Hers to Save

by Talia Ellison

  “Lorenzo was that kind of a man who always wants something in return, and if you had something to offer him, he’d be your best friend. Since nothing my father could offer was of any use to him, and our family business was failing, the only thing Lorenzo was interested in was me. Lorenzo thought your father needed to settle down with someone who wouldn’t want to stop him from continuing and growing the business the way he imagined it, and he didn’t want his son to waste time searching for love. The deal was made, and there wasn’t much your father and I could do about it.”

  “Great. That almost sounds like something Roberto would do.” Except Roberto only wanted to abuse women, and probably wasn’t capable of having a real relationship with anyone.

  “Perhaps, but Roberto isn’t interested in marriages. A rumor has it he was in love once.” Her lips twisted in disgust. “He was young and ready to do anything for that girl, but she rejected his advances. He couldn’t understand how someone didn’t want him and all he had to offer. I suppose he expected girls to fall at his feet wherever he went and when one didn’t...”

  “Let me guess. He decided she would be his at all costs.”

  “Yes.” My mom’s eyes were hard. “He took her by force and realized he liked the feeling, then discarded her to find another girl to satisfy his needs.”

  I ground my teeth together. There were plenty of reasons to finish Roberto once and for all. All we needed was to figure out how. “Enough about him. What happened to that David guy?”

  Her face was solemn. “I thought he was the sweetest guy ever. He told me he loved me and would do anything for me. That was why I wanted to explain to him in person what had happened. I knew he didn’t have enough money to pay off my father’s debts, and there wasn’t anyone who could lend me that much money, so I didn’t really have a choice. I loved my father and I didn’t want anything to happen to him. I expected David to understand that, but instead... he attacked me, said such vile things about me, and even threatened to kill Vincenzo. He said he’d never let me go. I was too shocked to react, because that wasn’t the man I knew for all those months we’d spent together. I couldn’t believe he was capable of such things. Luckily, we’d met in my father’s house, and your father happened to stop by because he wanted to talk to me without our parents hovering over us. He knew when my father wouldn’t be home, and he saved me. I didn’t fall in love with him that day, but with time... it turned out we liked each other and made a great team.”

  “Wow. I just can’t believe you never told me this.”

  “Your father and I never wanted you or your brothers to doubt our love for each other. What does it matter how we met or how we fell in love?” She shrugged.

  “Okay, but at least admit you told me this just so I could realize Aaron might not be the right man for me.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m not a teen anymore, Mom.”

  “I know you’re not, but you never let anyone into your life before, and I understand why. But a blooming love... It doesn’t always let you see things clearly. Later on, when I thought about David, I realized there were signs that should’ve warned me that he wasn’t as sweet and nice as he pretended to be, but I ignored them.” Her eyes held mine. “I don’t want you to make a mistake, because it’s not just about falling for the wrong guy... If you want to be with Aaron, both of you will be in danger, and if you come to realize you were wrong, there might be things that you can’t go back on.”

  “I know. I just... I’ll think about it. I promise.” I flashed her a smile. “I’m going to check if Aaron’s awake.” She nodded, and I headed toward the room where Aaron was being held. It was a small room with barred windows, and the guards were in front of the door at all times. Usually one of my brothers was on guard duty too, and I wondered if they were afraid Aaron would find a way to get past the guards or if they believed I’d order the guards to leave or something. When I reached the door, Jason got in my way.

  “You can’t go in there yet,” he said.

  “I don’t care if Aaron isn’t awake yet. I want to see him.” They must’ve pumped him full of sedatives. If he didn’t wake up soon, I’d have to stay in his room all the time to make sure someone wasn’t re-administering the sedatives so that Aaron wouldn’t be able to talk to me.

  “Oh, he’s awake, but Dad’s talking to him. You’ll be allowed to enter as soon as he’s done.”

  My lips parted in surprise. “What’s going on? Why is Dad talking to Aaron?”

  “Relax, sis.” The amused glint in Jason’s eyes was both worrying and annoying. “Dad promised he wouldn’t kill your lover yet.”

  “Then why are you so happy?” I chewed on the inside of my cheek.

  “No reason.” He shrugged.

  I squinted at him, but he didn’t say anything else. He was probably thinking our father was interrogating Aaron, and the thought made me a little queasy. Crossing my arms, I leaned against the wall across from the door. I could probably bang on the door and insist to see Aaron, but if I wanted to convince my father to listen to me, then I should at least show I trusted him. He’d promised he wouldn’t hurt Aaron.

  The door opened after what seemed like a century, and my father walked out with a serious look on his face. “Princess. I didn’t know you were here.” I pushed myself off the wall and peered through the door at Aaron, who seemed to be in one piece. Jason’s smile faded a little as he looked inside too.

  “Go,” my father said gently, and I went past him. Before he closed the door, he met Aaron’s gaze and Aaron looked away. Just what the hell had they talked about?

  “Aaron!” Every other thought forgotten, I was at his side in two quick strides. Bending down, I captured his mouth with mine. His lips were dry and cracked, but he kissed me back, wincing a little. “I’m sorry!” I drew back. “Didn’t want to hurt you. I just... I missed you so much.” My eyes welled up with tears.

  “I’m fine.” He offered me a small smile. “I missed you too.”

  Someone had propped up the pillows so he could be more comfortable, and his wrists were no longer chained, but his skin was still raw and welted where the chains had been. I glanced at the scar on his wrist and wondered if he’d ever feel comfortable enough to tell me how he’d gotten it. “Do you need anything? I don’t know if my...”

  “No, just...” He squeezed my hand, his blue eyes warm and inviting.

  I pushed a stray strand of his messy black hair off his forehead. “What did my father tell you?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said, and a frown creased my brow.

  “Of course it matters. Did he try to convince you to let me go or something?” My father always wanted what he thought was best for me, but if he couldn’t get me to agree to his plan, then he probably would’ve tried with Aaron instead. “Did he tell you about...?”

  Aaron shifted slightly, his lips pressed together.

  “Are you in pain?” I asked. “I can get you some painkillers...”

  He shook his head, then licked his lips. “Is Marco really here? Is he fine?”

  “Yeah. He’ll want to see you. I just need to convince my family to allow him to come in here.” Even though I’d failed to get them to let Marco out of the dungeon, they’d at least unchained him and provided him with a real bed, blankets, and books to read.

  “Thank you,” he said, “for keeping him safe for me.”

  “You almost died for me. How am I ever supposed to thank you for that?” I placed my hand on his cheek and he closed his eyes, nuzzling my fingers.

  “Your father’s right.” He opened his eyes to look at me. “I’ll go back to my father, and you should go as far as possible from here.”

  I sighed. “No! I’m not letting you do that! If your father knows what you did...”

  “I don’t think he knows that much. He sent his men after you, not after me.”

  “We don’t know that! Maybe they just didn’t know where to find you. And you got shot in front of my house! How the hell are you goin
g to explain that?”

  “Easy. I can say I found out that you played me and wanted revenge. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The shooters couldn’t have seen what I was doing. Or they’ll think I was just running for cover. Hell, maybe they don’t even know I was there if they didn’t look. Your family could’ve found me and shot me when they realized you were attacked. It doesn’t matter. I’ll come up with something.” He lifted his chin.

  “You can’t be that confident. If he knows...”

  “But if he doesn’t, I can wait until I get better, and I can proceed with my plan.” His eyes glinted with determination. “Once my father’s gone, I’ll find you and... if you still want me...”

  “Aaron...” I gave him a pained look. “I can’t just leave you at the mercy of your father. And he’ll want you back ASAP, which means you won’t even have a chance to recover first and prepare for whatever he’s planned. He’ll be at least a bit suspicious, even if he thinks I tricked you.”

  “I can handle that.”

  “I know, but... your father’s a monster. If we stay here and fight him...”

  “Octavia, there’s no easy way to defeat my father, but if I go back, I can find a way. Trust me.”

  “Not if he thinks you betrayed him and were plotting against him. You’re still healing and... Just promise me you won’t make any decisions without me. I don’t want you to get a crazy idea to sneak out of here with my father’s approval and without my knowledge, okay?”

  He nodded.

  “Good.” I planted a soft kiss on his forehead. “I’m going to ask the cook to make you some soup. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

  “I won’t.”

  I looked back at him as I made my way to the door. I’d find a way to deal with Roberto. For Aaron. I had to.

  Chapter 4

  I leaned against the table, then slammed my fist against its wooden surface. The map my brothers had spread across it, with all the possible locations where Roberto could be hiding, was of little help. “Don’t we have any real clues as to where he could be?” I asked Tony, who was furiously typing something on his computer in the corner of the room. He’d been working day and night on a way to help me, and I wondered if he’d even rested. His eyes were always red from staring at the screen.

  “Not really. Roberto uses doubles who pose as him a lot and he’s been in hiding for a while. Your boyfriend hasn’t been very forthcoming. All we have are the locations on the map.”

  My brow furrowed. All Aaron had done was reveal his father’s hideouts, most of which we’d known about. There were some that were new to us, along with the place where he had been holding me, but when my brothers had gone to investigate it, it seemed like Roberto had already moved out.

  Would Aaron try to protect his father from my family? Would he prefer to get to him himself, or did he think my family would kill him if Roberto was gone and there was no opportunity for a trade? I rubbed the back of my neck. This was all so complicated. “We don’t have much time. We need a plan.”

  “We already have one, and it’s good. I don’t know why you oppose it so much. Just think about it. You can leave for a while, enjoy yourself, and once it’s all over, you can come back if you still want that.” Tony looked up at me.

  “We’re not having this conversation again.” I studied the map. “Do you think Roberto expects we’ll return his son to him? Or is he preparing for war? Who says he won’t just start it once he has Aaron?”

  “He knows we don’t want a war, and I bet he doesn’t want it either. And a deal is a deal. If he attacks us even though we honored the agreement, we’ll have the support of all the other crime families around here. Roberto can’t fight us all.”

  “Then why can’t we just get them to help us now? Surely there are people interested in Roberto’s area. We just need something to convince them to side with us.”

  “No, they don’t want to get involved. No one’s going to take any unnecessary risks, and some of them like how things are. They don’t want us, or the Viteris, to get too powerful and go after them. But when someone fails to honor a deal, everything changes. Most of the families would see it as a threat to the established system, because if they did nothing when someone violated one, that would mean any deal they made with anyone could be broken without consequences.” Tony focused his attention back on his computer. “I’m searching for the surveillance cameras I can hack into to see if Roberto pops up anywhere or at least any of the men closest to him. I have some photos of his guards. Maybe you can remember some of the people you’ve seen around him.”

  “Sure. I can take a look.” I straightened my back and rolled my shoulders, which did nothing to alleviate my corded muscles. “Can we lure Roberto out somehow? Make him think he’s going to get Aaron? Would he have to appear in person to get Aaron back?”

  “Yeah, he’ll have to come himself. Dad too. They’ll pick some super-secret location in no one’s area and there will be witnesses. We can’t attack him then because that would make us targets of all the other families.”

  “Right. Keep looking. Maybe we’ll find a way. Our father hasn’t agreed to the deal just yet, right? I mean, it’s not official or whatever it has to be.”

  “No, the deal will be official when they agree to meet. So far it’s just an offer.”

  “Okay. Send those photos you mentioned to my laptop.” I turned on my heel and strode out of the room. There was one more person in this house who might be able to tell us where Roberto could be hiding. As I approached the guards, I waved at them and they opened the door to Marco’s cell for me. Marco was sitting in an old armchair someone had brought in and reading a book. His shoulders were relaxed and he didn’t even look up at me as I approached.

  “Hey,” I said softly and he finally lifted his eyes, but not before he finished the page he’d been reading. “Got an interesting read?”

  “Nope.” Marco quickly shut the book and tucked it behind him, which made me narrow my eyes at him. Just what the hell was he reading that he liked so much and didn’t want me to see?

  “Umm, whatever you say.” I had more important questions than figuring out his favorite genre.

  “You need something? Did something happen to Aaron?” There was a hint of worry in his dark eyes.

  “No, Aaron’s fine, but... his father offered mine a deal, and... Roberto wants Aaron back. We don’t know how much Roberto knows, so... I can’t be the only one concerned about what Roberto could do to him if he knows about his betrayal.” I toyed with a strand of my long hair.

  Marco’s face was serious. “Do you have a better plan?”

  “Not really. I want to go after Roberto and make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone ever again, but we can’t locate him. Aaron told us some of his hiding places, but that hasn’t really been useful. Do you know anything that could help us? You’re a guard. You should know more about security protocols or anything like that.” I gave him a pleading look.

  Marco pressed his lips together and didn’t say anything for a few moments. “Aaron probably told you everything. I wasn’t... Roberto doesn’t trust me that much. The only reason he tolerates me is because of Aaron. If Aaron hadn’t insisted, Roberto would’ve gotten rid of me or at least given me guard duty far away from him.”

  “But you know something, don’t you?” I persisted. “There has to be...”

  “I’m sorry,” Marco said, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I can’t tell you anything without Aaron’s permission. If he wanted to tell your family something, he would’ve done it himself. Unless he gives me an order... I just can’t. You have to understand. My father’s still with Roberto and I know Aaron’s thinking of his safety too. I’d love to help you, but...”

  “I understand.” I didn’t like it, but Marco was loyal to Aaron, so the only thing I could do was talk to Aaron and see if he was more willing to tell me something, rather than my family. “What if we sent you back first? Roberto vaguely mentioned he
wanted you back too. You could report back to Aaron after you figure out what Roberto knows.” Surely Roberto wouldn’t be able to hide his anger if he knew what Aaron had done.

  “It wouldn’t work. Roberto would be even more suspicious about that and he definitely wouldn’t let me come anywhere near him, not even if my father was there. I won’t do anything that might put Aaron’s life at risk.”

  “I know.”

  “Talk to Aaron. He’ll have a plan.” Marco’s eyes met mine. “I wish I could see him.”

  “I tried to convince my father, but...”

  “It’s okay. I know your family sees me as a threat. Thanks for trying.”

  “I’ll talk to Aaron.” I gave Marco a brief nod and headed for the door.

  ***

  No one was in front of Aaron’s room, and my heart skipped a beat. Taking a deep breath, I rushed to the only other place where Aaron could be. After I rounded the corner of the hallway leading to the master bathroom, I saw Dylan and Todd in front of the door.

  “Is Aaron in there?” I asked as I approached them, my voice a bit too high.

  “Yeah, he’s taking a shower,” Todd said.

  “Okay.” I started past them, the tension leaving my shoulders.

  “Where are you going?” Dylan’s eyes widened.

  “To see if he needs help. Besides, I need to talk to him.”

  “Talk, yeah...” Todd drawled, but Dylan cut him an angry look, so he shut up, forcing his face to go serious.

  “You can talk to him later,” Dylan said. “The bathroom’s soundproof. We won’t be able to hear you if he attacks you.”