“Oh my God!” Sophia exclaimed. “You’re sure? You’re sure that guy,” she gestured at the phone in my hand, “was there?”
“I’m positive.”
“But why? Do you know why?”
Sophia’s hands curled into fists. “Does it matter? He had something to do with our parents’ murder. That’s all that’s important.”
“Do you think he had it done? Like, he ordered it?”
Her chin trembled. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
She marched past me.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To fix things. Don’t worry.” She grabbed her suitcases and looked back at me. “I’ll be back soon.”
I straightened up. “Soph! You can’t just leave.”
Her eyes glimmered with tears. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. I promise.”
Without another look at me, she hurried from the apartment.
I stared at the closed door, my knees trembling and my stomach heaving.
I didn’t know which to process first, Moretti’s involvement in my parents’ deaths or Angelo’s betrayal.
Holding onto the top of the couch, I made it to the front and then fell down onto the cushions.
“Oh my God,” I croaked, a dry sob escaping my chest.
Not knowing what to do or where to go, I sat there, frozen solid while the dark grew and pressed in around me.
Angelo
“Paige?”
I looked into the kitchen, then into the dining room. No Paige.
Not in the living room.
Not in her bedroom.
Fear crept into my heart, making it speed up. What if something had happened to her?
I checked my phone to see if she replied to the text I sent when I landed.
There were no new messages. Something was off.
Hitting her name, I called her cell, then held my breath as it rang.
“Damn it,” I muttered when she didn’t answer.
A list of possible disaster scenarios rapidly formed in my mind. Her remembering another traumatic event from the past and suffering a mental breakdown. Her getting hit by a bus on her way out of the office building. Moretti discovering what had been happening between us, getting pissed, and stepping in to take her early.
The last one seemed the least likely, actually. Moretti was subject to codes just like the rest of us. He wouldn’t break a previous pact. Technically, Paige wasn’t yet twenty-five, so she wasn’t yet his.
On my way out the door, I called her office to check if she’d left it at the regular time. The receptionist informed me Paige had, indeed, left at five thirty.
I gritted my teeth and pressed my fist against my lips. I peeked out into traffic, looking for the car I’d just called for.
I was not about to stay calm over this.
Being as wound up as I was for the ride to Paige’s place, I had the driver wait for me out on the sidewalk instead of finding a parking spot. I was at the buzzer in no time, pressing it under my thumb.
“Come on,” I muttered impatiently.
“Hello?” came Paige’s voice over the crackling line.
“Paige!”
She didn’t answer, so I pressed the button to speak again. “Are you all right? I was worried.”
Another long silence. I began to wonder if the device was broken, but then she spoke. “Come on up.”
I was relieved to find her physically all right, but the tension still wouldn’t leave my shoulders. They bunched together as I opened the door and headed up the stairs. I could tell from Paige’s voice. Something had happened.
Her apartment door opened right after I knocked.
But only a crack.
The chain stayed secured, Paige’s face peeking out just below it.
I waited for her to undo the chain upon seeing it was me, but she didn’t.
“I don’t want to see you again.”
It took a few seconds to process her words. “Hold on. What?”
“I think you heard me,” she fiercely said. “I don’t want to see you again. Ever. I’m done with you.”
I sputtered something incoherent before unscrambling my brain and getting ahold of actual words.
“Where is, this coming from? What’s going on? What happened?” I fired each new question at her on top of the last, not waiting for responses.
Her eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t play innocent with me.”
I guffawed. “Paige, I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“You’re just keeping me around while you can. Just for entertainment. Or maybe you’re making sure I don’t bolt. Admit it. When I turn twenty-five, you’ll hand me over to Moretti.”
“Are you serious?”
She said nothing.
“Paige, just let me in and we can talk about this.”
“There’s nothing left to talk about. You’ve had your fun with me so now you can just leave.”
Anger pierced my heart. “Wow. That’s a really awful thing to say, especially after we’ve just spent three weeks together. You know me better than that.”
She blinked fast. Was she trying to push back tears? “I thought I knew you too, but it turns out I don’t. You knew that man in the photo is Moretti, didn’t you?”
“I...” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. “God,” I muttered.
“You can’t even deny it.”
“No, I can’t deny it,” I snapped, louder than I needed to.
A door creaked and I glanced over my right shoulder. A short, older woman came out of her apartment, tote bags in her hands. Her eyes darted in our direction before quickly averting. She turned and went down the hall.
I waited until the woman disappeared to speak again, this time in a lower voice.
“I didn’t want to hurt you. That’s why I didn’t tell you the man was Moretti. It was a lot of information to handle at once. You’d just woken up and remembered that day.”
“I don’t think that’s it. I think you didn’t want me to get too close to the truth.”
“What? What truth are you talking about?”
“You probably knew all along that Moretti had a hand in killing my parents.”
I stared at her, my jaw coming unhinged. Did she really think I was such a bastard? I’d spent the last three weeks opening up to Paige. I let her into my life in a way I never had before with anyone. I hadn’t even meant to. I couldn’t let her go without trying to get her to hear me out. She was just hurt. Confused.
“I only knew once you told me he was there,” I said. “If I’d known before, during a better time, I would have told you.”
She ran her palm across her eyes. “So tell me this, Angelo. When was the next good time coming? Huh? Were you planning to tell me the day of my twenty-fifth birthday, right before I met Moretti? Or were you just not going to tell me at all?”
“You’re not going to Moretti. I’m working on it.”
“It sounds like you weren’t planning to tell me at all.”
“I...”
She shook her head fiercely, her face disappearing from the crack in the doorway.
I pressed my palm against the hallway wall, working to keep my composure. Though Paige was hurt, her accusations were starting to seriously piss me off.
I was putting my neck out for her, doing everything I could to help. I didn’t deserve to be accused of atrocities.
“I was going to tell you. I don’t know when, but of course I was. Can you let me in so we can talk?”
“No. I don’t want to anywhere near me.”
“Fine,” I shouted. “Maybe you’re open your eyes before it’s too late, and see how unreasonable you’re being. I’m here trying to help, and you’re turning me away.”
I waited for her to slam the door in my face, but her eyes brimmed over with tears.
“There’s more I don’t get,” she said. “What does your family have to do with it?” she asked. “Where di
d they stand? They had to have either taken a side or played a role in all this. Were they with my parents or this Moretti guy?”
I straightened up, dropping my hand from the wall. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“Your family could have been involved in my parents’ murders.”
“They weren’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they’re my parents, and I know them.”
“Am I supposed for feel comforted by that? You lied to me! Why should I trust anything you say?”
I didn’t get another word in. Paige slammed the door.
I wanted to break that door down and make Paige listen. Or drag her in my arms to remind her I was on her side. But there was nothing left to say right now. Not now when every instinct told me to get inside by force and make her listen. I needed to get my anger in check, so I left.
“Take me home,” I told the driver as I climbed into the waiting car’s backseat.
The sparkling, multi-colored lights of a city alive after dark spun by the window. I’d spent most of my adult life in New York, and many childhood summers in Atlantic Beach. I had walked in and out of many women’s lives. Paige was the first time I wanted to stay put.
I wasn’t going to let her go this easily.
Still, even if I could get this marriage to Moretti called off, I’d still have to deal with the fact that I lied and betrayed whatever trust she had in me.
My phone rang. Hoping it was Paige, I yanked the phone from my coat pocket. Nope. Dominic’s name lighted up the screen.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Pops agreed to meet with us. Tomorrow.”
“Great.”
He paused. “You don’t sound too excited.”
“I am,” I said. Dominic didn’t need to know what was going on with Paige. I was more interested in why he thought Moretti might have been party to Paige’s parents getting murdered, but Dominic wouldn’t answer that question even if he knew the answer.
“Have you heard from Sophia?” I asked instead.
“Yes. She just flew in from a job.”
“Oh.”
Paige had seen her? Did this have anything to do with Paige’s unexpected turn on me? The only person I could think would clue Paige in to Moretti was her sister.
I pursed my lips. I couldn’t blame Sophia. She was only trying to take care of Paige.
Just like I was.
“I’ll text you the time as soon as I know,” Dominic said.
“Okay. Thanks again.”
“Let’s hope this works out.”
He hung up, leaving my ears buzzing.
Angelo
I considered phoning her for the entire drive to Atlantic Beach the next morning. I even picked up the phone and let my thumb hover over her name a few times. There was no point. Not enough time had passed. Paige couldn’t have gone to bed hating my guts and woken up realizing she had it all wrong.
I didn’t blame her. All the apologies in the world couldn’t prove to her I wasn’t an asshole. Only one thing could prove what I thought about her. I had to get her out of this arranged marriage bullshit. Even if she didn’t let me off the hook.
Taking the familiar route through the neighborhood caused a jab of pain in my chest. The weekend I spent here with Paige was better than just a good time. There may have been some confusing and painful developments, but it felt real.
This chat with Pops had to work.
Getting Dominic on board would help. He was level-headed, not quick to make decisions. Pops trusted him.
The driver got me to the house quickly. I hurried up the driveway, keeping my eyes in front of me. The prize. The end result. Releasing Paige.
Even if getting her out of this meant losing her too.
“Hello?” I yelled into the front hallway. “Pops?”
“In here,” came Dom’s answer.
I followed his voice to the living room.
Pops sat in one of the leather armchairs, one leg folded over the other. His casual demeanor contrasted with Dom’s, who paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, hands clasped behind his back.
I averted my eyes from the photograph that started the rift between me and Paige. The one that brought back her memories.
“Angelo,” Pops greeted me. “How was the drive?”
“Not bad.”
Dominic stopped pacing and looked at me. His jaw twitched.
I went over and gave our father a kiss. Settling onto the couch cushion closest to him, I waiting.
He looked across the room, gazing thoughtfully at a spot on the wall.
I couldn’t just sit there and wait. “Is Mom here?”
“She’s around somewhere.”
Dominic came to take the seat across from me.
Our father looked from him to me. “So, sons… This is an interesting situation.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
“Not too surprising.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“The Bianchi girls. It makes sense that you’d fall for one of them.”
“That’s not what this is about,” I argued.
He lifted his hand in that slight dismissive gesture of his. I shut my mouth.
“Dominic filled me in, but maybe you want to make your own case.”
I eagerly leaned forward. “There’s more than one reason we need to stop this marriage. First of all, Paige doesn’t want it. She knew nothing about this arrangement until a few weeks ago, and it’s destroying her.”
Dominic nodded. “And you’re in love with her.”
I didn’t deny it. Arguing at a time like this was like shooting myself in the foot. Maybe it would help Pops do the right thing.
“There’s more,” I said. “Something big.”
I pointed at the offending photo. “Paige saw that picture. She recognized Moretti in the photo. But she recognized him because he was there the day her parents were killed. She says that Moretti came into the apartment with the guys who gunned down the Bianchi’s.”
My father’s thick eyebrows knit together. “How did she get away? Those thugs don’t leave witnesses.”
“She hid behind a false wall in the closet.”
“I see.” His head tilted back and his eyes roved up to the ceiling. Pops made a habit of drifting off I thought for way too long, so I didn’t wait for him to continue.
“Moretti played a part in the Bianchi’s murders. He was young back then, but who knows? Maybe it was his father who ordered the hit. Paige mentioned that before the shooting started, she heard a loud argument. Maybe Moretti went there thinking he could get something out of Mr. Bianchi, and when he didn’t get what he wanted, they just finished the job to get him out of the way.”
Pops slowly nodded. “It’s possible.”
“They went against code, Dad.”
His head inclined. “They took one of mine…two. I won’t disagree.”
I couldn’t stand his coolness.
“Bianchi worked for you, Pops. He was supposed to have our protection. Moretti had no business touching him, no matter what dealings they had.”
“Yes.”
His dark eyes flicked over to Dominic, who had settled down, but still pensively leaned forward in his chair. “I still can’t figure out how you got your brother convinced to bring this to me. I’m impressed. But son, I can’t help.”
“What?”
“I understand that you care for Paige. I also don’t like that Moretti wants to go through with something this old school. This isn’t Sicily or any part of Italy. This is America. But a deal is a deal. And her life won’t be so bad. She’ll be well taken care of, and won’t have to work another day in her life.”
“That’s not the point! Paige isn’t like that. She’s not looking for anything from anyone.”
“Watch your tone, son,” Pops warned.
“Sorry, Pops, but this should be clear-cut. Moretti wronged us. He needs to pay, not get reward
ed by honoring a ridiculous agreement.”
“You’re emotional. You’re invested. I get it.”
“Are you listening to what I’m saying?”
“You’re biased, son.”
Was my father trying to be stubborn?
I got to my feet and I stomped towards the window.
“You’re really going to let Moretti go through with this? Especially after what he did to the Bianchi’s? He deserves to be put down!”
Pops didn’t move an inch. Dominic rubbed his temples, but said nothing.
“You’re not thinking straight, boy.”
My shoulders squared in retaliation. “I’m the only one willing to face that bastard and make him accountable for what he did.”
“Confronting Moretti will put Paige in danger.”
The tired look on Dominic’s face told me he and Pops pretty much had this exact same conversation before I arrived.
I folded my arms. “And what’s Moretti going to do? What can he do to her or any of us?”
“You know exactly what he could do. You like Paige? Try to help her keep her pulse. He’d go as far as he needs to, just to send a message, to put everyone around on notice that no one gets to interfere in his affairs.”
“Why would he kill Paige is he wants her so much?”
“He may want that woman, but he wants power more, and has no problem with making sacrifices to get it. He can bring serious pain on this family, destroy our connections, and at a time like this, we need all our life lines.”
“You could do the same to him.”
His eyes narrowed. “I won’t. I have no interest in starting a war. Do you really intend on putting your entire family in danger over one woman?”
Something in me wavered, but only for a split second. I would protect them all. Including Paige.
“Think about it, Angelo.”
“If I knew all of this about the Bianchi’s when it happened, I could have done something. Too many years have gone by. Moretti has become too powerful in Europe.”
There might be some other way. Some kind of trade.”
Pops shook his head. “Angelo.”
“He loves money more than anything. Why not try to bargain with him?”
The Billionaire and The Virgin Page 20
