Becoming her Salvation (Zanetti Famiglia Book 7)

by Hayley Faiman

  Staring at my computer, I watch as the minutes tick by, hating each and every one that takes me closer to six in the evening. Maci doesn’t come in the rest of the day, and I don’t blame her. Kimberly tries to flirt her way around me, but when she discovers that I’m in a bear of a mood, she too leaves me alone.

  It’s well after lunch when my phone notifies me of a new text. Dread fills me at the noise, and I don’t know if it’s because I want it to be my wife or not. The thought of her sending me a sweet text right before I go on a date makes my stomach clench.

  Looking down, I let out a groan because it’s exactly what I didn’t want it to be—it’s fucking cute and from her.

  ROSANA: My first treat!

 

  The picture is of a plate of spaghetti. It’s plain and simple, but it looks delicious.

  LOOKS SO GOOD. CAN’T WAIT TO TASTE IT.

  It’s the truth too. I want to taste every part of her body and everything that she cooks.

  ROSANA: Hurry home tonight! I’ll save you some.

  I’LL TRY.

  The lie is far too easy to type and send. I’ll try. I know it’s bullshit as soon as I type it and yet I send it, anyway. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I decide to get out of the office. I can’t be in here for another minute. I don’t know where I’m going, but I go.

  I just fucking go.

  Chapter Sixteen

  SALVATORE

  Walking around, I waste the next few hours thinking. Rosana feels as though she has nothing to do in life, but she doesn’t realize that her role is about to become very important. She’s going to be a mother.

  She may not want to stay home forever, but having her get a new job, start working just to go on maternity leave isn’t something that I want either. I have a feeling she would have much more disappointment in herself there.

  I’m just trying to protect her.

  At least that’s what I tell myself. In reality, I want her to stay home, to take care of the house, the kids, and me. I’m selfish. There are some parts of the OG famiglia that I don’t mind too much, and that’s one of them—the women never worked.

  The alarm on my phone goes off and I groan, knowing exactly what time it is. Making my way back to my car, I slip into the driver’s seat, gripping the steering wheel tightly before I lift my hand and touch the button to start the engine.

  Fuck.

  Driving toward the restaurant, our restaurant as dubbed by Vanessa, it doesn’t take me long to get there. Parking in the parking lot, I let out a sigh. In reality, I only took her here because it was around the corner from my office and convenient.

  Vanessa has always been just a fuck. Nothing more, nothing less. She knows the score, but she also won’t jeopardize her job because I’ve asked for a favor, not if she isn’t getting something in return. What I’m asking, I’m honestly not sure if an orgasm will be enough compensation.

  The restaurant is abuzz, but I know exactly where Vanessa is seated. She’s in the back, in the corner, in a booth. Without even checking in with the hostess. I don’t need to, they know me here.

  Once I’m at our booth, I sink down in the seat across from her and look up to meet her gaze with my own. Vanessa smiles, licking her lips in an attempt to be sexy. It’s not as if she isn’t. She is sexy, but she’s not my wife.

  “You called me,” she purrs.

  I could beat around the bush, but I don’t. That’s not her style, and it’s not mine. Lifting my hand, I call the waiter over and order Vanessa and I both each a glass of wine. I ask her about her day, even though I could give a fuck. She tells me, even though I can tell, she doesn’t care either.

  Once the waiter appears and drops off our wine, that’s when I decide to ask her what I came here to ask her.

  “I need a sealed file,” I announce.

  Vanessa’s brow arches as she brings her glass to her lips and sucks down a healthy gulp. She sets her glass down on the table and watches me for a moment, licking her lips before she speaks. I lean back in my chair, watching and waiting for her to speak.

  “And I’ll jeopardize my job for you… because I’ve let you inside of me?” she asks.

  Chuckling, I shrug a shoulder. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  “You’re going to have to give me more than that, Salvatore. I need to know why you want this.”

  “Then you’ll give it to me?” I ask.

  She shakes her head once. “Then I’ll think about it, but I doubt I’ll give it to you.”

  Inhaling a deep breath, I let it out on a sigh and shake my head once. “What would I have to do to get my hands on it?” I ask.

  “Subpoena?”

  With a snort, I reach for my own glass and take a healthy drink. Once I’ve swallowed the liquid, I wonder if this was the right thing to do. It doesn’t seem like she’s going to budge on this and I could be home with my wife instead of here with her.

  “Vanessa,” I groan.

  She laughs softly, then reaches across the table and takes my hand, then she pauses, her gaze flicks down to the back of my hand and she gasps. Looking down, I realize that what she sees is my plain, simple wedding band. I’d forgotten about it, forgot I was even wearing it, let alone taken it off.

  “You’re married?” she asks, lifting her gaze to meet mine.

  Looking across the table at her, I shrug a shoulder. “I am. Newly.”

  I can’t lie to her, I won’t. I need those documents, but I won’t lie to her to get them. But will I fuck her? I can’t think about that question, or the answer, mainly because I don’t think that I could live with myself if I really thought about any of it.

  “Why do you really need the files?” she asks on a whisper.

  “Truth?”

  She nods. “The man in question wants to hurt my wife. I am trying to get anything that I can on him.”

  “Why does he want to hurt her?” she asks on a whisper.

  “Because he’s the father of the baby she’s carrying,” I deadpan.

  Vanessa’s eyes bulge, they almost pop out of her head completely. I would think it was funny if this situation wasn’t so serious and downright fucking true. So goddamn true.

  Miguel may be quiet right now, but he is no doubt planning something for Rosana, even while he fucks with Gavino.

  If I thought that Vanessa was a pure and sweet girl, then I would have never asked her to meet me here or asked her for the sealed file. I don’t think that she’s that at all, but I didn’t realize just what she was like.

  I won’t call her devious or deceitful, but she’s not a good little innocent girl either. I’m not going to hold my breath that she’s going to help me after finding out about my situation, about my wife, about this child. I just hope that she has some kind of compassion for the innocent baby that this will affect.

  “I’ll help you,” she announces. “But only if you help me first.”

  ROSANA

  Online classes are the shit.

  I eat far too much pasta, and Valerius moans from the sofa as he holds his belly. “Don’t ever make that shit again, Ana.”

  I laugh, ignoring the Ana nickname and how much I really don’t like it, as I sink down on the chair across from him. “That terrible?” I ask.

  He chuckles, then moans again. “That good. It’s expanding in my stomach. I’m fucking miserable.” Laughing, I moan too, because I’m just as miserable as he is. “Want to play cards or something?” Valerius asks a few moments later.

  “What kind?”

  He shrugs a shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. I need to brush up. Going to the casino in a few weeks.”

  “What are you going to do there?” I ask as I stand and go in search of a few decks of cards.

  I’m a snoop by nature and I found cards in the hall closet a few days ago, but now I can’t remember exactly which cabinet they’re behind. I move things around and reach behind a couple of totes to tug out a couple of decks.

  Valerius chuckles. “Nothi
ng you need to know about, yeah?”

  “Oh, like I don’t know what goes on there?” I ask as I toss a deck of cards toward him. He catches them, giving me a wink.

  We spend the next couple of hours playing cards until my eyes become too heavy to see the numbers and the symbols.

  “I’m going to bed,” I murmur.

  Glancing at the clock, I sigh at the time. It’s well after one in the morning and still no sign or even a text from Salvatore.

  “Sleep well, bella. I’ll be right here.”

  I grab a bottle of water, then slowly make my way up the stairs, gripping the water and my phone in my hand when I do. Slipping into my bedroom, I close and lock the door before I even turn the light on. I don’t know why, it’s not like I think Valerius is going to do anything creepy, maybe it’s just habit at this point.

  Flipping on the light, I take a step toward the bed to set my things down on the nightstand when I notice a figure and freeze.

  There, lying in the center of the bed, the place my husband and I share is Miguel.

  He grins at me, but it’s full of evil intent. I don’t move and I don’t say a word. If I scream, I have no doubt that I will be dead before Valerius can even make his way up here in an attempt to rescue me. Then he would be dead, too.

  “Miguel,” I say.

  He smirks, shaking his hand at his middle, and I glance down to see that he has a gun. Arching a brow, I snort.

  “And what are you doing with that?” I ask, knowing exactly what he wants to do with it.

  “Whatever I need to. Maybe I’ll fuck you with it, shove it up your snatch, let it tear your pussy up, then let you live, knowing that Macchio, or any other man, won’t want that part of you anymore.”

  Pressing my lips together, I attempt to hide my fear, showing indifference and bravado. I’m sure that Miguel sees through it, but maybe not. It’s not like we really knew one another well. A couple months of fucking does not a real relationship make.

  “I’m not sure what you want me to say to that,” I say.

  He shrugs a shoulder. His gaze focused on mine intently. Flicking my gaze up to one of the cameras, I hope that Salvatore can see this because even if something happens to me, I want him to know who did it.

  “Your cameras would be useful had I not paid off the men who installed them and gotten access to everything,” he says with a grin. “Nice to know you don’t hold back when you fuck him. Had I known you were that hot, I might have kept you for myself.”

  “Had you made me come, I might have been hot,” I snap.

  The knee-jerk reaction isn’t my best moment. My cool has disappeared. He has definitely gotten beneath my skin and I know I shouldn’t let him, but he’s there and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to ignore him.

  “Sounds like a challenge, I like a challenge, Rosana.”

  Shaking my head, I take a step backward and run into the closed door. Reaching behind me, I try to scramble and unlock the door, but it’s fruitless. Miguel is too fast. He rushes me, pressing the barrel of the gun against my cheek, his face just centimeters from mine.

  “I like a challenge,” he sneers.

  My entire body jerks and I pinch my eyes closed, knowing that whatever is about to happen next is not going to be pleasant. If I survive this, then I’ll thank my lucky stars, but I’m not that confident.

  Chapter Seventeen

  SALVATORE

  Walking it the front door, I’m not surprised to see Valerius lounging on my couch. He jerks his chin at me as he stands and stretches. He grins as I close the door behind myself and make my way farther into the room.

  “She went upstairs about two hours ago. We played cards for a while, she helped me practice.” He chuckles.

  “Everything good, she ate?” It’s important to me that Rosana eats.

  She is pregnant and even if that child is not biologically mine, she’s my wife and it’s mine. They’re mine. I’m falling for her, I’m not sure if I intended to or not, I am doing it just the same.

  “She ate, and she fed me. That class she took was pretty fucking awesome. She can cook, at least spaghetti.” He smiles.

  Smiling, I shake my head. “Thanks for staying with her, I appreciate it.”

  “No problem, boss. Rosana is a sweet kid.”

  I almost laugh at his description, mainly because she’s the same age as he is. I don’t tell him that, though. If he wants to think of her as a kid, then, by all means, he can think of her as a kid. He lifts his hand, giving me a small wave as he leaves.

  Locking the door behind him, I head to the kitchen and grab a bottle of sparkling water before I head upstairs. Slowly, I make my way upstairs, mainly because I’m avoiding seeing her lying there, looking far too innocent—being far too innocent.

  Pregnant by another man or not, Rosana is innocent.

  Opening the bedroom door, I take a step back when I realize that it’s empty. My eyes haven’t even adjusted to the light, and the feeling of emptiness consumes me immediately. Reaching to the side, I flick the light switch on and I take in the room.

  The bed is made, it hasn’t been slept in. It’s three in the fucking morning and the bed hasn’t been touched? What the fuck? Rushing to the bathroom, I turn the light on and look around as if I expect to see her lounging in the tub. She isn’t.

  Fuck me. What the fuck.

  Taking my phone out of my pocket, I touch the security app. The first thing that I notice is that it’s disarmed. I didn’t do that. When I left this morning, I double-checked that it was armed and haven’t touched it since.

  “Fuck,” I hiss.

  The last alert was over two hours ago. I watch the last one on the roll for the master bedroom. There is nothing in the beginning, then I see it. It’s Miguel’s face in a close-up, smiling, widely. Then it goes dark and there is nothing else.

  That motherfucker.

  Finding Gavino’s number in my phone, I ignore the fact that he is no doubt asleep in bed next to his wife and I call him, anyway. It’s too late, but this is just as much his issue as it is mine. This is me not being able to protect my wife, this is the famiglia not protecting their own.

  “Sal?” he asks, his voice hoarse from sleep.

  “She’s not in our room. I walked in and she’s not here. Then I looked at the security footage. I don’t know how he got in my room, but he made sure to show his face in the camera before he disarmed the system,” I ramble.

  “Slow down,” he murmurs.

  “There’s no slow. I walked in and my fucking wife is gone,” I growl. “With a guard downstairs, she’s fucking gone.”

  There is a moment of silence, a moment where I can only hear my heartbeat in my ears. The blood is rushing, my heart pounding, there is nothing else. Walking over to the bed, I sink down on the side and bury my face in my hand.

  “She’s gone, Vino.”

  “We’ll find her. He’s going to use her for leverage, he won’t hurt her,” he murmurs.

  “Yeah?” I snort. “You sure about that? We gonna find her used and abused to a point of being unrecognizable. My baby gonna be alive when he’s done with her?”

  He doesn’t say anything right away, and I know that I’m being fucking dramatic, but this is my wife. This is my bambola.

  “I will be at your place, shortly. Don’t go anywhere, don’t do anything. I’m bringing Arlo. Call Valerius and get him back there immediately.”

  I do exactly what Gavino instructs. I’ll do whatever anyone says right about now if it means that they’re going to get Rosana back safe and sound. I can only imagine that Miguel has some sick shit in mind for my wife. He can try all he wants, but I’m going to make him suffer tenfold for taking her.

  In a matter of an hour, my condo is full of Made Men, well over a dozen, including Vino, Arlo, and even my new brother-in-law, Massimo.

  “Do you have footage?” Gavino demands.

  Holding my phone out, I show him the last footage that I have of the house before Miguel
disarmed everything.

  “Arlo,” Gavino shouts. “Have a guy take all the surveillance out of the condo, I want it completely disassembled, he doesn’t need access while we’re here.”

  Arlo turns to Valerius and starts to instruct him on what to do and where to go. He jerks his chin and flicks his gaze to me.

  “I watched them install the system. I know where the cameras are. I got this,” he announces.

  “What the fuck do we do now?” I demand.

  I want my wife, and I want her now. I don’t want to wait for a plan. I don’t want to wait for shit. I don’t even want to think about what is happening to her or what could happen to her. All I can envision is her sweet face with tears streaming down her cheeks.

  The longer he has her, the more time he has to hurt her. She needs to be found, and fast. She needs to be right here next to me, where I can protect her.

  My knees tremble with the complete realization that I have done the exact opposite of my intention. All I wanted to do was protect her, keep her and that baby safe. The exact opposite of what I couldn’t give to Abriana, I wanted to give it to Rosana.

  But I can’t.

  I’ve failed.

  Blood from another two lives will be on my hands if something happens to them. This will be another woman and innocent child that I’ve failed. Completely and totally fucking failed. I don’t think I’ll be able to live with myself. I don’t think I’ll be able to face another day if they’re taken from me.

  “Salvatore?” Gavino calls out.

  Jerking my head, I look over to him. “It’s happening again,” I whisper.

  He knows exactly what I’m referring to. He nods his head once, his gaze focused on mine, but he doesn’t speak right away. “We won’t let it happen again,” he grinds out.

  “How will you stop it? He has her.”

  His nostrils flare as he inhales through his nose. “Because I am Gavino Santoro. I’m the fucking boss, and I say it won’t happen again,” he snaps.