Chapter Twelve #2
“I hid a burner phone in your bag at the boutique. I’ll send you the instructions.
It will be random, Vittoria, as we have to move when your husband is occupied and so are your guards.
It has to look like you left willingly. If we kill them, Romeo will think you have been kidnapped and won’t stop searching for you, but if you just disappear, he’ll assume you ran away like you’ve tried to before.
He may not give chase, or even if he does, he knows your life isn’t in danger so he will take his time and put out feelers, but by then, you’ll be long gone. ”
“I understand and I’ll make sure I’m ready when the time comes.” My heart was beating so hard in my chest and I was grateful for the crashing waves hiding it. “I better go, before they swim out here and get me. Thank you, Carlo, for not forgetting about me.”
He disappeared beneath the waves, and I quickly swam to shore. The girls were downing vodka coolers and I joined them for one, but my mind was far away, deciding what was necessary to take and what could be left behind.
Gia nudged me meaningfully. “Have a nice swim?”
“Yes.”
She leaned in close to me and whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll pretend I didn’t see that.”
I blinked innocently and used my best confused voice. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh please, girlfriend, save that for your husband. I saw Carlo out in the water.”
I gripped Gia’s arm and tugged her to her feet, cheerfully calling, “Gia and I are taking a little walk, be right back,” as I dragged her away.
Once we were out of earshot, I released her arm. Gia just looked amused at my antics. She was a mafia brat herself, but so far down the line that she had little to no supervision in the family of eight children, especially with her being the youngest.
“Look, Gia, I know you don’t take a lot of things seriously, but please, please take this situation as one of those things.”
She lost the smirk immediately. “What’s going on, V? Are you in danger?”
What could I say? If I gave away too much and she was questioned, I could see her cracking under the pressure.
If I said nothing, she’d only get more curious.
She might even ask questions of my own guards.
I had to tell her something, and could only hope it wouldn’t bite me in the ass down the road.
“For your own safety, I can’t say much. But I’ll tell you that Carlo was beaten and fired because of that night at the club. If anyone finds out that he even talked to me again, they’ll kill him, I’m sure.”
Gia nodded solemnly. “But you won’t tell me what you two were talking about?”
I sighed in resignation. It would be so nice to trust one of my best friends.
I’d known Gia almost my entire life, but we didn’t become friends until we were teenagers.
At a family function, in which her entire family was in attendance, I became super bored and snuck away, losing my detail and in search of something more relevant to my sixteen-year-old self.
I found Gia hiding in the cloak room, looking at hot guys on a dating app. I dropped down beside her and we became fast friends. Out of my besties, she was the brattiest, and the least likely to conform to the traditions of our world.
I felt sorry for whoever she’d end up with one day.
But, unlike myself, Gia would probably end up choosing her husband.
There were five sisters and two brothers before her, and she’d been left alone for the most part.
Many times, I’d been envious of her position in the family.
Why couldn’t my mother have given birth to enough babies to make me expendable?
Then I wouldn’t have had to marry Romeo in the first place.
And I wouldn’t be contemplating leaving him. The pang in my stomach made me stop walking. If I did this, there was no going back, he’d never forgive me. But I wasn’t given a choice and that was all I could see. My free will was taken from me, and I wouldn’t ever stand for that.
Would I have chosen Romeo if I’d truly been given a choice?
The day of my wedding, I would have said absolutely not. But after all the intimate things we’d shared and how he made my body sing? I’d be a liar if I didn’t hesitate to respond… perhaps?
“You, Elena, Neomi and Arianna will be the first ones they question,” I told Gia. “And you know Massimo. He won’t relent until he gets the answers he wants.”
Gia had the decency to shudder when I mentioned my brother-in-law.
Romeo insisted he had a softer side, but Massimo had to be one of the most terrifying people to have to face.
He was proportionately huge, and his eyes didn’t go just dark like Romeo’s when he was angry.
No, they became menacing, and he almost always looked that way when he looked at me.
The first time I’d seen it, I’d almost peed in fear.
When I’d told Romeo later, he laughed and said that was his job.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Here comes the hard part. “I won’t see you all for a while. Be patient and know that I am okay and will contact you when I can. Play stupid, Gia. You know nothing. Understand?”
She nodded. “Deal. But when you finally contact us, I’m first. After all, I’ve known you the longest.”
“Deal,” I said, glad to have dodged the bullet. “Are you sure no one else saw Carlo?”
She looked back at our friends, now teasing my guards as they waited for us to return. “Are you kidding? Those two are practicing their seduction skills. And the men are trying not to notice. Kind of funny, don’t you think?”
“Well, if you’re asking, I think watching Neomi try to get Leo to notice her is hilarious. Speaking of Leo, I saw you with him when we left the store. What was that about?”
Gia winked. “I have myself a date with the big lug. There is something dark and sinister about him, and oh, so sexy!”
Leo was wearing dark sunglasses so I couldn’t see his eyes, but I could feel him from here and Gia was right, he emanated a dangerous vibe that was hard to ignore. Even with the glasses on, I knew he was looking right at us and suddenly I felt a chill.
“He’s definitely intense,” I said with a shudder. “Come on, let’s join the others. I have to leave soon and I want to spend a bit more time with you all, before… you know.”
Gia laughed. “I don’t, actually, but yeah, let’s join them. Neomi is standing way too close to Leo.”
An hour later, we packed up and left the beach. I said goodbye to my friends and got in the car and as soon as I did, my phone lit up with a message from my husband.
“I see my marks have faded, wife. It’s time for a reminder of who you belong to.”
A shiver moved through me and not entirely of fear. Why did I love hearing those words so much?
Leo was on one side of me and Julius on the other. In the front was another guard and the driver. Four huge men and I was sandwiched between them. Thank goodness they were loyal to my husband, because in any other situation, this would be scary.
Donatello, the driver, cracked the window and as the warm air circulated around the car, I caught a quick whiff of that familiar scent, the one that I couldn’t quite place.
Studying each of the men, nothing came to me.
I filed the scent away as familiar but unresolved and justifying that it was probably a popular aftershave that someone I’d known wore.
When the car pulled into the driveway, I could see the lights on in our suite. He was home and waiting for me. I walked as slowly as I dared, knowing it was time to pay the piper, except I didn’t want to pay. Or did I?