“I’m so glad to hear it,” I say, sarcasm lacing my words. “Now, can we please get the fuck out of here before your father’s whole army invades? I don’t know how far we’ll get if all we have to hold them off are sutures, gauze, and alcohol.”
Chapter Seven
Aria
I press my lips together and stare out the window at the lights in the distance. The passenger-side window of Vincenzo’s car is cracked a slight bit, enough for the sea air to waft under my nose. A sense of calm washes over me and my eyes drift closed, my memory rewinding to a trip I took with Mama to Nugal Beach in Makarska a few years ago.
My father never bothered to join us. He was always busy, always working. But he made sure we weren’t ever alone and sent my uncle, Nikola, with us on each and every vacation. Nikola’s constant presence hung over us like a dark, ominous cloud, extinguishing every sliver of light in our paths.
He started out as a warning, a threat.
Then he became the promise.
I didn’t know…I didn’t realize what was happening.
A chilling sensation settles deep in my bones as the toxic memories bubble into my conscious.
Tears sting my eyes and I squeeze them shut to keep them from flowing.
Focus, focus…
I remember how the cool, crisp water turned from sea green to turquoise to the most gorgeous sapphire blue as I waded in deeper and deeper. I would stare out at the horizon and never see anything but clear skies and sunlight glittering on top of the waves. It made me feel hopeful, that there was a whole world out there to explore, away from the sadness and the disappointment and the fear.
The sea had always been my source of calm. During the very darkest days, when the end was near, the crashing sound of waves on the shore always helped me center my thoughts and settle my fears.
I take in a deep breath, imagining the warmth of the sand beneath my feet. We were so protected in our little nook on the beach, surrounded by jagged cliffs and the most lush green foliage.
I need a big dose of that ocean therapy right about now because no matter what, I have to keep going.
I have to punish the guilty.
Starting with my father.
He will suffer, the way he made me and Mama suffer for so long.
Oh God, I never wanted to leave the beach. I wanted to stay forever. It gave us a delicious but irritatingly small taste of freedom, freedom we were desperate to grasp any chance we had.
Mama smiled a lot while we were at the beach. At the time, I figured it was because she just needed a break.
I was too young to know the truth.
I swallow hard.
I should have done something!
I could have saved us!
I press my fingertips to my temples.
A shiver flutters through my jacket, an icy sensation snaking through my insides.
But I was young and confused.
Scared to do anything that would hurt my mother.
In an ironic twist of fate, I’m the one who ended up hurting her.
It’s my fault.
I didn’t speak up early enough. I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the dangers looming over us.
I was weak!
I ball my hands into tight fists.
I will never be that girl, ever!
Never fucking again.
“Now might be a good time for you to tell me how you got stabbed.” Vincenzo’s deep, gruff voice jolts me from my tortured thoughts.
He wasted no time rushing me out of the medical facility after I sliced into his uncle’s jugular and now, despite my original plan, I find myself putting trust in a man who claims to know who I am and where I came from.
But he doesn’t.
He has no idea what I’ve lived through, what my past has turned me into, and the horrors that have made me the woman I am today.
He has no idea what I’m going to do next.
And that’s the only reason why I’m sitting in this car.
I need a new plan.
I turn to look at him, his strong jaw illuminated courtesy of the beams of moonlight streaming into the car as we speed down a steep hill toward the shore. He keeps his eyes forward, never once looking at me. I take the opportunity to study his profile. Thick eyelashes over deep-set eyes, a nose that’s slightly crooked and looks to have been broken at least once, full pink lips stretched into a tight line.
He doesn’t look happy.
And rightly so. I just killed his traitorous uncle after he divulged his involvement in a lethal sex trafficking ring.
I bite the inside of my mouth, feeling the inside pocket of my jacket. My fingers brush over the piece of paper I have pinned to the fabric.
I have to make the call. I promised Mama.
But how can I put anyone else in danger? My father knows about Paolo, how could I live with myself if I jeopardized someone else’s life?
I have to figure out my next steps. I’ll go to the villa and once he falls asleep, I’ll steal his keys and get as far away from here as possible.
I’ll finish what I started, but I’ll do it alone.
I’ll make sure nobody else gets hurt…or worse.
This is my war to end.
And win.
I let out a shuddering sigh. “I don’t know you well enough.”
“If the fact that I saved your life twice doesn’t eliminate your trust issues, then maybe this will. I came back for you because I promised my business partner, Paolo Villani, that I’d help him find you and your mother.”
I gasp. “Paolo?”
“Yeah. Paolo. When I found you on the side of the road, I’d just come from his restaurant. He told me you and your mother were in hiding.” He pauses for a second. “Look, Aria. I can help you, but I need to know who and what I’m dealing with. Tell me what happened tonight.”
My pulse throbs against my neck, rage coursing through my veins.
“Foolish girl. You really thought you could save her, Aria? I claimed her years ago and vowed to never let her go. And then you came along,” he sneers. “You took her attention away from me, made her challenge me and question things that were none of her goddamn business! It was because of you that she pulled away and ran, forcing me to stop her!” My father grips my shoulders tight as he shakes me, his pupils dilated to the point where I can barely see the whites of his eyes.
My heart hammers against my chest.
He looks demonic, just like the devil I’d always thought him to be.
Sotona.
“I should have killed you a long time ago,” he hisses. “You’re the reason why she’s dead. You convinced her to run. You begged her to leave!”
“I tried to save her from you because you’re a crazy, psychopathic murderer!” I shriek. “And you know what? She’s better off dead than with you!”
I cover my face with my hands, muffling a cry from deep within my chest.
“Mirko and his men found out where we were hiding. He killed my mother for running away,” I say in a soft voice. “And he tried to kill me for making her leave Croatia.” It wasn’t the only reason. The bigger reason was that I undermined him. I made him out to be the weak one, the one who didn’t see that his own daughter was about to betray him until it was too late.
The silence hangs between us for a few seconds until I hear the concern in his voice.
“I’m sorry,” he says in a gruff voice.
“How did you know who my father was?” I ask, swiping a tear from my eye. I will not cry again, dammit! I will not show weakness! I have to be strong if I’m going to finish what I started. I can’t let Mama down. I can’t let her have died for nothing.
He rubs the back of his neck, expelling a sharp sigh. “My brother-in-law. We’ve both been in this game for a long time, so you get to know all of the key players pretty well.”
“What game?” I say, twisting to narrow my eyes at him. “Are you telling me that you’re involved in that disgusting business, too?”
He pulls the car up to a hidden keypad, stabs a few numbers into it, and the gate creaks open. “Can’t be too safe,” he murmurs. “And no, my family isn’t into the sex trade. Our game is taking out the people who are.”
“So kind of like vigilante justice stuff? Criminals shutting down their far more nefarious enemies?”
“What makes you think I’m a criminal?” Vincenzo accelerates, slowly moving through the property.
A small smile plays at my lips. I know he picked me up next to a rock, but does he really think I crawled out from under it? “Okay, so if your Uncle Sil didn’t completely give it away with his ranting, then your association to Paolo Villani pretty much paints the whole sordid picture. I know how he makes his living. Mama…” My voice catches and I feel a knot of tears tighten in the back of my throat. With a deep breath, I continue. “Mama told me everything. She knew only someone with Paolo’s influence and power would be able to keep us safe and away from my father.” I let out a dry laugh. “Ironic that my father almost took us both out before we were even able to get to Paolo.”
The long driveway is lined with peach trees, and I take in a deep breath. The sweet, fruity scent mixed with the tinge of salt air actually relaxes the tension in my neck, my spine, and my mind.
It smells heavenly, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.
Because pretty soon, I’ll be back into the throes of hell, and who knows how long it’ll be before I claw my way out again?
We pull around the back of a huge, tan stucco home, although it’s big enough to be classified as an estate. Red terracotta roof, lots of archways and tall windows, and plenty of thick foliage around the perimeter.
It’s completely private.
And while you’d think it was just as secure because of his fancy keypad, I know better.
There’s no such thing as security.
It’s a smoke screen.
If someone wants you, they’re going to get to you.
Period.
I clench and unclench my fists.
Sometimes, the only thing you can do is fight back.
I think I’ve already proven that I can…and will.
Vincenzo turns off the ignition and looks at me. “I’ll make sure you get to him, Aria. You’ll be safe here in the meantime.”
“Do you really believe that?” I ask, staring out at the sea in front of me. “That I can ever truly be safe, knowing who is after me? And do you think I could live with the knowledge that whoever helps me will become a target for my father and his men?” I shake my head. “It’s my war, nobody else’s.”
“Paolo wants to help you,” he says, his voice thick. “And so do I.”
“Why?” I snap. There really was no excuse for the sharp tone, but my trust has been broken too many times. Why would he want to get involved with this shit show? “You don’t know me at all! Why would you put so much at risk to help me?” I tug on a strand of my hair. The stress is back, gripping me tight.
So much for the damn peaches.
He leans his head back against the leather seat, his arms slung over the steering wheel. “Because I’ve had to deal with a lot of scumbags like your father over the years, guys who’ve gone after my family and their spouses because we think differently, and because we always win. They don’t like to be challenged and they definitely don’t like us. My brothers and I have taken on the dredge of the earth to keep sex trafficking rings out of our territories. Anytime someone gets too close, we shut them down for good. That’s what my family does. We band together, no matter what. We eliminate the threats to our livelihood.” He rakes a hand through his hair, his head rolling to the side, his dark eyes gleaming in the moonlight. “So why would I risk so much to help you? Because Paolo is like family. And you never turn your back on family.”
“Sorry, that just sounds like a foreign concept to me,” I huff. “Especially after your uncle’s tirade. That fits more into my expectations.”
He pushes open his door and jumps onto the pavement below. “I’m not my uncle,” he grunts. “Sil is…was…a greedy piece of shit who always had his hand out. He’d cut his own mother’s throat for a goddamn nickel.” He pulls open my door and holds out a hand to help me out. I stare at it and grasp his thick fingers, wincing as my foot slips out from under me. I gasp, the wind rushing out of my lungs as a sharp, searing pain blasts down my left side.
I guess those stitches were as suspect as the person who sewed me up.
“Ahh!” I moan, pitching forward and clutching my bandaged wound. I land in Vincenzo’s strong arms with a loud oof! Fuck, that hurts! I bite down hard on my lower lip, tears springing to my eyes because of the intense pain. My eyes open a crack and I stare up at Vincenzo.
There is conflict in those stormy eyes, I can see it right away.
And he’s not trying to hide it, either.
For a few seconds, I lose myself in those pools of the darkest chocolate, forgetting about why I’m in his arms, why I’m bleeding, why, by the grace of God, I’m even alive to experience this pure bliss.
A distraction, that’s what this is.
A sinfully delicious distraction that melts away the anguish, the grief, and the guilt…if only for a moment.
But the spell doesn’t last long. Fairy dust rapidly morphs back into the thickest black cloud and I am, once again, on my own to battle the real-life demons that have made their threats painfully clear.
Reality comes crashing over me like an all-consuming wave.
This bliss, this security…it’s all temporary.
But the nightmare?
That’s forever.
Unless I win the final battle.
Chapter Eight
Vincenzo
I didn’t expect the charge of electricity that zipped through me when Aria fell into my arms.
And I definitely didn’t anticipate that the fire in her blue eyes could sizzle my insides like they’d just been tossed into a frying pan on high heat.
I stare down at her tear-streaked face, her olive skin red and blotchy, her eyes puffy but still fierce as hell. My breath hitches as her lips part the slightest bit and I lift her so that they are inches away from my own.
In that second, everything she’s running from, everything I’m trying so damn hard to protect and preserve, is forgotten.
Consequences.
Yeah, fuck off to those.
I’m not thinking about Villani, Uncle Sil, or Mirko right now.
I can’t focus on anything except Aria.
And that’s dangerous for a lot of people.
With a thundering pulse, I lower my head closer to hers, sinking deeper and deeper into the pools of blue where emotions swirl out of control.
Control.
Shit.
She clears her throat and I recoil.
What in the fuck was that?
“I, um, sorry about that,” Aria whispers. “I guess I slipped.”
“Yeah, well, you know. The running board, it’s uh…” My voice trails off and I look around. It suddenly dawns on me that expensive security system or not, we’re still out in the open, prey for the hunters.
Goddamned full moon. It’s making me feel batshit crazy things that can get both of us killed.
I help Aria to her feet and she cringes, holding a hand to her side.
I furrow my brow. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she rasps. “I definitely did something to my stitches before.” With a lifted eyebrow, she flashes a tiny smirk even though her face is pinched with pain. “Any other nearby relatives in the healthcare business? Preferably ones without the side job of sex trafficking scumbag?”
I chuckle. “Not all the way out here. But I may be able to help.” I snake my arm around her waist and guide her through a landscaped pathway to the back door.
“Because you’re a criminal and you’ve been shot at and stabbed plenty of times in the past, right?”
“Why do you assume I was the one shot and stabbed?” I
ask.
“Was that wrong? I mean, admit it, you’re a little sloppy. I practically had you on your knees back at your uncle’s place. And I came damn close to slicing your throat with that scalpel, too,” she says in a teasing voice.
“In my defense, I was a little distracted. Finding out your uncle is a traitorous bastard can do that.” She clings to me, her body pressed against mine. I move slowly to make sure she doesn’t do any more damage to the stitches, but it’s only a small part of the reason why I’m moving like a goddamn sloth.
The truth is, I want her close.
And not just so I can protect her.
I swallow a groan once that admission resonates, loud and clear in my mind.
Sonofabitch, I’ve become one of my dipshit brothers, fallen right into the trap I’ve warned them about a million times over.
Never give in to emotions.
They cloud your judgment and fuck with your head.
Both of your heads.
I guess it’s in the blood.
And dammit, it’s my job to prevent any more of it from spilling!
I press some numbers into the keypad nestled behind a window shutter and the door automatically creaks open. The lights in the foyer are dimmed, the moonbeams streaming in through the skylights, casting shadows around the interior.
A couple of hours ago, my primary objective was to escape into the solitude of my villa and reflect on how the hell I got myself butt-fucked by Juan Salazar.
Things since then have gone a little off-kilter.
I still need to figure out how to stop that fucker from taking control of our territories.
But right now, it seems as though my priorities have shifted.
I help Aria over to the couch and lower her into the plush cushion. She lets out a relieved breath and leans back against the buttery leather. “Thank God that’s over,” she mutters, cringing as she shifts on the seat.
“I’m going to get a few supplies. I’ll be back.” I rake a hand through my hair. “You want a drink or something? Might take the edge off.”
“Make it a triple. Whatever you’re having.” Her eyes flutter closed, her dark hair framing her face.
Fallen: A Dark Italian Mafia Romance (Men of Mayhem Book 4) Page 6
