“Tonight, I have to go to some stupid party with Ezio, but he’ll be gone all day. Nobody works as much as that man. I heard his brothers are over a couple of his businesses, but I see them far more than I see Ezio.”
“You’re complaining?”
Shakarri didn’t know what she thought of it. She would have liked to get to know Ezio better, but day after day slipped by with her seeing him more often after she had gone to bed and the lights were turned off. Well, it didn’t matter because she wouldn’t be here longer than a year or two if all went well.
She wrinkled her nose as she thought of her plan. Perhaps she should keep things simple. If she secretly went back on the pill, she wouldn’t get pregnant. Then when the time came for her to leave, Ezio might consider her useless and let her go without a fight.
“We could take a day trip up the coast,” Shakarri suggested. “We definitely have to find some shops so I can look like I’m throwing money around. He’ll give me more.”
“You’re spoiled already.” Nay burst out laughing. “I love it. Spoil me too.”
“Girl, you’re a mess. Okay, I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
Shakarri ended the call and walked into her closet to find something to wear. Today, Ezio had chosen a slinky black dress for the party. She would wear it without complaints. The plan was to keep him appeased while she plotted.
A more casual outfit worked for the fun she intended to have with Nay. This Friday was a rare one off for her friend, and they took advantage of it. Shakarri chose a pair of shorts and a simple sleeveless blouse and flat sandals. She wondered briefly what Ezio would think of the boring ensemble and then dismissed him from her mind. He held court there far too much as it was. Today was going to be like old times with Nay before all the drama and changes.
Shakarri strapped her sandals on and recalled one of Ezio’s orders. “Crap.” She picked up the phone on the bedside table, rolling her eyes. “Hello, Goro?”
“Sì, signora.”
She stumbled through the words Ezio taught her. “Um… si può portare la mia macchina? My car.”
“Sì.” He flew off into some additional Italian, and she sat there listening having no clue what he was saying.
“So you’ll bring it?”
“Sì, signora.”
“Grazie. Goodbye.”
She hung up the phone and finished preparing to go. Why she couldn’t just go to the garage and get her own car, who knew. Ezio seemed to like being waited on hand and foot, and he expected her to do the same. She didn’t care as long as she could go and come whenever she pleased. Today she would have as much fun as possible so it could sustain her through the boring party later.
“What do you think of this picture, Sha?”
Shakarri glanced over her friend’s shoulder to the man in the corner of the store. When he caught her looking his way, he pretended to be interested in the vase at his side. Had she seen him at the last store? She couldn’t tell. He had a nondescript quality to him. Not that she was afraid. She was used to men looking, black and white. It went with the territory of being a woman.
“Sha, are you listening to me?”
Shakarri snapped out of her reverie. “Yeah, I’m listening. Don’t you think those fat babies are a bit much?”
Nay laughed. “They’re not fat. Stop being dramatic. And who doesn’t love baby angels?”
“Me. But hey if you like it, have fun. I don’t have to look at it hanging over my sofa.”
Her friend snorted. “You’re cold, Sha. Are you saying you won’t visit me if I buy this piece?”
“No, because then I’d be like my husband. You can do what you want to do.” Shakarri bit her tongue. She hadn’t meant to bring up Ezio. She rushed to take Nay’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I don’t like the vibe.”
“What vibe?” Nay let Shakarri drag her out of the store, but she kept looking back as if she regretted the loss of the picture.
“That thing won’t fit in my car anyway. I’m sure there are other stores around here with infant angels.”
“Rich people are supposed to have an appreciation of art,” Nay complained.
“Says who?” Shakarri teased her some more about her tastes, but half her attention was on looking behind them. She searched for the man who had been in the store, but he was nowhere in sight. They had parked the car in a lot nearby and walked along the strip of shops. Once they found merchandise to buy, they carried it to the car to lock up and returned for more.
Most of it was Nay’s purchases, but Shakarri made sure to buy a few items to keep up appearances. She was still in save money mode from before she married Ezio. She wasn’t worried about someone breaking into the car because the lot was guarded, and the area was for those with money to spend. Common thieves didn’t just wander into the area, which was why Shakarri noticed the man watching them.
“Oh, let’s go there.” Nay pointed to an eclectic shop with all kinds of tie-dye items hanging in the window, from t-shirts to shoes to stuffed animals. “Looks so sixties, doesn’t it?”
“I want that elephant.” Shakarri forgot about the man when she spotted the little stuffed animal. She had a small collection going, and none of it was tie-dye. They entered the store, and she was soon lost in exploring all the interesting finds.
Nay wandered off to gush over some ankle length dresses, while Shakarri squished plushies to her heart’s content. After a good twenty minutes, she decided on four and turned to find her friend to show her. Shakarri almost fell over when she bumped into someone, and a strong hand shot out to steady her.
“Are you okay, miss?” came the deep voice.
“Sorry about that. It was my fault.” She looked up and gasped when she discovered the man who she had seen in the last store. This wasn’t a coincidence. She jerked away from his touch. “I have to find my friend.”
“Wait, this might sound weird, but I think you might have dropped this outside.”
She glared at him and then looked down at the hand he held out. Sure enough, he held her watch. She wore one occasionally as accessory more than anything else. “When did I…?”
He kept holding it out, and Shakarri juggled the stuffed animals in her arms. Her watch shouldn’t have just come off her arm, and she wasn’t so naïve as to think this wasn’t a ploy. As far as she could recall this man hadn’t approached her. Neither had anyone else. No one bumped into her, so he couldn’t have loosened it. Could he? Maybe he could. There were skilled pickpockets out there, who could steal without the victim feeling a thing.
She managed to take the watch and thanked him. He spoke again when she turned away. “Would you like to have a drink with me?”
She relaxed a little. Okay, he was trying to pick her up. “I’m married, and my husband doesn’t like me to have drinks with other men.”
She was pretty sure Ezio didn’t care about the socializing, but this guy didn’t need to know that. He looked disappointed at her rejection. She noted he had nice eyes, hazel with flecks of green. He wasn’t handsome by any means, not with that slight hump in his nose. His build couldn’t touch Ezio’s in a million years, and while he was tall he didn’t have Ezio’s presence.
Hold up. When did every man have to measure up to him?
She rejected thoughts of her husband once again. “Thanks for your help. Have a nice day.”
Shakarri dismissed him, and Nay appeared at her elbow holding up multiple bags. “I got all these. This place is a gold mine.”
“Good grief, girl, did you try on any of it?”
She snapped her fingers. “I know my size. I rarely need to try on anything. Let me hold your keys so I can run to the car. I saw another shop I want to check out.”
Shakarri shook her head. “I can’t keep up with you. If you spend your rent money, don’t come crying to me.”
Nay sucked her teeth. “I’ll just do a bunch of overtime to cover it.”
“Gotta feed your habit.”
She laughed
. “Whatever. Be right back.”
Shakarri wandered around the store a little more then took her purchases to the register. Nay hadn’t returned yet, so she was pretty sure her friend like a little child had gotten caught by the glitz of another store on the way back from the car.
With her stuff paid for, Shakarri left the shop and headed in the direction of the parking lot.
“Mrs. Sartori.” The voice sounded familiar, but before she could turn around, something pressed into her back. “Keep your mouth shut, and you won’t get hurt.”
Fear crawled along her spine. “It was very stupid of you to come out by yourself. Did you think no one would notice?”
She looked up into the face of the man who she assumed had tried to pick her up. All along, he’d known who she was. Fear took root. She swallowed, trying to keep herself from throwing up as the man led her toward a car parked at the curb.
“You’ve got the wrong person,” she said, her voice shaking. Was it a gun he had pressed to her back? Terror kept her from fighting.
He grinned as he unlocked the car door. “Of course. You’re not the new wife of mogul Ezio Sartori. I’ve mixed you up with another couple, huh?”
Her heart sank. The man stuffed her into the car, and she looked around to see if she could spot Nay. Her friend was nowhere in sight. Maybe she should scream for help and leap out of the car before he could get to the driver side.
The man bent down in front of her. One of his hands was inside the pocket of the jacket he wore. She should have noticed it being such a hot day. “He made a stupid mistake in not setting someone up to protect you. It works in my favor.”
She shivered. A couple months ago she was an ordinary woman. No one would think twice about kidnapping her off the street because she was so poor her checking account at the time was in the negative. As Ezio’s wife it was another story. Images of herself lying dead in a gutter somewhere kept popping into her head.
Get a grip, Sha. Just fight. You’ve always taken care of yourself. Do it!
He wiggled his jacket. Something was definitely in there. Fear almost blinded her. Shakarri had a middle class upbringing. She’d never seen a gun in person that wasn’t behind a glass case in a store. Her heart threatened to explode in her chest. This was stuff for the movies.
“Let’s go before your friend comes back.” His grin went from being ingratiating, as it had been in the store, to threatening. Shakarri had to fight. Ezio didn’t love her. He loved his money. He might not pay if there was a ransom. He’d move on to the next wife, who wouldn’t be stupid enough to get herself kidnapped.
She threw her bag in the man’s face and shoved him as hard as she could. He stumbled backward, but he grabbed hold of her, jerking her to him. This time she felt the hard steel in her belly. No mistake about it, he had a gun. She cried out, but he popped her with the back of his hand across the mouth. Her lip cut against her teeth, and she tasted the metallic flavor of blood. Tears flooded her eyes.
“Hey!” someone shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The man shoved her into the car and climbed over her. She heard the jingle of his keys as he struggled to get them into the ignition along with keeping a strong hold on her arm. Shakarri tried to get out of the door, but he yanked her backward and shut it. The engine turned over. She saw her last chance to escape disappearing.
Fight, Sha.
She spun to face him, but the gun was visible now, and he pressed it into her side. “I will shoot you. Try me.”
Her throat dried, and all the fight disappeared. Tears slipped down her cheeks. They pulled into traffic.
“You’re going to be my ticket to a nice comfy life, so just sit back and deal with it.”
“Ezio won’t pay,” she managed around the lump in her throat. “You’re going risk jail for nothing.”
He pressed his foot down hard on the accelerator. “You’d better hope that’s not true because if he doesn’t, I’ll kill you.”
She covered her mouth and cried harder. No amount of trying to convince herself to do something worked. The gun scared the crap out of her. Everyone said they would do this and that, but in the face of such a situation, she felt paralyzed and most of all—alone.
Her abductor managed to leave the busier streets behind and gain a long stretch of road with less traffic. He glanced into the rearview mirror and frowned. “What the heck?”
Shakarri wanted to look too, but she couldn’t get her muscles to cooperate. Maybe someone called the police, and they were in hot pursuit. There could be hope for her escape after all.
The man sped up and cursed. Something bumped the car from behind, and it swerved. Shakarri cried out. Another bump and metal ground against metal. The ditch and a row of trees came hurtling toward them. Shakarri screamed.
Chapter 5
The shaking wouldn’t stop. She wasn’t in any kind of pain because the hospital had doped her up. The aftereffects of the fear took hold, and while she hadn’t broken any bones—a miracle since she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident—her mental faculties had taken all they could handle.
She lay in bed, clutching her pillow like a lifeline because she had refused to stay much longer in the hospital. Ezio had brought her home. He hadn’t said much since he arrived to pick her up, but his face showed a storm of rage. She didn’t know if it was directed at her because of the inconvenience.
The bedroom door opened, and Ezio walked in caring a tray. He set it down on the nightstand and pushed the hair out of her face. She shook even harder. He made a sound in his throat she couldn’t identify. The next thing she knew he had lifted her up and lay down with her on top of him, snuggled in his embrace.
“You’re safe now, Shakarri,” he said in a gruff tone. She couldn’t help clinging to his shirt, wrinkling the material in her fingers. “I’ve fired your bodyguard and made sure he won’t work in his field again.”
She gasped. “My what? I don’t have a bodyguard.”
“I had a man watching over you from the beginning. He was to stay close enough to keep you safe but not so close you would notice.”
This was news to her.
“Needless to say he failed.” The rage she’d seen previously resurfaced. “I should have broken him in two for the risk he took running you off the road.”
She tried to sit up, but Ezio wouldn’t allow her to move. The truth was, she did feel safer in his arms, and the tremors had eased a little. “My bodyguard made us crash?”
“It was the only recourse he felt he had, but he shouldn’t have allowed you to be taken in the first place. From now on, you will know you have a bodyguard because he will be so close to you no one can get near to you.”
She groaned. Before this incident, she would have fought him over having someone watching her. That was probably why he didn’t tell her she had a bodyguard in the first place. Yet, after being kidnapped, she was almost too scared to leave the house again.
She shut her eyes and absorbed the warmth of Ezio’s body and his strength. “He said he was going to use me to get a ransom and that if you didn’t pay he would kill me.” Her voice caught in her throat, and fresh tears spilled onto her cheeks and soaked his shirt.
“Don’t think about it. Something like this will never happen again.”
She sniffled. “But if it did…”
“It won’t.”
She raised her head to look into his eyes. They were stormy as they became when he was angry. She had learned that much and found it interesting. “But if it did…”
“Are you asking me if I would pay?”
She wanted to forget it, but she couldn’t.
“You’re my wife.” He ran a thumb over her lower lip. “I would pay and then make the person sorry he was born.”
Not very loving, but what had she expected? Ezio liked to be the one to manipulate, not the other way around. He pressed her head to his chest again, and she concentrated on relaxing. His hand skimmed her back.
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br /> “Shakarri.” His voice was gentler than she ever remembered hearing it. “I will keep you safe. I don’t want you to be afraid of anyone. No one will ever hurt you again.”
She clung to his shoulders and cried and cried. He held onto her, stroking her back until she calmed down and drifted off to sleep. Sometime later, when she opened her eyes, the light had faded from the room, but Ezio still held her. She squinted up at him, and he lay asleep his breathing deep.
Shakarri watched her husband for a few silent moments. He’d had business to take care of that day and had said he wouldn’t return until just before the party. Yet, after she had been abducted, he had stayed with her the rest of the day. His patience and attempt to comfort her went a long way to calming her down.
Don’t get caught up, Sha.
She sat up on his lap, and his hands shot out to keep her there. Shakarri twisted around to try to see his face. “I’m okay now.”
He sat forward and hugged her tight. Her heart thundered in her chest, but then he released her and set her on her feet. He clicked the light on. “You’re feeling well enough to go out to eat?”
She drew back. “Not the party?”
“No, just dinner with the two of us.” His usual distance was back in place, and she felt like they were two strangers again or acquaintances. The gentleness he displayed earlier was gone.
“That’s fine,” she said. “I’m not very hungry, but it’s better than getting a headache later because so many hours have passed since I ate.”
Ezio was ready before she was and left the room. She walked downstairs a short while later to be greeted by her brothers-in-law. Cason stepped forward at the bottom of the steps and hugged her. “Beautiful Shakarri, I’ll break my brother’s head for letting you get hurt. Tell me you’re all right now.”
She forced a smile. “Thanks, Cason. I’m fine.”
His brother echoed his sentiments, and Shakarri noticed another man she had seen a handful of times and assumed he worked with Ezio at the office. Now that her eyes were open to potential danger, she realized this guy probably wasn’t the business type. He must be Ezio’s bodyguard. He wasn’t always visible, but she bet he never strayed far from Ezio. She could guess that her husband had told him to show himself so she would feel safer when they went out tonight. Ezio wasn’t all bad.
Accepting His Name Page 4
