Chapter Seventeen #2
“The guys had stuff going on, so I was what was left.” He shrugged. “I’m sure if Bianca had gotten her choice, it would have been someone else taking her instead me.”
I sent him a sharp look because we both knew that that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
I wouldn’t have changed anything about our weekend even if I could.
Hell, part of me was even grateful my dad was such a bastard because he forced our hands.
He had no idea that his plan backfired so spectacularly, that it was his asinine plan that brought Lorenzo and me together.
“Alright, you two. No more arguing.” Giana looped her arm with mine and led me away from the car and Lorenzo and into the house. “You’ve got to take it easy on him, Bea.” She shook her head. “I’ll never understand your dynamic with Lorenzo. He’s our brother, like Romeo, just not by blood.”
I bit my lip. He was her brother officially now, not through blood or time, but through marriage. I didn’t say the words that were on the tip of my tongue, but I thought them.
“Take it easy on him?” I scoffed, trying to act as if nothing had changed. “I think it’s the other way around, Gi. He needs to let up on me.”
She sighed and shook her head. “I think it goes both ways.”
I gave a half laugh that was more air than volume.
“I’ll concede that.” I needed to change the subject and fast. Talking about Lorenzo would give us away, and I couldn’t afford to give anything away until he was ready.
He was holding onto both our wedding rings until we could wear them again.
I’d only worn it for a few days, but my finger already felt naked without it.
“Where’s dad?” I asked quietly, not really caring, but wanting to see if I could continue to avoid him.
Giana’s eyes dimmed as she nodded toward the hall that led to his office. If he was in there, I could avoid him as long as possible. “He’s in a meeting with some guy and Gino,” she whispered. “I don’t know what they’re talking about or doing, but they’ve been in there for some time.”
“You don’t know who it is?” My stomach clenched with fear. What if it was Arias? I had never seen the man, but I didn’t like the fact that there was someone here we didn’t know.
“No. He’s a big guy, built like a football player, and he has a subtle accent that he tries to hide,” Giana stated. “I heard it when I opened the door for him.”
I blanched. Why was my sister opening the door for anyone? Romeo always insisted that one of our guards was to open the door, even when our father was home. “Why did you answer the door?” I shook my head.
“Dad told me to, and nobody else is here but him, Gino, and us.” She took a deep breath. “Something is going on, Bianca. I don’t know what, and I haven’t told Nic because I don’t want her to worry.”
Well, her instincts were spot on. My sister was definitely smarter than I was. It was no wonder she was going to law school. No doubt our father thought it was a good idea to have a lawyer in the family and at his disposal.
“Do me a favor,” I stated quietly and looked over my shoulder toward where Lorenzo was bringing in the bags with Nic chatting away beside him.
“What?”
“Tell Lorenzo what you just told me. Get him to stay, and I’ll text Romeo to come home.
” I could have asked Lorenzo to stay myself, but I had to keep up appearances that we didn’t get along.
But if Gia asked him to stay and told him what was happening, then it would sell the lie that nothing had changed between us.
“I already texted Rome as soon as the guy got here. He told me he was on his way, but he wasn’t close by, so it would be a while. He told Nic and me to be careful and stay upstairs. We only came down when I saw you and Lorenzo get here.”
I nodded, apprehension and stress eating away at me. “Good. Go tell Lorenzo.”
Giana left my side to go tell my husband about the strange man in the office.
My husband. Lorenzo was my husband. I knew it, but it felt different thinking of him like that.
I moved toward the kitchen to get some water and to give myself something to do.
It took concentration to make myself stay away from him and not stare at him, even more than it did before we were together.
I was terrified I would be the weak link to give us away and to put his life in danger. The thought of my father killing him for what he’d done–what we’d done–was reprehensible. I had to keep Lorenzo safe for as long as possible, and that meant keeping away from him.
My phone beeped from my purse, and I pulled it out to see Romeo had sent a text.
Romeo: Remember, nobody can know. Not even Gia and Nic.
I knew that. I sent an eyeroll emoji to be funny, but nothing about this was funny.
Too many people I loved were in danger right now because of this marriage.
Romeo was risking our dad’s wrath. Lorenzo was risking his life.
And I risked losing the man I loved, plus whatever punishment Dad would dole out to me if he found out.
“You’re back,” I heard behind me.
I deleted the message like Rome told us to do. Anything incriminating, we needed to wipe. The phones were burner phones, so they couldn’t be traced, but we also wanted to make sure nobody in the house could read what was going on between us.
Gino was leaning up against the wall, studying me. His eyes moved over my body, and I wished I could dig my fingers into his eye sockets.
“Only just got back.” I shrugged and shoved my phone back into my purse.
“I’m surprised you had somewhere to go for a few days. That’s a little sudden, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” I tried not to react to his words, though I could feel fear clawing its way up my spine. I wanted to run to Lorenzo. I wanted to beg that he take me far away from here, but I knew it wasn’t possible.
“I mean, I’ve never known you to go out with any friends anywhere. Let alone to go to a wedding celebration down in Atlantic City.” He was on the hunt for information. I could tell. He was trying to lull me into a false sense of security and was searching for any weakness at all.
“I have friends.” Lies. My siblings and Lorenzo were my only friends. “I see them all the time at dance. Just because I don’t go out partying with anyone doesn’t mean I don’t have friends.”
The look he sent me said he didn’t believe me, but I didn’t care. The truth was, I was at a friend’s wedding over the weekend. I was at Lorenzo’s, and he was marrying me. It wasn’t a lie. Thinking of it in that way helped because it eased the burden of the lie and that I was hiding something.
“My mistake,” he said and held up his hands in defense. “I always thought you were a loner. Giana has friends, and so does Nic. I’ve never heard you talk about your friends.
I sneered, “To be fair, I don’t talk to you about my life. Why the sudden interest, Gino?”
“Just curious, Bianca. No need to get upset.” The grin he gave me was evil. Gino would have been an attractive man if his heart wasn’t so black and corrupt.
“I’m not upset,” I snapped at him, belying my words. I was upset because I was afraid he would pick up on things I didn’t want him figuring out. I hated Gino. I hated him with every fiber of my being, even more than I hated my father, and that was saying something.
“Sure you’re not.” His evil smile made me want to slap him. Instead, I went to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water to give myself something to do, and tried to cool my temper, which was threatening to boil over.
“I’m exhausted,” I told him after taking a drink from the bottle. “I’m going to go catch a nap before I do a workout.”
I caught Lorenzo’s eyes before I headed upstairs. He didn’t react, but I could tell he understood what went unsaid, ‘I hate this. I want you.’