I kicked my dresser a few times before finally pulling a long-sleeve black tee over my head then grabbing my wallet and cell phone.
One thing I was one hundred percent certain about?
Annie was going to shit a brick that enemy number one was picking her up—which to a masochist like me? Had me smiling the entire drive to the airport.
Chapter Two
Time is too slow for those who wait, Too swift for those who fear, Too long for those who grieve, Too short for those who rejoice, But for those who love, time is eternity. — Henry Van Dyke
Annie
He was late.
I tried to shove every last nerve down into the pit of my stomach and keep it on lockdown.
Almost a full year had passed.
The memories of his words were as new and hurtful today as they had been the day he said them.
But Ash Abandonato could just… rot in hell for all I cared.
That was why I’d left.
Well, it wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but when Chase had found me that day sobbing uncontrollably in the kitchen, nearly ready to collapse against the ground, it had taken everything in me not to rat Ash out.
But Chase knew.
His eyes had left mine and slowly gazed around until they landed on the sliding glass door and the pool house across the way.
“Tell me everything,” he’d rasped.
Then and only then did I find out that I was vetted through the Family because they truly knew everything.
And their only way of protecting me?
Protecting what was going on?
Keep me safe.
I should have known better.
Then again, they’d very carefully kept me alive, and when Chase offered me an out for the next ten months, I’d jumped at the chance. I’d always loved art anyway, and to be able to travel to a foreign country by myself? To be given the type of freedom I’d only ever dreamed of with my own shiny black credit card and the blessing from one of the most powerful men in the states?
I would have kissed his feet then begged to shine his shoes for the rest of my life.
He’d kissed my forehead then.
He’d apologized on his son’s behalf.
And I think a part of Chase died that day, the day he had to carry the sins of his son when he was already too busy carrying the sins of the world—the sins of the Family.
My time in Italy had been incredible.
Studying abroad had been a pipe dream, but now that I was back and ready to finish the last few classes I needed to graduate, I felt deflated.
In Italy, I’d seen myself as brave.
I’d learned to love myself.
I’d learned to put on lipstick, much to the amusement of all the cousins I already missed so much that there was a huge chunk of my heart missing where they were supposed to be.
Whatever preconceived notions I had about living with another mafia family went completely out the window when they hosted a party in my honor upon arrival.
So. Much. Wine.
So much food.
So much laughter.
I swiped at the stray tear on my cheek and quickly put on my black Prada sunglasses—a parting gift from Aunt Sophie.
“Boys who make girls cry, they are not worth your time, Bellissima.” She lifted my chin with her fingertip, slid the black glasses onto my nose, and whispered, “We Italians, we do not let them decide our emotions. We decide for ourselves. And then we raise hell, capire?”
“Capire.” I’d smiled through my tears only to be hugged within an inch of my life and told I was again too skinny and needed to eat.
With a sigh I checked my phone again, where was he?
“Annie!” A familiar voice sounded my name, and just like that, the anxiety lifted as I turned around and laughed at my friend Tank as he jogged toward me.
He was wearing a black beanie; his brown hair had grown out since I’d last seen him, curling near the nape of his neck as his green eyes drank me in, crinkling at the sides. One small dimple made itself known as his megawatt smile fell onto me like a day in the hot sun.
He’d always been like that.
Intense yet warm, in a way that I’d never been able to explain. As he got closer, I noticed the coldness that had started to seep into his eyes—that was what this life did, after all—the mafia life. He’d been recruited by Ash, and now—well now that was who he answered to no matter what.
Now he was in this, whether he liked it or not.
The warmth dissipated as fear replaced it. Fear for my friend and for the uncertain future under such a cruel royal rule.
“Tank.” I grinned and then held out my arms as he pulled me in for a tight hug. He always smelled so good, like a hot guy should smell, though it was almost as if I could still sense the faint hint of blood in the air.
So much had changed since he’d been my savior last year at Eagle Elite University.
Next to the OG bosses, he was the only one who knew everything about me, who basically grew up next door and promised to one day come back and let me ride with him on his white horse.
Too bad it ended up being more black Chevy Impala, but still. In his own way, he’d tried to save me.
But sometimes, the girl had to save herself, and with my newfound freedom, I discovered I preferred that.
Being my own hero.
Straightening my own damn crown.
I was better at it.
Because people let you down.
But me? I was still standing, wasn’t I?
Then again, I’d yet to be put in a position where I’d tested my own theory, but in my daydreams? I was a badass. So what if I couldn’t throw a punch without wanting to cry and nearly hurled when I saw blood?
“Wow, girl.” Tank’s grin was wide. “FaceTime chats did not do you justice.” He reached for my thick chin-length hair and gave it a little tug. Butterflies erupted in my stomach. He’d always been so beautiful. Safe. “It suits you.”
“I was too hot over there.” I lied.
Ash had said my hair was pretty.
The first thing I did overseas was cut it.
His eyes flickered to my mouth briefly, and then he was reaching for my black suitcase, tugging the handle up with one loud click. “Just this one?”
Warmth rushed to my cheeks. “Yeah, thanks, by the way, for picking me up.”
I’d almost lost my nerve when I’d texted him, no idea why, but now I felt nervous around one of my best friends.
Great.
Tank just shrugged. “I figured you’d need reinforcements going back to that hellhole.”
He clenched his teeth and looked away; it looked like he was thinking about killing someone.
I never told him exactly what happened.
But it was Tank.
And he was around all of the Five Families twenty-four seven as both an FBI informant and as a made man.
He could probably make an educated guess that things went horribly wrong the minute I stepped inside Ash’s domain.
Then again, he had problems of his own.
One day he would have to choose.
Right now, he just straddled the line.
He was living with Sergio’s family for the time being since Sergio was one of the ones who had the most experience with the FBI next to Phoenix.
And me?
I was the orphan that got to rely on the charity of the great Abandonato Family. I had to admit, I did miss Luc, Violet, Izzy, and Chase—a lot.
But Ash?
My heart sank.