Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Giovanna
I made my way as fast as I could along the corridor. Instinct had me placing both of my palms on the walls to either side of me. The boat was moving oddly under my feet, making my stomach feel queasy. For a few seconds, it would be still, then suddenly it felt as though it was being hit from the side, and the impact would leave us rocking and rolling for a few minutes until the boat’s stabilisers managed to do their job.
Finally, I made it to the end, and after grabbing at the handrails tightly, I climbed the steps and brought myself up and into the saloon. Looking forward through the solid glass wall of doors, I could see my stepfather talking animatedly to the captain. Hurriedly, I removed my engagement ring, before taking a quick look around me to check I was still alone. I turned over the gold between my fingers, and looked underneath the gemstone setting, where I’d felt the rougher edge as I’d pushed the ring on my finger. In the centre of the gold mount beneath the stone I could see a small circular object. And try as I might with the nail on my little finger, I couldn’t remove the disc to get a better look. As I twisted the ring around in the light, three initials caught my attention.
‘HDS,’ I murmured as I realised exactly what it was I was looking at. ‘A tracker.’
‘Why would you want to track me?’ I thought back to mine and Dante’s confrontation, because of him telling whoever he was talking to on the phone about how he’d found that I wasn’t a virgin. With the argument that followed and the way he’d been so shut off, he had effectively forced my hand to leave. It was all so completely different to the way he’d been as we’d made love, having obviously noticed I wasn’t a virgin and it clearly not mattering. I pushed the ring back home and standing in the middle of the saloon as I tried hard to keep my balance on the boat, I held onto my upper arms and could still feel the way he’d held me afterwards.
The only thing that had been the same in both situations, was the way Dante’s eyes had always shown his emotions. His love, his acceptance and dare I say it, his truth.
‘You forced me away, but want to know where I am?’ None of it made sense, ‘Unless you deliberately made me go? Could you have thought I was safer on here… than back there?’ I shook my head. ‘If that’s the case, I hope you’re following close by, Dante, because you couldn’t have been more wrong.’
‘Chef says that with the storm coming in, Miss Giovanna, he can only make you up a cold plate. Would that be okay?’ The sound of the steward’s voice made me jump, and as I dissected his words, I understood that although I was certain I could have eaten almost anything ten minutes or so ago, my stomach was telling me it wasn’t the case now. But knowing I needed an excuse to be here and not with my mama, I resigned myself to picking through yet another plate of food.
‘That will be fine, thank you.’ I threw a quick smile over my shoulder at him, and in doing so saw how it appeared to be night once again outside the windows. ‘Is bad weather forecast?’ I turned to face him to receive his reply.
‘Yes, Miss.’
‘Are we still on our way to Calabria?’
He turned towards the windows, casting a glance outside. ‘That’s not my business to know.’ He smiled an apologetic, half smile. ‘I’ll go and get you that cold plate.’
‘Thank you.’ I smiled at him, while inwardly cursing myself for asking him a question I should have known he wouldn’t be able to answer.
As his footsteps faded away, I watched a wave begin to increase in its size and strength, as it made its way in from the starboard side. Moving quickly, I sat myself down on the fixed, leather couches against the wall, and used the table nearby to hold on to. In what seemed like minutes, but I knew was only seconds, the wave engulfed the side of the huge boat we were on. The noise was deafening, both inside and out. With my knuckles turning white with the strength of my grip, I watched as heavy ornaments wobbled and came crashing to the floor around me. The boat was lifted and rolled onto its side with the sheer force of the water. My body was thrown about like a rag doll in a child’s hand. And just as fast as it had hit us, the water moved over and away. After, the boat rocked from side to side several times before righting itself. All over, I could hear shouts as people checked on others. I instinctively looked myself over. I had pain radiating from one of my shins but no visible injuries. Looking around, I could see there was debris all over the beautiful saloon. A sudden sharp pain as I moved let me know there were pieces of broken China inside the sliders I’d pushed my feet into earlier. Quickly, I checked the sea in both directions. It was rough outside, but the waves were nothing like the one that had only just hit us. I released the table I was holding, bent over and after removing my sliders, I banged them hard on the floor to empty the broken pieces from the footwear. Making sure that Peter and the boat’s captain weren’t facing my way, I hurriedly made my way to the wooden chest by door that led out to the deck. With my eyes still on them, my heart thumping in my chest, working quickly I released both clips simultaneously, pinching both of my thumbs and forefingers tightly to the metal, as I attempted to dull the noise. With my eyes focussed ahead, and my ears trained on behind me, I found what I was looking for. Taking out the flare gun, I pushed a cartridge home and tucked the loaded gun into the back waistband of my Lycra workout leggings. Then I grabbed at the remaining cartridges I could see, replaced the lid and moved back to the couch, pushing the spare ammunition into the front of my waist band. Luckily my baggy workout t-shirt covered the additional bulges.
I understood how dangerous it was to have the loaded gun with no safety in place against my body. But I also comprehended how much safer I felt knowing it was locked and loaded should I need it.
Using what I knew would only be a few minutes of solitude, I began to run through the facts as I saw them. My mama was seeing Ricco, I was certain. In my head I could see flashbacks of when I was a child, of the way she’d smiled at him, and reached to touch him, when only us children could see, and I was now convinced that she represented a danger to me. My stepfather; I had no idea what side of the fence he was on, until he showed himself. But why was he married to her? What had he to gain from their marriage? Lorenzo was Ricco’s nephew, and I understood now that whatever he’d said he felt for me, it wasn’t love, he was just doing his Don’s bidding.
But which Don?
Salvatore, like my grandfather it seemed, was happy for me to remain within the De Luca walls. He wasn’t concerned if I stayed his unmarried sister, because with that would come the fact that he could keep me safe. Why on earth would Ricco want me married to Lorenzo, unless it meant I was his way into the De Luca family?
Outside, the sky lit up, as forks of lightening danced across the sky.
‘The eye of the storm,’ I spoke to myself. ‘And we’ve always embraced a good storm haven’t we, Nonno?’ I whispered. ‘It clears the air and takes out the trash—Today, I think we will both get to see the woman you saw inside of me, and I can only hope you’re not left wanting.’
The sound of the vacuum being broken brought me to my senses. I looked up to see my stepfather walking back into the saloon. His pallor was white.
‘Are you okay, Giovanna?’ he asked looking a little concerned.
‘I am, thank you. I watched the wave building out at starboard, it was as though I was watching a film.’
‘The reports are that the storm is building, in strength and ferocity.’ He crossed the floor between us, until he was a few feet from where I was sitting.
‘What happens now?’
‘We have requested a safe harbour from the Sicilian authorities.’
‘You plan to dock in Sicily?’ I almost shrieked, showing him my unease as I repeated what he’d just imparted. He smiled back at me, allowing his earlier look of concern for my safety slip. Quickly, I mulled over my current situation. In my head, I understood that I had to disembark from the boat. Sicily was closer than Calabria, but Calabria was where my family was, and where my brother ruled absolute.
Will I find any sort of sanctuary in Sicily, given my family name?
Panic began to enfold me in its clutches, until the boat lurched unexpectedly to the left, and the flare gun against my waist touched its icy steel against my back. Whatever happened, I would use anything and everything to get back to my family.
‘Yes, I do.’ Peter Ariti nodded as he spoke. ‘You see, I’m Greek. I have no cares or worry for my safety in Sicily, unlike others on this boat.’ I watched as he over balanced and grabbed hold of one of the highly polished, wooden pillars.
‘You mean me?’ I questioned.
‘You know I do, and so do you.’ His eyebrows lifted, as he looked at me. ‘And another on here.’
‘My mama.’ I didn’t question him as I already knew the answer.
‘Exactly. You see, given the history between your crazy Italian families, I’m not sure to who you are the greater prize.’
‘I will be no one’s prize.’ I spoke with a vehemence I hadn’t heard from myself before, knowing that if it came to it, I’d use my concealed flare gun on myself.
‘That remains to be seen,’ he added.
A knock from the captain on the glass between us, caused us to both look over. I watched as he nodded and flashed up his fingers to the count of ten, which I presumed meant the boat had permission to dock and it would take us about that many minutes to do so.
‘I’m telling you so,’ I replied adamantly.
‘It’s funny, you are nothing like your mama described.’
‘And how was that?’ I questioned.
‘Gullible, pliable, dutiful.’ Inwardly, I winced at what she thought of me.
‘I might have been all those things once. She doesn’t know me anymore.’ I started to shake my head slowly.
‘What changed?’ Peter pulled out one of the heavy dining room chairs and sat down, as he fought against the boat’s movements.
‘I fell in love, and I saw something different in me, because he saw me differently.’
‘To the lovely Lorenzo.’ Peter laughed as he opened his arms up wide, and I didn’t correct him.
‘If you have ever loved someone, you will know how I feel,’ I added.
‘I have loved and been loved,’ he nodded resolutely, as his face seemed momentarily captured by his memories. ‘And maybe I will be so again. Once we dock, I will be reconsidering my life choices.’
‘Will you help me do the same?’ I questioned, and I tensed as I awaited his reply.
‘My dearest stepdaughter, Giovanna,’ he began, and for a few seconds I was hopeful. ‘I will do whatever is necessary to get off this boat alive.’
‘So, you won’t help me?’ I questioned, before adding. ‘My brother will make it worth your while.’
‘Ahh, Salvatore, the great Don from Calabria—the same one who is this close to having his domain ripped out from underneath him. I have no need of his money.’
I hadn’t a clue what Peter was talking about, but refused to let my features show him my surprise, or that I was struggling with the fact that my whole family might now be at risk. Could this be why Dante had sent me away? I’d fought for years against my upbringing, but now it seemed so important in its significance, and no one was more surprised by that than me.
‘Then why did you marry my mama?’
‘I married her to cover up my truth.’
‘Your truth?’ I thought over what I already knew about the man in front of me. He’d been a widower with grown-up children when he married my mama and couldn’t fathom out what his “truth” might be.
Another sudden wave hit the boat. It wasn’t as bad as before, but the people onboard shouted and screamed as the boat groaned out its protest. I remained fixed in my seat, gripping hold of the couch with both hands, with my feet wedged firmly against the floor, feeling very aware of the weapon that was nestled against my spine
‘Unfortunately, you might appear to be my strongest bargaining tool,’ he carried on.
‘You mean to bargain with my life?’
‘To whichever Sicilian family learns first who has landed on their soil, or to them…’ he gesticulated with his head towards the stairs which led to the staterooms, and I followed his gaze.
‘Them?’ I questioned, as I took in that my stepfather had shown his hand. He wasn’t on any side but his own, and surely that made him even more dangerous.
‘Your dear mama and her lover.’ Peter spoke with a nonchalance that was hard to fathom.
‘Your wife?’ I added, ‘And Ricco?’
A broad smile spread over his face.
‘Well, well, Giovanna. You’re much more intelligent than she gave you credit for.’ Without saying as much, he had confirmed my suspicions.
‘Why do you put up with your wife having a lover, when it’s being thrust under your nose?’ I asked the question and at the very same second, I was finally hit with what the truth was about Peter Ariti.
‘That would be a very good question, if I cared anything about her, other than what she can do for me,’ he smirked.
‘I understand now.’ I nodded, trying to drive my point home. ‘No man who loved his wife would put up with it.’ I was aware that my voice had risen in strength, just as another flash of lightening lit up the dim saloon and a loud, reverberating rumble rolled backwards and forwards directly above us. ‘Unless, of course, he was gay and was just using her for cover.’
Peter began to slow clap.
‘Maybe you’re not quite as clever as you think,’ Peter goaded, before he reached inside the jacket he was wearing and pulled out a gun.
‘Oh, you won’t kill me, Peter. Remember, I’m your ticket to safety.’
The thunder began almost instantaneously, and it was quickly followed by the sound of gunfire coming from inside the boat and then suddenly to the righthand side of the saloon. Instinctively, I closed my eyes and threw myself to the floor, wishing Dante and I had parted better. As the noise carried on around me, I recalled something I’d read, about always kissing someone like it was the very first time, because it might be the last time you kiss them.
With my eyes squeezed shut tightly, as the sounds of gunfire ricocheted around me, mixed with noise of the violent storm outside, I made myself a promise. If Dante and I ever found each other again, I would never let him go and I would always kiss him as though it was our first time.