She snorted. Of course, he hadn’t followed her in. Why would he press her when there was a neatly laid trap just sitting on the bed, waiting to be sprung? This phone was obviously left here on purpose. She stared at it, feeling like she was looking down the barrel of a gun. Rose was so fucking tired. Her thoughts felt sluggish and, at the same time, too zippy to focus properly. Dante had outplayed her at every turn, and even though she was pretty sure she’d made the right call back at the church, she couldn’t be sure.
She couldn’t be sure of anything anymore.
What motivation could he possibly have for her to call home? She was his prisoner, his captive. Better to keep her isolated until he accomplished whatever he’d set out to do. No matter what Dante said, she didn’t honestly believe he was there for her.
To disrupt her marriage with Romeo Capparelli and send both the Capparelli and Romanov families tailspinning into a war? Definitely.
Because somehow he’d seen her shooting him as foreplay? Absolutely not.
Or…
She barely dared think it, but she wouldn’t get through this by shying away from her deepest thoughts. She took a slow breath and faced the most unrealistic of the options.
That it had felt real for him, too. That maybe he’d gone and fallen for the pared down version of her the same way she’d fallen for the false version of him. How much of what they’d shared was real?
Rose shook her head. Impossible. It didn’t matter if he’d dropped tidbits from his real life during their time together. She’d dug deep into him for the last three months and his mother was dead, and he did have a truly complicated relationship with his uncle. She’d expected the truth to give her some closure, but all she had was more questions.
Better to focus on the here and now, starting with the phone.
Really, Dante had no reason to give her the opportunity to call home. On the other hand, what valid information did she have to give her family even if she called them now? She didn’t know where she was headed or what he intended. He’d no doubt taken precautions to ensure they couldn’t track the phone’s location. Really, he risked nothing by allowing her this. She still didn’t understand why.
Rose picked up the phone. She needed to tell her family that she was alive and pass on what little information she had. All she really knew was that Dante Verducci had kidnapped her.
Sharing that bit of intel would have consequences. Fuck. Everything would have consequences right now, none of them good. The Capparellis were going to be pissed. Papa and Mama would be pissed. She’d wager even her uncles Aiden and Teague would be pissed. She wasn’t as close to them as some of her family members, but she was still half O’Malley, and neither of them would take this kind of attack without wanting to strike back. Family was family, no matter how complicated.
But if she didn’t call?
Her parents would know she’d never run from the wedding on her own power. Romeo, though? She couldn’t be sure. He might accuse them of breaking faith, which would start a rock rolling down a hill that no one could stop. They had to avoid war, no matter the cost. Failing to do so would mean people she cared about ending up dead.
At least if her family and Romeo knew who took her, they could direct their fury at the Verduccis instead of each other. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples. If that were true, though, why was Dante giving her a blatant invitation to call home? Surely he’d want to keep things hush-hush for as long as possible? It was in his best interest to have Romanovs and Capparellis at each other’s throats.
Rose couldn’t afford to make any assumptions at all right now.
She absolutely refused to think about how he carefully cut off her dress and then touched her like… Like she was already his and he had every right to her. The man was out of his goddamn mind if he thought he could just roll in like this after lying to her and giving her mediocre sex for months and act like they could pick up right where they left off.
Jesus, Rose. The thing you should be most furious about is the kidnapping, not the fact that he held back during sex.
She ignored that snide little voice inside her and snatched up the phone. No matter how much time she wasted looking at angles for this, the truth was that she couldn’t let her family worry. She glanced at the door leading to the rest of the plane and, after the barest consideration, dialed Lorelei.
Really, she was the only choice. Sasha, soft sweetheart that she was, would just cry if Rose called her. Anya would spend the entire conversation trying to figure out where she was so she could show up and peel Dante’s skin off while he was still alive. Her parents? They were fierce and savvy and usually able to see all the angles of any given situation, but she couldn’t guarantee that would hold true with one of their daughters in danger.
The year after Rose graduated high school, when Lorelei was a freshman, her sister had skipped school with some fool boy she’d liked. It was a relatively innocent thing; the kind of shit kids did all the time. But she’d turned off her phone.
Mama and Papa lost their damn minds. By the time Lorelei showed up hours later, a hickey on neck and a satisfied expression on her face, not only had their parents marshaled a search party bristling with guns, but they’d had Mama’s family in Boston on standby, too.
Living in a mostly peaceful time hadn’t dulled the memories of the past. Rose knew their history, of course; it was one of the first things she was taught when her parents decided she was old enough to start learning the ropes. But it wasn’t until that day with Lorelei that she realized how deep those scars went…or how badly some of them had healed.
No, she couldn’t trust her parents to be rational right now. Better they get the information secondhand.
With another suspicious glance at the door, she dialed Lorelei’s number from memory. Her sister answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“It’s me.” She spoke in Russian since she was reasonably sure Dante didn’t know the language, so even if he was listening in, it provided some secrecy.
“Rose?” She immediately lowered her voice. “Where are you? We’ve been looking everywhere—”
“Dante Verducci kidnapped me,” she cut in. Rose glanced at the door. She didn’t know how much time she had, and she needed to get the information to her sister. “He took me from the bridal suite minutes after you all left.”
Lorelei sucked in a breath. Rose waited, but her sister didn’t make her wait long. When she spoke again, she’d wrestled her shock and other messy emotions under control. Lorelei always was good in a crisis. “I see.”
Rose wanted to ask how everyone was, but first she needed a better idea of the situation. “How long have I been gone? What’s happening there?”
“A little over six hours. The situation is…tense. Our parents and Romeo organized a search party, but when that didn’t turn up anything, things devolved quickly. Aunt Carrigan had to intervene and suggest everyone take a walk to cool off, but it’s only a bandage. We need you back here, and fast.”
Rose sank to perch on the edge of the bed. It was exactly as she feared. Papa might normally be known for his cool head, but with her missing, both he and Mama would be on edge and not thinking clearly. Romeo was also normally chilled to the bone, but his pride would demand to be compensated for essentially being left at the altar. Shit. “Unfortunately, that’s not going to be an option. I’m on a plane, and I don’t know our destination.”