I stormed out of the basement of the Sphere. Some of my men lingering at the bar watched me curiously. Others got up as if to join me on whatever crusade I was on. But I couldn’t risk them finding out that my own wife had run off, that I couldn’t even control the woman at my side.
Love. The root of weakness. That’s what our fucking father had called it. I didn’t like the man, had hated him with every fiber of my being, but perhaps he’d been right for once. Aria was turning me into a fool, and I had fucking allowed her to do it.
Matteo followed close behind me.
If he hadn’t wanted the fucking redhead, then nothing of this would have happened. The whole thing was no doubt Gianna’s fucking idea.
“This is Gianna’s fault. This girl is the root of every problem. Why couldn’t you stay the fuck away from her like I told you?”
“Probably for the same reason why you let Aria play with you,” Matteo muttered.
Fuck it. Matteo was my brother. If other men started thinking the same way, I’d have to make a bloody statement—again. All because of Aria. I got into my car and Matteo mounted his bike, then we were off to meet with Romero.
He was waiting for us in my penthouse, next to a delirious Sandro. That asshole should have watched Aria and Gianna; instead, he let two untrained women knock him out. He didn’t meet my fucking gaze, and I focused on Romero before I ended up killing that useless fucker. “Spill,” was all I got out of my fucking tight throat.
“Ten thousand dollars and two passports are gone. Looks like they planned this over a long period of time.”
I nodded, trying to mask what this information did to me. Aria had told me she loved me. I had told her I loved her, had treated her as well as I knew how to do, had never hurt her, and now this?
I’ll go where you go no matter how dark the path
Had the last few months been a fucking show? But nobody could be that good an actress. This was Gianna. Fucking Gianna’s fault.
“We need to go looking for them,” Matteo muttered, as if I didn’t know that.
I glared. “And where do you want to begin? They could be anywhere. They will hardly take their fucking mobiles with them.”
“Might be worth a try anyway,” Romero suggested quietly.
I tried to calm myself and think straight, then gave a tight nod, before I took out my phone and opened the tracking app. And a second later Aria’s cell popped up. Surprise, then relief followed by suspicion shot through me. She was heading out of the city, up north.
“Do you think that’s them?” Matteo peered down at my cell. “They are too clever to keep their phones on them.”
“Perhaps this is a ruse, but it’s all we’ve got right now,” I said. Before Matteo and I headed out to hunt our women, I told Romero, “Call me the moment you’ve got news.”
ARIA
I drove for a long time, first in one direction, then in the other. I was sure they had discovered Sandro by now and knew that Gianna had run off. Would Luca think I’d gone with her? That the words I’d spoken to him had been a lie? I wasn’t sure. My heart ached when I thought about it. Luca wasn’t a man who trusted easily, or at all. But I had his trust. Perhaps not anymore.
I glanced at the clock in the dashboard. Gianna’s flight to Schiphol had left almost one hour ago. I needed to get home. If they’d tracked my mobile, they should have been on the wrong trace by now and not suspect that Gianna had taken a plane. Luca had tried to call me several times. He was probably furious.
I turned the car and headed back to Manhattan, my heartbeat picking up the closer I got to my home.
The moment I entered the underground parking garage, the desk clerk watching everything on his monitors was probably already notifying Luca of my whereabouts.
I took the elevator up to our penthouse. When the doors slid open, Romero was waiting for me. He shook his head, something close to anger on his face. He’d never openly displayed anger toward me. He lifted his cell to his ear but didn’t take his eyes off me.
I didn’t have to ask whom he was calling. I walked past him toward the windows and glanced out. Gianna was on a plane to freedom. She’d be landing in Amsterdam in a few hours, where she’d start a new life. Away from all of this. Away from the mafia and arranged marriages. Away from golden cages and man-made rules.
I hoped Gianna would be clever enough to evade her pursuers, because there was no doubt in my mind that my father would send his men out to catch her. And I had a feeling Matteo wouldn’t let her slip from his fingers that easily either. She would have to find someone who could give her a new identity. In this country, nobody would go against the mafia, except for the Bratva, and contacting them would have put the final nail in our coffins. But most of all I hoped Gianna would find what she was longing for.
“Luca, she’s here,” Romero said finally. “No, alone. Yes. I will.”
Romero came up to me. I glanced over my shoulder at his tall form. “I won’t run. You don’t have to stand two steps behind me to make sure of it,” I said jokingly.
Romero didn’t smile. He took another step closer, closer than he usually came, his brown eyes hardening. “Luca is Capo. And he’s the best there ever was. Because he rules without mercy. Because he rewards those who are loyal. Because he protects those deserving of protection.”
I turned to him fully, stunned by the fierceness of his words and not sure where he was going with them.
“You betrayed him.” He practically spat the words at me.
“I didn’t—”
Romero interrupted me. “You went behind his back and ran off. I don’t care why. In our world that means betrayal and you should know better, Aria.”
I stared up at him, shaken. Was that how Luca saw my actions as well?
“With anyone else, Luca wouldn’t hesitate to deal out harsh punishment. Betrayal means death, torture at the very least. But you are certain you are safe,” he said. He leaned closer, and again I was reminded that the man in front of me was a killer despite his easygoing nature. “Never forget that Luca is still a Capo who needs to keep face in front of his men. Don’t push him too far. Don’t force him into doing something neither of you will recover from.”
I swallowed, glancing down at my bracelet.
In the darkest hour you are my light
Romero wasn’t threatening me as I’d first thought. He was worried. I hadn’t thought it was that big a deal.
No, that wasn’t quite right. I’d suspected how bad it would be if I helped Gianna run, but I couldn’t not help. She was my sister and I loved her.
The door to the guest bedroom opened and Sandro stumbled out, his shirt pulled out of his trousers and crinkly. He looked pale and disoriented. When his eyes settled on me, anger flashed across his face, then he glanced at Romero beside me, and lowered his head. I had wounded his pride, which was the worst shame possible for a Made Man.
“Are you okay?” I asked him, feeling bad for having drugged him, but he wouldn’t have let Gianna and me leave.
He walked toward the sofa and sank down. He leaned back slowly but didn’t say anything.
“Is he hurt?” I asked Romero when it became clear that Sandro was determined to ignore me.