The Best of Forevers

by Hargrove, A. M.

  “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.” She waggled her brows and held out her hand.

  “Stop it, you wicked flirt,” I said.

  “Don’t stop her. I love it,” Antonio said, taking her hand and kissing it.

  “Aw, he’s a cheeky one, isn’t he?”

  I didn’t dare think of them together. Alessandro’s dad and Emma? Time for a topic change. “Can I open my gift?”

  She eyed Antonio and shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  I tore into the paper like a crazed beast, shredding it to pieces. When I lifted the lid, I gaped in shock. Or maybe horror. Yeah, it was horror, since my future father-in-law was sitting next to me.

  “What do you have there, Piper?” he asked.

  Slamming the lid on the box, I said, “Nothing.”

  “Surely it’s not empty. Show us.”

  With a glare that would murder most humans, I scowled at Emma and lifted the lid again. Inside was a see-through nighty.

  “It’s for your honeymoon. I wasn’t sure if I’d make it to your wedding so I wanted you to have it now.”

  It was scarlet red with bows and rhinestones on it, particularly where certain body parts were.

  “Well, isn’t that, um, interesting,” Antonio said.

  “Go on, love, there’s more.” Emma sat there with an expectant grin. I was hoping for maybe slippers or even a soft robe to cover up this nightmare. No such luck. Under more tissue paper was hidden a few pair of ghastly thongs. One had a rhinestone heart in the front and in the back was a rhinestone string. Ouch. What the hell had she been thinking? “I’m sure your man will love that one,” she said, eyebrows waggling. It dawned on me then that Emma did that a lot—I wondered if her poor brows ever got tired. I went to close the box and she said, “Oh, not yet. Plenty more in there.” I wasn’t sure my heart could stand it. My fingers reached under the paper and sure enough, there were all sorts of things in there.

  “Um, Emma, is this box all for my honeymoon?”

  “Yes, lots of goodies in there. And there’s something for Alessandro too.”

  “I think I’ll wait until later to finish. Is that okay?”

  Her grin collapsed and I wanted to backtrack. Instead, I flicked my head toward Antonio. She instantly brightened and said, “Brilliant idea. I thought you might want to celebrate tonight. How about dinner? Antonio, you up for a bit of sport tonight?”

  “Oh, I don’t—”

  “Yes, you are. You have to. And Tommaso too. We can go to our favorite pub and then back here to eat the cake,” I said.

  “Smashing idea. Let’s go,” Emma agreed.

  We traipsed out the door, and Emma drove us as she chatted non-stop the entire way. She screeched to a halt in a parking spot, and Antonio’s normally golden skin was ghostly pale.

  “You okay?” I asked him.

  “I will be now that I’m out of the car.”

  “Yeah, her driving is a bit scary at first, but you get used to it.”

  During dinner, Emma entertained us with some of her police stories. “One time I went to arrest a man and told him to get out of his car with his hands up. He tried to make excuses and I didn’t know why until finally I ripped his door open and he wasn’t wearing any trousers.”

  “Was he with anyone?” I asked.

  “No. All alone.”

  “What was he doing?”

  “Really, Piper. Do you have to ask?”

  My head hit the table. What the heck was wrong with people?

  “Yeah, I’ve seen it all.”

  Later, the conversation turned to the trial. “It’ll be fast, I’m sure. He doesn’t stand a chance. You identified him and with the abduction, the van tied to him, and the phone, he can’t get free.”

  “I hope so, but won’t believe it until it’s over.”

  That night, I wondered. What if he said it was his word against mine? Emma assured me due to all the evidence that wasn’t possible, and so did the lawyers. But my ridiculous imagination had me freaked nevertheless. Sleep was elusive until Alessandro arrived and that was three days later. I was never so happy to see anyone in my life. The following morning, Antonio, Tommaso, Alessandro, and I traveled to London. My father couldn’t come because of the twins. One of them had gotten sick so he had to remain at home. It was better that way. We’d booked a hotel because we had no idea how long the trial would last.

  * * *

  We sat in the courtroom, Alessandro on one side of me and Antonio on the other. Michael Critchly was brought into a cubicle behind a glass partition. It was different from the courtroom in the states. He glowered at me and I knew if they released him, I was a dead woman. Alessandro squeezed my hand and whispered into my ear, “You’re safe, amore mio. He cannot hurt you here.”

  Emma sat on his other side and nodded. I was in a daze for most of the time, going to my happy place, thinking of when Alessandro and I would be married. My counselor had suggested this when the stress levels reached a ten on the Richter scale, which they had.

  When they called my name, I didn’t hear it. Alessandro nudged me and that’s when it roared into me that this was my chance to prove his guilt. He squeezed my hand and told me I had this. With my head held high and a stiffened spine, I marched to the witness stand. I didn’t dare look at the creep behind the glass. I’d save that for afterward.

  After I was sworn in, the lawyer began questioning me. It was intense but not as intense as the defense team would be. It began with the day I’d agreed to get Sam to come over for dinner. I calmly explained what happened and how I’d received his text. The story went from there to my abduction and subsequent rescue. Nothing was omitted, even the bits of how he’d carved his initials into my skin and the minute details of the injuries I’d sustained. My medical records were submitted as evidence along with photographs of how I appeared when they’d found me. They’d showed me them when we prepared for this, and the jury reacted as we’d hoped they would.

  When the defense attempted to tear down the prosecution’s case, I never cracked. Their leading questions my lawyers had warned me about, didn’t rattle me. Luckily, we’d rehearsed, and I stayed strong—stronger than I believed I could. In the end, the defense never called their client up to the stand. The jury didn’t take long to decide he was guilty. Plump tears of joy streamed down my cheeks as I hugged Alessandro.

  “It’s over, my heart. You will never have to see him again.”

  At those words, I lifted my head and stared into Michael Critchly’s cold-hearted eyes. Then I offered him a smug grin. If we hadn’t been surrounded by all those people, I would’ve flipped him off. Hatred poured from him, and I could only imagine what was running through his sick mind. For all I cared, he could rot in prison for the rest of his useless life.

  “Let’s celebrate tonight at dinner,” Emma said.

  “That’s a brilliant idea,” Alessandro agreed. “Any recommendations?”

  “I know the perfect place.” She named a restaurant and we planned to meet there that evening.

  We left after I thanked my attorneys and went to the hotel. A couple of hours later, we met at the restaurant and for the first time in months, I had a hearty appetite.

  Alessandro and Antonio chose the wine, of course, then ordered appetizers. We had a delicious dinner while Emma entertained us. After a dessert of sticky toffee pudding, Emma said, “This is it then isn’t it?”

  “This is what?” I asked.

  “This is the end. You’re moving back and leaving me.” She bawled like a baby, which shocked me. Emma was always the upbeat one, the one who cheered everyone else up. To see her this sad was not like her. I got up and put my arms around her.

  “Hey, it’s not like I’m going to live on the moon or anything.”

  “You might as well be. You’re moving across the damn pond and I’ll never see you again.”

  “Why would you say that? You’ll definitely see me again. I’m getting married and you’re in my wedding.”

/>   She sniffed, stopped wailing, and stared at me. “I am?”

  “Hell yes, you are. I’d never be getting married if it weren’t for you.”

  “You wouldn’t be?”

  “No!” Then I whispered into her ear, “You were the one who put me up to sleeping with him that night we got drunk.”

  The idiot preened. Next thing I knew, the peacock was running her mouth about that brilliant idea and how her plan had worked like a love charm. Antonio gaped and Alessandro’s brows hiked to the ceiling.

  “Um, Emma, do you think you can keep those thoughts to yourself?”

  She slapped the table. “Ha, it worked, didn’t it?”

  Antonio threw back his head and howled. Alessandro grabbed my thigh and squeezed and I flipped her off.

  “I rescind my bridesmaid offer.”

  She shrugged, saying, “No you don’t. I’ll crash the wedding.”

  My phone buzzed. When I checked it, I saw it was Evan. “It’s Evan calling. He probably wants to congratulate me since I didn’t get to talk to him earlier.”

  “Hey bro,” I said, answering the call.

  “Pipe, listen very carefully. I wanted to call you and not Alessandro.”

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  “Can you casually walk away from the table? Maybe act like you can’t hear?”

  “What? I can’t hear you. Hold on a sec.” To the rest of the table, I said, “I’m having trouble hearing—may be a signal issue. I’ll be right back.” When I was out of earshot, I said to Evan, “Okay, you’re freaking me out.”

  “I wanted to talk to you first. Stay calm.” Those are two words you never want to hear. “Gabriele is missing.” And those are three words I positively didn’t want to hear.

  “Oh no. Oh fuck. What happened?”

  “We’re piecing it together now. His bodyguard went to pick him up from school as usual, but he never came home. Sylvie went to the school to check and they weren’t there. She called and no answer, so she called me. I called the company and Wilson’s phone was offline. They’ve moved in to locate them now.”

  “And? Tell me something, Evan.”

  “I’ve booked you, Alessandro, and Antonio tickets on a flight from Heathrow to JFK tonight. It would take too long to send the jet. Pack up and get to the airport ASAP. A car will pick you up at JFK when you land.”

  “Shit, shit, shit.”

  “The longer you stay on the phone with me, the less time you have in getting to the airport.”

  “Got it. We’ll call on the way.”

  I practically ran back to the table. “We’ve got to go. Now.” I flagged the waiter and he came over immediately. “We need the check. We have to leave. An emergency came up.”

  Everyone at the table stared at me. “I’ll explain later. And Emma, I’ll call you.” She got up and I hugged the pieces out of her, whispering to her, “Gabriele has gone missing.” When I released her, her skin had turned ashen. I shook my head so she knew not to say anything here. “I love you!” Then we left to hail a cab.

  “Are you going to explain all this?” Alessandro asked.

  I took his hand. “Yes. It’s Gabriele. He’s missing.”

  Chapter 50

  Piper

  “Missing? What do you mean?” Alessandro asked.

  “He never came home from school. His bodyguard can’t be located. We have tickets for a flight to JFK tonight that leaves in two hours. That’s what the rush is for.”

  Alessandro shouted to the cabbie, “You need to step on it, faster, please.”

  We dashed up to our rooms, threw our stuff into our bags, and were out the door a few minutes later. Getting to the airport at night was much better than during the day. It took less than thirty minutes. It helped that we told our driver it was a life and death situation. He drove like a maniac.

  We boarded the plane and I called Evan, telling him. “Still no news of him yet. But the police think they may have a lead. They aren’t sharing anything with us, though.”

  Alessandro jerked the phone from my hand. “Evan, if that ex of mine did this, I want her to pay.”

  “Don’t worry, Everyone I know is involved in this. We’ll find him before the night is over. If she had anything to do with this, she’ll never get out of prison.”

  “Sir, may I get you a drink?” the flight attendant asked.

  “Can you bring him and his father over there two, please. And I’ll take one.” I pointed to Antonio since he was behind us. Luckily we were in business class so we were able to get drinks before take-off. I followed her into the galley and it surprised her to see me there.

  “We’ve had a family emergency so we’re all extremely upset. Will there be wi-fi on this flight?”

  “Yes.”

  Thank God. At least we can keep in touch by text then. I went and relayed the news to the men. Alessandro was still on the phone with Evan so he let Evan know as well.

  The flight over wasn’t bad, as flights go, but it was long since we hadn’t received any news of Gabriele. The wi-fi sucked. We all tried to get on, but the satellite connections were horrible. We finally gave up.

  Alessandro was downing drinks, so I told him to slow down on the alcohol. “You don’t want to be drunk when you get off the plane. You won’t be worth a shit.”

  From that point on, he switched to water and his head cleared. But with that came the accompanying anxiety. Clenched fists and white knuckles were true signs. I had to be the strong one, even though I was breaking inside. If they touched a hair on that sweet, innocent little boy’s head, I would find a way to make them pay.

  “We’ll find him. And knowing how smart Gabriele is, I’m sure he’s figured out a way to do something.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about. What if he got away and is out in the dark and cold somewhere. Lost?”

  I hadn’t given that a thought. “He won’t be. He’ll be fine and they’re going to find him. I feel it here.” I pounded my chest.

  Robert, Evan’s faithful driver whom I’d met the previous year, was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived. He’d been a blessing during my mother’s illness so when I saw him, I gave him a hug.

  “Miss Piper, I hope you had a good flight under the circumstances.”

  “Thank you.” I introduced him to my companions, and we were off. Robert expertly navigated the roads and we pulled into Evan and Sylvie’s sooner than expected. Cars were everywhere. Police and black SUVs were parked up and down the street. Alessandro ran inside, not waiting for me or Antonio. I was almost afraid to go in there, for fear of the news. We walked in and Alessandro was on his knees. What the hell happened?

  But then I saw it. His arms were wrapped around Gabriele! They’d found him. I walked up to Evan and punched him in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Then I broke down and sobbed.

  Gabriele ran over to me and said, “Don’t cry, Piper. I’m here.” He hugged me and I cried even harder. It had all been too much. First the trial, then this—me trying to be strong for Alessandro and his father. I wasn’t strong. I was a wimp. Here was a six-year-old comforting me. Wasn’t that ridiculous? It was time to pull my shit together. Alessandro was there too, hugging me. It didn’t help. My eyes turned into a geyser—an unstoppable gush of tears. Sylvie even tried to help. Nothing anyone said did the trick. I hiccupped my way to an ugly end, and they ultimately dried up, leaving me resembling a pufferfish.

  Gabriele pushed a finger under my eye and told me I was squishy and red. “At least you’re not purple though. Wilson is all purple like you were. He even has a purple ear.”

  “Poor Wilson.” He was Gabriele’s bodyguard, and I hated to think of what happened to him. “Where were you?”

  “I went to get ice cream first, then a place where I learned a new game called runny.”

  “Do you mean rummy?”

  “Nope. Runny. I’m real good at that one too. Then I made a picture of Dwizzle.”

  “Dwizzle?”

 
“Yep. He took me to the ice cream place.”

  “Oh. Where was Wilson all this time?”

  “Getting purple, I think. Then we watched a movie called trans something. It’s where cars turn into big people things.”

  “I see.” Everyone was listening to us. “Where’s Dwizzle now?”

  He turned around and pointed to one of the police officers. “I think he took him to get more ice cream. I got pizza instead. But Dwizzle is big and eats a lot.”

  “Did they pick you up after school?”

  “Uh huh. They said Wilson was in the back and he got sick. I think that’s why he was purple. I didn’t get purple though when I got sick.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Piper, was Dwizzle a bad man?”

  “I think the police will know the answer to that.”

  An officer came over and asked more questions. “Do you remember where Dwizzle took you? Was it a house?”

  “Yeah, with a little bed.”

  “Was it far from school?” he asked.

  Gabriele brought his shoulders up to his ears. “I was worried about Wilson. He sounded like his tummy hurt.”

  “Oh? How so?” the officer asked.

  “He made those tummy hurt sounds.”

  “You mean he groaned?” the officer asked.

  “Uh huh.”

  Turned out, Gabriele didn’t know where they took him and they would have to rely on Dwizzle’s answers when they interrogated him.

  Later, when the police came back to talk to us, Dwizzle was really Darryl Gains, a known criminal. He had a record a mile long. They’d confiscated his phone and there were messages and emails connected to someone else, who was anonymous, regarding Gabriele. It would take tracking in order to get to the bottom of it. Unless they got Dwizzle to spill.

  The funny thing about it all was Gabriele didn’t act harmed in any way. He spoke of his day as an adventure. Alessandro was positive Chiara was behind this. But there was no way to prove it at this point.

  * * *

  Two Months Later