Chapter Twenty-One CHIARA #2
Something awful twisted in my chest because part of me already was frightened. Not of his violence. Of myself. Of how much I wanted him despite everything.
“He’s obsessed with control,” Angelo continued. “Right now he wants you obedient and pregnant, so he’s soft with you. But what happens when you disappoint him?”
I thought about the terrifying coldness in Leo sometimes. The effortless threats. The possessiveness. The way everyone around him seemed just a little afraid. Even Sergio.
“He’s dangerous,” Angelo said quietly. “Far more dangerous than you understand.”
Tears burned unexpectedly behind my eyes. Because I already knew that. And still I wanted him. God, what was wrong with me?
“You sound scared,” Angelo murmured.
“I’m not.”
A cruel little laugh slid through the phone. “Chiara, I can hear you shaking.”
Humiliation burned through me because he was right. My fingers trembled violently against the marble counter.
“I can help you,” Angelo said softly now.
My stomach tightened harder. “What does that mean?”
“It means I can get you out. I have houses Leo doesn’t know about,” Angelo continued. “People loyal to me instead of him. You disappear with me tonight, and he’ll never touch you again.”
The offer slammed into me like a wave. Freedom. Escape. Safety. Everything I’d wanted when Leo first took me. But instead of relief, all I felt was panic. Because the thought of disappearing from Leo hurt.
That realization terrified me so badly I almost dropped the phone. Angelo noticed my silence.
“You don’t want to leave him,” he realized softly.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to,” he sighed. I pressed a trembling hand against my mouth.
“He’s in your blood already,” Angelo said quietly. “That’s the problem with men like Leo. They ruin women before the women realize it’s happening.”
My chest tightened painfully.
“Chiara,” he murmured, voice lower now. “Come with me.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I can protect you.”
The words should have comforted me. Instead, all I could picture was Leo drawing the curtains closed with that dark look in his eyes.
“Think carefully,” Angelo continued softly. “Because if Leo poisoned your father…” A pause. “You should ask yourself what happens when he stops seeing you as useful.”
A cold chill slid all the way down my spine. For the first time since Leo Moretti dragged me into his world, I felt truly afraid of him again.
My breathing sounded too loud. Too fast. The marble beneath my bare feet felt freezing while Angelo’s words wrapped tighter and tighter around my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut harder.
“Chiara.” His voice softened slightly through the phone. “Listen to me carefully.”
I swallowed painfully. “I’m listening.”
“You need to leave before Leo realizes you’re becoming a problem instead of a prize.” A shiver crawled down my spine at Angelo’s words.
“He won’t hurt me,” I whispered weakly.
Angelo laughed quietly.
“Cara.” His tone turned almost pitying. “He already is.”
Tears burned hot behind my eyes again. Because somehow that was the worst part. Leo hurt me while making me crave him harder.
“I can get you out tonight,” Angelo continued. “But you have to decide now.”
Panic slammed into my chest. “Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“That’s insanely fast, too f-fast,” I stammered.
“No,” Angelo corrected softly. “Staying with Leo is insane.”
I pressed my trembling hand harder against the marble counter, staring at my own pale reflection in the dark kitchen windows. Run. The word screamed through me. But another voice whispered back. Stay. My stomach twisted violently.
Angelo exhaled slowly through the phone like he could hear every conflicted thought inside my head.
“You want him,” he murmured. “That’s not the same thing as trusting him.”
I said nothing. Because I didn’t trust Leo. Not completely. How could I? He terrified me. Consumed me. Controlled me. And yet every time he touched me, I forgot how to breathe.
“You don’t understand men like him yet,” Angelo continued quietly. “Leo doesn’t love gently. He destroys everything he touches eventually.”
The words hit too hard. Because deep down, some terrible part of me already feared they were true.
“What if he finds me?” I whispered before I could stop myself.
Silence. Then Angelo laughed softly.
“Ah,” he murmured. “So you are considering it.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No,” he agreed smoothly. “But you asked the right question.”
My pulse thudded harder.
“He won’t find you,” Angelo promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“You sound very confident for someone hiding from his cousin,” I hissed.
That amused him.
“Leo and I grew up together,” he said lazily. “I know exactly how he thinks.”
The confidence in his voice unsettled me. Because Leo didn’t seem like the kind of man anyone could outmaneuver.
“Tonight,” Angelo continued. “Midnight. There’s a private underground garage beneath the Bellarosa Hotel downtown. Service entrance on Mercer Street. Bring only essentials. Nothing traceable.”
The reality of what he was proposing crashed over me all at once. This wasn’t fantasy anymore. This was escape. Real escape. Leaving Leo. My chest hurt unexpectedly at the thought. Angelo noticed the silence again.
“You still want him to come home tonight,” he realized quietly.
I shut my eyes hard. God. “I hate you for being able to tell.”
A low laugh slid through the phone.
“No,” Angelo corrected softly. “You hate that I’m right.”
Before I could answer, the elevator chimed softly somewhere down the hall. Ice flooded my veins. Sergio.
“Shit,” I whispered.
“You need to go.”
My pulse exploded into panic.
“Midnight,” Angelo repeated quickly. “Don’t lose your nerve, cara. This may be your only chance.”
The elevator doors slid open. Footsteps. Close. Too close.
“I have to go.” My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
I erased the call history, nearly dropping Sergio’s phone because my hands shook so badly. Footsteps grew louder down the hallway. Move. I shoved the phone back exactly where it had been beside the espresso cup, and froze.
Keys. Sergio’s keys sat beside the phone in a neat black leather tray. Car keys. Security fobs. Access cards. Freedom.
This was insane. Completely insane. Another set of footsteps echoed closer. I grabbed the keys anyway.
The metal felt ice-cold against my palm as I slipped them into the pocket of my silk robe seconds before Sergio appeared in the kitchen doorway. His sharp gaze landed on me. And for one horrifying second, I thought he knew.
“Everything alright?” he asked calmly.
I forced myself to breathe normally. Smile normally. Exist normally. “Yes.”
Sergio studied me carefully, dark eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly. My heart hammered so violently I thought he had to hear it. Then his gaze shifted toward the untouched espresso beside the phone.
“You didn’t make coffee.”
“I changed my mind,” I shrugged.
Silence stretched. Dangerously long. Something in Sergio’s expression sharpened, instincts clearly firing beneath the calm surface.
He knew something was wrong.
“Chiara,” he said carefully.
My stomach dropped. “Yes?”
His eyes stayed locked on mine. Sergio looked suspicious of me, but he waved me off. Relief settled in the pit of my stomach.