Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
The thought of moving Cinque into Vegas in some way, even a small one like a bar, is exciting. I need something to do here, and bringing my work from home might make the move a little less daunting.
I know I have the luxury of being able to return home whenever I please. But if I really want this marriage with CJ to work, I need to put in the effort. I need to prove to him that I’m here for good. I’m not going to run again.
“Where do you see yourself in ten years?” I ask CJ.
“Inside your pussy.” He smirks.
“Funny. I’m being serious. Where do you see us in ten years?”
“I am serious. I see us in a bed. In a big house, our house. I see us happy as fuck, Dani, with a cat or two,” he says.
“A cat?”
“Yes, they’re way better than dogs.”
“You’re seriously a cat man? How did I not know this about you?”
CJ shrugs. “I always wanted one, but Aiden is allergic. And because of that asshole, I was never allowed to get one as a kid.”
“Aw! That’s kind of sad and cute.”
CJ turns to look at me. “It is sad. I think you should kiss my sadness away.”
I lean over to press my lips to his, and my body gets thrown back against my door as the car spins. A loud bang, followed by another, sounds out with the clashing of metal hitting metal.
Everything is happening so fast. The car spins and then swerves. CJ doesn’t say anything as his hands work the steering wheel, turning it sharply. We’re then on the other side of the road, speeding against oncoming traffic.
I want to scream at him. Panic has my throat dry, my voice gone. I’m frozen to the spot as my hands grip my seat belt. Staring at cars coming straight at us at an alarming speed.
“What the fuck was that?” CJ breaks the silence in the car.
“I…” I shake my head. But it’s not me he’s asking. A male voice comes over a speaker.
“Ambushed,” is all the voice says.
Then the car is spinning again.
“Hold on,” CJ says as he turns the steering wheel, navigating us on to an off ramp.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I see we’re now going in the right direction of the traffic. That relief doesn’t last long, though. CJ continues to speed up and starts swerving between the cars. I look behind us. There’s no one there.
“You can slow down. No one is following us,” I tell him.
He doesn’t say a single word to acknowledge that I’ve spoken to him. Instead, he hits a button on his steering wheel. “Call Dad.”
Okay, well, guess I’ll keep my thoughts and panic to myself then.
I don’t want to distract him when he’s driving like this. I trust CJ. I know he wouldn’t purposely do anything to put me in danger, even driving erratically. I know my father made Aurelio do a heap of defensive driving training sessions as a teen. I wonder if CJ’s parents did the same.
Of course, when I asked dad to do the training, he told me I didn’t need to because I’d always have a driver.
And then I went to Mum and she told my dad he was being chauvinistic and if it was good enough for Aurelio, it was good enough for me and Rosie.
Needless to say, I got those lessons. I hated them but stuck them out to prove I could.
“CJ, where are you?” Mr. Bianchi’s voice comes through the loudspeaker.
“We were ambushed. Two cars went up in flames,” CJ explains.
“You okay? Where are you?” his father asks.
“Fine. I got the hell out of dodge. Managed to lose whoever the fuck it was. About five minutes from the Lopez estate.”
“Daniella okay?”
This causes CJ to briefly look over at me. “She’d be a hell of a lot better if she wasn’t being attacked,” he grunts.
“I’m fine, Mr. Bianchi,” I chime in.
“Okay, good. You sure you lost them?” he replies.
“Yeah,” CJ says.
“Good. I’ll meet you at E’s.” The line goes dead and then a silence drops over the car again.
CJ’s knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel. His chest heaves and his jaw is clenched tight. He’s pissed off. I’ve seen him pissed off before, but never like this. This is a different level of anger.
I’m racking my mind trying to find something to say to help him. But I’m coming up empty. He’s my husband. I should know the right words to help ease his stress. I’ve been a wife for less than a week and I suck at it. This isn’t about me, though. I need to get my shit together and do better.
The car slows as it turns down a street and into the Lopez driveway. The gates open, and at least a dozen men stand on both sides with rifles.
“Is your uncle here?” I ask CJ.
“I don’t know,” he says through gritted teeth.
When he stops the car, he shuts the engine off and climbs out, slamming the door behind him. I hear him spit out a string of curses before he makes his way over to the passenger side and opens my door. Silently, he reaches in and unclips my belt and then he’s lifting me out of my seat.
Once my feet are on the ground, his palms cup each side of my face. “I’m sorry,” he says in a low voice. “Are you hurt?”
I shake my head. “Why are you sorry?”
“That shouldn’t have happened. You shouldn’t be in situations like that.”
“That wasn’t your fault, CJ.”
“I’m your husband, Dani. It’s my responsibility to keep you safe. I need to keep you safe. Not have you nearly blown up while driving to fucking dinner with our parents.”
I don’t know what to say. So I choose not to say anything. I stand on my tiptoes and press my lips to his. CJ deepens the kiss instantly, his tongue pushing into my mouth and twirling around.
After a minute, I pull away. “It wasn’t your fault and you can’t control the world, CJ. Bad shit happens. And in our families, it tends to happen a lot.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I know. And you did protect me. Just like you always do. You got us out of there.”
He takes a deep breath and then slowly releases it. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
“What about the others?”
“The others?”
“The men who were in those cars? Someone has to help them, CJ. We can’t just leave them.”
“My dad would have tracked them down by now and sent more men. They’re not your concern, Dani.”
“They got hurt—wait, probably killed—because of me. It’s my concern.”
“What the fuck makes you think that happened because of you?”
“You got shot because of me, CJ. Someone is after me, because of who my dad is. But they’re after me, and everyone but me seems to be getting hurt because of it.”
“Those men know the job they signed up for, Dani. They know the dangers and implications of this world. Nothing that happens to anyone is your fault.”
It is, but I know there’s no point arguing that with him. CJ takes my hand and leads me up the stairs of the house.
“I should have known what to say,” I mutter to myself.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. What do you mean?”
“When you’re angry, stressed, I should know what to say to help ease the burden. I’m your wife. I’m supposed to be able to help. And I froze. I didn’t know what to say or what to do.”
“You being right here is exactly what I need, Dani. I don’t need you to say anything. I don’t need you to do anything. I just need you to be right next to me.”
“You always were too good for me,” I tell him.
“We’re going to be fine, Dani. I’m going to find out who the fuck is targeting you and I’m going to make sure they can’t go after you again.”
“Okay.”
I want to tell him not to do that, but I’m not an idiot.
I know who I married. I know the type of men that my father and my uncles are.
I’ve grown up in this world. I know how it works.
I also know that if I told him not to leave my side, he wouldn’t.
And he’d hate not being able to be out solving the problem.
So instead, I keep my thoughts to myself.