I shouldn’t feel bad about it, especially after learning that his closest relationship is with another woman.
If I feel bad about anything, it should be that I’m freaking married.
“No, you cannot! You promised Thatcher a long ride on your bike, and from everything you’ve told me about him, he’ll be devastated if you cancel.
Plus, I already made plans with Ellie, and I, for one, don’t flake on my friends.
” Tennis shoe strings securely tied, I stand and bridge the gap between us.
“He won’t mind—”
“Misha!” I chuckle, wrapping my arms around his waist and squeezing. “It’s fine! She and Nonna are going to teach me to make their famous gnocchi, which will only benefit you in the long run.”
Note to self: ask Ellie and Nonna to teach me how to make gnocchi.
“Can I at least give you a ride to their house?”
“Well…I haven’t exactly told Ellie about us yet…I’m going to today, I promise!”
Lies, lies, and more lies.
Misha squints down at me and searches my eyes. I’m not sure what he finds, but he eventually sighs and kisses the top of my head. “Do you know when you’ll be back?”
“I’m having dinner with her family, so it will be after that. I’ll keep in touch throughout the day, though!”
“Alright. Have a great day, sweetheart.” He seems to buy my ruse and sends me away with a long kiss.
I’ve concealed my feelings as well as I can for now.
I keep reminding myself that even though it feels as if we’ve known each other for a lifetime, we haven’t known each other long at all.
I can’t just come in making demands about a relationship he’s had longer than I’ve been alive.
Not that I would make any demands. Just because I don’t understand their connection doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
It’s just his female best friend, who he’s been attached to for over thirty years.
Literally longer than I’ve been alive. I’m probably just being jealous for no reason, but just in case.
I mean, let’s be logical here. There’s no way on earth I could mean more to him at this point than Mila.
And if she doesn’t like me, or he has to pick a side…
Well, I need to make sure I have at least one super-scary Mafia man locked in to my plan.
My plan. As if I have a plan.
More like I need to lock in Nikki and have him develop a plan for me.
He’ll do that for me, right? We’ve been in contact almost every day since the night on the lake, and our relationship has blossomed into something truly beautiful.
He’s helped guide me through my relationship with Misha in such a specific manner that he must know who I’m talking about.
I mean, he and Misha are buddies after all.
He’s also vaguely opened up about some of his own girl problems.
Sigh. Who am I kidding? I need to pray he doesn’t kill me on the spot for deceiving not only him but his family as well.
Even though I haven’t told Conor anything, it’s still betrayal.
But it’s my only option—a Hail Mary for my life.
Because if Nikki doesn’t do the job, I know my husband will.
Maybe not immediately, but sooner or later, Conor will go too far.
When I arrive at the Santori Estate, the gates open for me automatically before I’ve even rolled to a stop, and when I pull up to the front of the house, I see why. Nikki waves at me with a grin on his face and jogs over to open my door.
“Abby!” he greets me with a kiss on each of my cheeks. “It’s been too long. Come in, come in!”
He guides me through the house to their quiet family den, waits for me to take my seat, then chooses his across from me.
“How have things been going? Mama told me about your girls’ night last week. I almost—”
“Nikki.” His small talk only worsens my nerves, and I know if I don’t do this now, I’ll lose my courage altogether. “I need to tell you something.”
“Of course, tell me anything.” For someone who was just interrupted, his smile is rather warm. Almost knowing.
“I…Well I…” I sigh. “I don’t know where to start.”
“It’s okay. You can tell me anything, Abigail.”
“I know, I know, It’s just…a lot, and I don’t—wait…did you just call me Abigail?”
That’s odd…Not a long shot to assume Abby is short for Abigail, but I’ve never told him, and he’s never called me that before either. My heart pounds so loudly I’m sure Nikki can hear it, and his smirk all but guarantees it’s what I’ve feared all along.
“Didn’t you used to go by Abigail? Or would you prefer Niamh now?”
He knows.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I can’t speak. I can’t even breathe. Wait…I can’t see?
“There you go. You’re okay. I’ve got you, Abby. I’ve got you.”
My eyes flutter open to nothing but a bright blur as someone coos and pets my hair.
“Good, good. Try to open your eyes. Just keep breathing.”
Nikki?
My vision sharpens to see the familiar, handsome face looking down at me with concern.
What is going—Oh, that’s right. He knows who I am. My terror returns, but before I can go into full-on panic mode, Nikki speaks up.
“Hey hey, you’re safe. You’re going to be okay. Nothing is going to happen to you, Abby, okay? Just calm down and breathe. Shh, that’s it, girl. I’ve got you. Deep breaths, follow me.”
He guides me in some deep breaths, helps me to sit up, and hands me a cup. “That’s it, good job. Now drink this. I promise it’s nothing scary, just apple juice.”
We sit in silence as I slowly and skeptically drink the supposedly not-scary apple juice.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to scare you.
I thought maybe if you knew I knew, it would be easier to talk, but obviously, I miscalculated your reaction.
I assumed you were used to this kind of thing being married to a mob boss, but I’m not as familiar with the Irish Mafia and especially not the Canadian Irish Mafia. ”
I choke on my juice, spraying Nikki in the face. “I’m sorry, the what?”
“You’re married, yes?” he says, wiping his eyes.
“Yes.”
“To Conor Fitzpatrick.”
“Uh…yeah,” I mumble in shame.
“Who is a notorious leader in the Irish Mafia…”
“No?”
“Yes.”
“Conor is the mayor of—”
“Conor is in the Mafia, honey.” Nikki searches my face and must find truth in my ignorance. “Did you really not know?”
He sighs when I shake my head. “I believe you…but from here on out, you have to be completely transparent with me, okay?”
“Okay…”
“Starting with everything you can tell me about your husband and what you’re doing here in Thunder Bay.”
I do. Somehow in the midst of my confusion from learning about Conor’s involvement in the Mafia, I’m able to tell him everything I know. Nikki listens intently as I recount all that’s transpired from the night of the gala until now.
“So you and Misha, huh?” he asks with a smirk when I finish telling my piece.
“Nikki! That is so not what’s important here!”
“You’re right! What’s important is that I’ve known about you and Misha, and I haven’t been able to say anything about it!”
“No! What’s important is that Conor is out for your family! He sent me to take you down, and if I don’t report back with something useful soon, he’s probably going to kill us all!”
“First off, sweetheart…No offense, but that scum of the earth excuse for a man isn’t going to lay a goddamn finger on anyone in my family.” He takes my hand and squeezes it, and the bite in his voice drops. “Or you.”
His assurance of my safety after my dreaded confession calms me, and for the first time in years, I’m able to completely let my walls down.
“Second, we’ve known about his threat for a while now. In fact, I dare say that I know more about your soon-to-be ex-husband than you do.”
“I knew he was bad news,” I whisper, looking down so that I don’t have to look Nikki in the eyes. “And…the men he hangs around with are as well.”
Nikki sighs, “I’ve been studying Conor for a while and…
you’re right, he’s bad news. I can only imagine the horrors you’ve gone through at his hands.
Why do you think I’ve been so adamant about our friendship?
I wanted to keep an eye out for you and make sure you were okay.
And I assure you that the next time you face him, it will be with the entire strength of the Santori Mafia as well as the Taranov Bratva. We will keep you safe.”
“It’s not just me…It’s my parents too. I would’ve run years ago, but I knew it would put them in danger.”
“We’ll take care of them too, cara amica.” He catches a tear falling from my face and tilts my chin up.
“So you think we can do this?”
Nikki grins. “Oh, I know we can do this. We already have a plan in action, and honestly, your involvement will only help. That is, if you’re willing to play along.”
“Yes, of course! What do I need to do?”
“You aren’t the only one Conor sent down to spy on us.
There’s a mole somewhere in our midst. I have an idea of who it could be, but I’m not sure yet, and…
I don’t want to do anything drastic until I know.
I never thought it was you, by the way.” His loving demeanor changes so quickly, and for the first time, I get a glimpse of the Nikki his enemies face.
“I mean it. I don’t play around when it comes to my family.
If I had believed for a second you would put Ellie in danger, I would’ve taken you out the first time she brought you home. ”
I gulp. Nodding is the only response I can muster.
Like a light switch, he’s back to the fun-loving Santori I know. “That being said, if Conor thinks you’re still on his side…we might be able to feed him just the right amount of intel to make him trust you, then lead him into a trap of our making.”
“Okay…I can do that. It would definitely get him off my back for a while. He’s been especially moody lately and— Wait…if there is another mole down here, do you think he knows about Misha?”
“Probably.” Nikki sighs. “You’ve already told him that the two of you practice together. So there’s a chance his men know that it’s normal for you to see him and don’t have it on alert. I would always assume the worst, though. Would he be terribly upset about you messing around with Misha?”
“Honestly, as long as I’m accomplishing my mission, I don’t think he would care.”
“Your mission to seduce a Santori brother?” Nikki winks.
“Yes, exactly that,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Then tell him you have. Tell him you’ve successfully seduced the younger brother. I’ll play along. I mean, you’re around here with Ellie enough for it to be convincing. We can decide what info to feed him so that you continue to be useful.”
“Okay…I can do that.”
“You have to tell Misha, though, okay? I do not want to be on the receiving end of that man’s wrath.”
Oh shit, Misha…I still have to do this all over again with him.
“I know, I know, I’ll tell him. I just need a few days to muster up the courage. He confessed everything to me a few days ago.”
“Everything?” he says with a raised brow.
“Well, it was a lot…” I blink, recalling several of his stories. “Um…Nikki?”
“Yes, Abby?”
“Do you think he’ll be mad?”
Nikki belts out a laugh. “I think he will be absolutely fucking furious…”
“Oh—”
“But not at you. Never at you. Trust me, that man has it bad for you. You want to know how I know we are going to be successful in our mission to eradicate Conor’s outfit?”
I shake my head.
“Because the world has yet to see the likes of Misha Mavrin’s vengeance should someone hurt his woman.”