by Monica James
Ella robs me of air but not in a good way. In a way I need it to survive, and that’s dangerous. I need to breathe on my own because that’s all I’m destined to be.
Renata comes out of the library up ahead. When she sees me, her face twists in anger and then fear. I don’t blame her. I was prepared to kill her yesterday. There’s no going back from there. We merely need one another, that’s all. That’s why we’re being civil.
I give her a curt nod as I approach where she stands.
“Where are you going?” she asks, pressing a folder to her chest. I have no idea what’s inside nor do I care.
“Out,” I reply, not bothering to elaborate.
“Will you be back for the party?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have to be!” she almost shouts. But I don’t have time for her theatrics.
“I don’t have to do anything,” I affirm sharply. “Besides, I’m not in the mood for a celebration.”
“Don’t be so selfish! You’ll ruin everything.”
Again, her theatrics are lost on me, but I humor her, nonetheless. “I hardly think my attendance will affect tonight’s proceedings, малышка.”
“Alek…” She grips my forearm, stopping me from walking away from her.
She knows better than to touch me, though, and smartly removes her hand.
“Mother Superior has been good to us. She loves you, and I think she’d be disappointed if you didn’t come. But if you don’t want to, then that’s your choice.”
Laying the guilt trip on me shouldn’t work, but it does.
She’s right. Mother Superior has been my savior time and time again. The least I can do is have a non-alcoholic glass of champagne with her.
“Fine. But I have to go right now.”
She seems almost relieved I said yes, but I don’t bother with deciphering why that is because Santo is waiting.
The roads are clear, and I make it to his house in record time. When I park my SUV and walk toward Santo’s front door, I’m aching with the need to hurt someone. I can’t shake this negativity away. It sticks to me like a second skin.
However, when Santo opens the door, brandy and cigar in hand, I need to rein in my anger because he cannot sense anything is amiss. A jumpy hitman is a careless, paranoid one, and Santo can’t afford any blowback.
So I compose myself with a winner’s smile, just as I’ve trained myself to. “I hope you saved some brandy for me,” I quip lightly, wanting to settle the mood.
Santo laughs, and anyone looking in couldn’t be reproached for thinking this was a casual visit between friends.
He opens the door wide and gestures for me to walk down the hallway toward his office. It’s awfully quiet. I wonder where everyone is.
The moment I enter, I stand in front of his desk with my arms crossed behind my back. I wait for him to direct me. After all, this is his show.
“Brandy?” he asks, closing the door behind him.
“Please.”
He walks to his desk and pours me a glass from the crystal decanter. He passes it to me before waving for me to take a seat.
The moment I sit, he reaches into his desk drawer and retrieves a yellow folder. He takes a seat, sipping his drink. “My apologies this took longer than I anticipated,” he says, tapping his cigar over the ashtray. “Discretion is everything.”
“Of course.” I nod, understanding the hidden message in his words.
“This folder has the power to divide my family, all for a pretty face,” he reveals, and I suddenly realize this is a lot more personal than I thought. “This woman, this bitch, wormed her way into my family with an ulterior motive.
“She knew Frank was the weakest of this family. She played him, and he fell for her charms. They met when she was waitressing at some shithole. But he didn’t care she was penniless. I told him. I told him to be careful and that women like her couldn’t be trusted.
“But he didn’t listen, and now, look where we are. Their meeting wasn’t accidental. I’m sure of it.”
Impassively, I listen to his story, as it’s clear he needs to get this off his chest.
“But I was weak too. I shouldn’t blame Frank because this is my fault as much as it is his,” he confesses, revealing he isn’t looking for her for revenge for his son but rather, himself.
“I’m merely a man, Aleksei. I fell under her spell, and I’m not proud of this fact. She made me believe she loved me, and that I should have my wife…taken care of so she could take her place. She called off the engagement because she said she wanted me. But I soon discovered it was my money that she really loved.
“She stole from this family, not only our riches but our dignity as well. She tricked Frank and me into believing what she felt for us was real. There is no greater threat than the beauty of a woman.
“Frank was merely a pawn for her to lure me into her web. And it worked. I fell for her, and I fell hard.”
Nodding, I lean back in the leather seat and cross my ankle over my knee. “How much did she steal?”
Santo takes a moment, savoring his cigar. “One million dollars.”
I maintain my poker face, but goddamn, no wonder he wants her found.
But the real reason isn’t the money. To this family, that’s merely pocket change. Santo knows this woman has leverage over him. She has the power to destroy his life because his family is everything to him.
This woman guards his dirty secrets, and if she were ever to tell Santo’s wife, Mila, of their affair, it would be the end of the Macrillo family. His kids would side with their mother, seeing as their father fucked their youngest son’s fiancée and allowed her to make off with a million dollars.
Whoever this woman is, I take my hat off to her. She conned one of the most powerful men in Russia. I almost feel bad hunting her down. But with her trade, I get my kingdom back.
What I don’t understand is how a powerful man like Santo can’t find her. Why does he think I’ll have better luck than him?
“There is a reason I asked you to help me with my little…indiscretion,” he states, reading my thoughts. “I know you can be trusted. But I also know you have ties with the orphanage.”
Alarm bells begin to sound.
“Yes, I’m a benefactor,” I calmly reply. This isn’t a secret. Anyone who can read can look this up. But that’s not what he means.
“Let’s not play games, Aleksei. I know you’re close to Mother Superior. I also know you’re able to visit whenever you like.”
“Yes, Mother Superior and I have a mutual respect. What does this have to do with who you’re looking for?” I ask, unsure of what’s going on.
Santo stubs out his cigar before sliding the folder across his desk and offering it to me. Resting my glass on the edge of the desk, I reach for the folder innocently, not realizing my entire world is about to be thrown into disarray.
“Because I believe she is hiding out there, pretending to be someone she’s not,” he divulges just as I open the folder and peer into the eyes of the devil.
There must be some mistake. I’ve surely gone insane, sick in lust and seeing her face wherever I look because there is no way this woman Santo is hunting, this woman who tricked him into falling in love with her, this woman who stole a million dollars from him is Ella.
But as I focus on those supple lips I’ve kissed and those hazel eyes I’ve been lost in since the first moment we met, it’s her.
“I take your silence as you too have fallen under her spell. But don’t be fooled. She’s a temptress. She uses people for her gain and then disposes of them when she’s done,” Santo says, but he has no idea why I feel as if I’ve just swallowed my tongue.
“Her name is Antonella Ricci. But she goes by the name Ella. She’s from Chicago originally. She came to Europe hoping for an adventure, but when she ran out of money, she soon understood her naïve dreams landed her in trouble.”
All I can hear on repeat is her name—Antonella Ricci.
“Cal
l me Ella.”
At least she didn’t lie about one thing because everything else has been a blatant lie.
“Why do you think she’s at the orphanage?” I ask, surprised I can string a sentence together.
“I can’t be too sure as she never ventures outdoors.”
“Sister Arabella behaved quite strangely moments ago when it was her turn to go into town to set up the soup kitchen for the destitute. She refused and was quite unhappy when I insisted she go.”
Mother Superior’s comment now makes sense. Her behavior had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the fact that straying outside the orphanage walls meant she was at risk of being found by Santo.
How stupid I’ve been.
“But my men found her car abandoned not too far from the orphanage, along with the dead body of one Sister Arabella Phillips buried in a shallow grave. Her car was sitting at the bottom of a cliff.”
Bile rises as I clench the folder in my hands.
“I suspect the poor sister also fell victim to the venomous snake and paid with her life. Ella needed a new identity, and what a perfect ruse. No one would suspect her true colors dressed behind a habit.”
All I can do is stare at the picture of the woman I thought I knew, realizing I don’t know her at all.
“Are you all right, Aleksei? You look rather pale.”
Composing myself, I nod, flipping through the rest of the information in the folder. Before me is the life story of the woman who played me for a fool.
“Have you seen her at the orphanage?” he asks, hopeful.
I shatter his dreams with a firm shake of my head.
I need to process this before I decide what to do. Throwing her to the wolves will mean her death. Yes, she lied, but the thought of harm coming to her…my heart constricts at the notion.
On the flip side, Antonella Ricci is a fucking liar. And a murderer.
“Now that you know why I asked you to do this, will you go to the orphanage and look around? I’m certain she is using Sister Arabella’s identity, so she should be easy to find. I would do it, but I’m hardly welcome within those walls.
“Mother Superior won’t think twice if you go and ask.”
And he’s right. That’s why Ella has been safe thus far. She is somewhere Santo can’t get to her, and I suspect she is merely biding her time until she sees an opportunity to leave.
An epiphany hits, and I realize that I’m that opportunity.
She needs protection and what better way to gain that protection than by fooling me into believing she has feelings for me. I was just a pawn—her get out of jail free card.
She guessed I’d see her as a challenge and her sisterhood a conquest for me to conquer. And I fell for her lies. She had no qualms about breaking her vows because she isn’t a real sister. She murdered the real Arabella Phillips and stole her identity to save her own skin.
She knew about me, and just as she did with Santo, I have no doubt she studied me like a lab rat. The mystery of the missing paperwork from Mother Superior’s desk is now solved. She was looking for a way out with someone who had money and power.
I may not be who I once was, but with a simple Google search, she would find the notoriety linked to my name.
“I’ll make you a deal,” Santo says coolly. “I’m so certain that she is there, but if she’s not, I will still help you find your brother and help you work your way back to the top.”
This confirms he knows her whereabouts. He just needs someone to retrieve her. I could lie and say that she’s not, but sooner or later, he will storm the orphanage and destroy anyone who stands in his way.
The sisters, the children, and Mother Superior are all at risk with her being there. I don’t have a choice.
“I’ll be in touch shortly. Let me work on Mother Superior as I can’t drag her from the orphanage, kicking and screaming.” When he cocks his head to the side, I elaborate. “You want me to be discreet, correct?”
He nods in understanding.
“I will deliver her to you, just give me some time. We need to be smart about this.”
He clearly doesn’t know I’m currently residing at the orphanage, so this gives me an advantage. A small one but an advantage, nonetheless.
“Yes, you’re right. I knew you were the right man for the job. This bitch’s demise will be beneficial to us both, my friend.”
Slamming the folder shut, I stand, hinting I’m done with this conversation. “I will call you with any developments.”
If Santo senses my strange behavior, he doesn’t address it. I have something he wants, and he’s willing to overlook it because that’s how badly he wants Ella.
“My wife and sons are away for a few days, so I’d like this settled before their return.” His flippant approach about ending Ella’s life has me wanting to jump over his desk and throttling him.
But I simply nod. “Of course.”
A few days? That’s all I have to decide what to do.
Needing to leave this instant, I bid Santo farewell and find my own way out.
The fresh air does nothing to calm this raging inferno inside me, but I keep my cool, knowing my movements are being watched as I step into my SUV and start the engine. Once I’m in drive, I cruise down the driveway, adjusting the radio until I find a station playing Beethoven.
My psyche is in sync with the intense orchestra, moments away from exploding into the jolted rhythm as I turn out of Santo’s driveway and make a right onto the quiet street. For minutes, I drive on autopilot, attempting to process what I’ve just uncovered.
But as the powerful music crescendos, so does my need to hurt someone and hurt them really bad.
“I fell…in love when I shouldn’t have.”
“Because he was a very, very bad man.”
Over and over, I hear Ella’s words, feeling nothing but a fool now that I know who she’s speaking about. Fell in love? With who precisely? Santo? Or his son?
Gripping the steering wheel, I clench my jaw as waves of anger overwhelm me. How could I have been so stupid? Both Renata and Ella fooled me. I thought I was breaking them, but in reality, both women were playing me at my own game.
The folder sits on the seat beside me, my stupidity staring back at me. All the information I need is within reach, and all I want to do is throw it out the window and forget I ever met with Santo. I don’t want to believe him.
Taking a hard left, I pull over to the curb, ignoring the annoyed horn honks of whoever I just pissed off. Reaching for the folder, I rest it against the steering wheel and open it slowly. When I see Ella’s picture, a sharp pain tugs at my heart.
She’s in a red cocktail dress, smiling seductively at whoever is behind the camera. Her hair is pulled up into an elaborate bun, and her perfectly applied makeup gives her face a runway glow, but beneath all this, there is no doubt it’s her.
With or without the jewels and makeup, she is a goddess, a goddess who played me for a fool. I trace my finger over her red lips, remembering how good they felt pressed to mine. But it was all lies.
Flipping through the rest of the information, I see Santo has compiled everything on her—bank account statements, information on where she used to live, used to work, and the friends she went to college with.
It seems she was telling me the truth about her family. Her parents divorced when she was eight. Her father is estranged. And her mother remarried, creating a second, better family and forgetting about her first.
Twenty minutes later, I know everything there is to know about Antonella Ricci, but I only wish the information had come from her. That she’d trusted me enough to tell me the truth because what I’m forced to do could have been avoided.
But now, I can’t trust her, and if you don’t have trust, all you have is a warm body with a pretty face. There is no connection, no bond between us. She can be replaced.
With a sigh, I toss the folder onto the passenger seat and head for the orphanage.
I take t
he long way, wishing to prolong the inevitable. But there is no escaping what must be done. If she killed a sister, then she will be dealt with accordingly. I’m in no position to throw stones, but I’m really trying to be a different person. Someone like Ella, who is as morally corrupt as I am, will ruin any progress I’ve made.
Eventually, I will slip back into old patterns because it’s so much easier being bad and not caring than it is to be good.
The orphanage looms ahead, but I drive through the back entrance and park my car. Rolling the folder, I clutch it tight in my palm and make my way toward the door. It’s unlocked, which angers me. Now more than ever, we need to be on top of security.
My conscience screams at me that if I’m going to hand Ella over to Santo, then why should it matter? I tell my conscience to go to hell.
“Where have you been?” Sister Yali whispers in a panic, grabbing my wrist and pulling me through the door.
“I was just running some errands,” I reply, tucking the rolled-up folder into my back pocket.
“You have to stall Mother Superior,” she reveals in a rushed breath.
“Why?”
“Because we’re still waiting on her cake, and she can’t go into the dining hall. It’ll ruin the surprise. She already senses something is going on with the sisters running around in a panic.”
Stalling Mother Superior is the last thing I want to do as I know she will see straight through me, but saying no to Sister Yali would be like kicking a puppy.
So, I sigh. “Okay, fine. Where is she?”
Sister Yali claps happily. “Sister Margaret is holding her prisoner in the infirmary, claiming she has a migraine. But she’ll only buy that story for so long.”
The effort the sisters are going to have me walking down the hallway in surrender.
“Twenty minutes, tops,” she calls out, and I just nod.
The moment I walk into the infirmary, Mother Superior looks at the door, hopeful someone will explain what is going on. That person isn’t me. “Sister Margaret, if you’re feeling okay, Sister Yali wants to see you.”
Sister Margaret is lying on a bed with a damp white cloth over her forehead. Mother Superior sits by her bedside with a crossword book in her lap.
