by Cora Reilly
Liliana twisted in my arm. It was like holding a wiggling cat. She raised her leg and kicked the wall. I stumbled backwards, not having expected that kind of move, and fell to the ground. Liliana was still pressed up against my chest but my grip had loosened. She pushed to her feet before I could grab her and tried to storm past Matteo but he was too quick. He grabbed her wrist, and wrapped an arm around her waist. A moment later she was sprawled out on her back and he was kneeling on her legs and had her hands pinned above her head. I jumped to my feet, not comfortable with what I saw. A fourteen-year-old girl shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t experience these kinds of horrors. Luca headed toward them with a syringe in his hand.
“Don’t hurt her!” Gianna shouted. “Don’t you fucking dare hurt her!”
“I’m trying very hard not to hurt her, but she’s making it difficult. Luca, now!” Matteo growled from his spot on top of Liliana.
Gianna blocked Luca’s way. “What is that?”
“Something that will calm her down,” Matteo said.
“Get out of the fucking way,” Luca said as he brushed past her, knelt beside Liliana and pushed the needle into her arm. She stopped struggling. Matteo released her wrists and straightened. Freed from his hold, Liliana whimpered, curled into a small shivering ball and started to cry. Luca sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, regret on his face.
“I hope you all burn in hell,” Gianna said. She knelt beside her sister and stroked her hair.
The Bratva asshole dared to laugh but Matteo got right into his face. “Shut the fuck up, or I swear I’ll cut your dick into pieces while you watch.”
“Romero, take Liliana into her room and tell the doc to check on her,” Luca ordered.
I nodded. I bent over Liliana, slipped my arms under her petite body and lifted her in my arms.
She pressed her face against my chest and sobbed. It was an image that would haunt me for a long time.
Liliana
I woke to something warm and soft below my body. My mind was sluggish but the memories were clear and focused, more focused than my surroundings when I finally dared to open my eyes. Movement in the corner attracted my attention. Romero leaned against the wall across from me. I quickly did a check of the room I was in. It was a guest bedroom, and I was alone with Romero behind a closed door. Without the lingering effects of whatever Matteo had injected me with earlier, I would have started screaming again. Instead I watched mutely as Romero walked toward me. I wasn’t sure why I’d ever thought of him as harmless, now every move he made screamed danger. When he’d almost reached the bed, I cringed, pressing myself against the pillow. Romero paused, dark eyes softening, but their kindness couldn’t fool me anymore, not after what I’d seen. “It’s okay. You are safe.”
I’d never felt not safe in my life—until now. I wanted my blissful ignorance back. I didn’t say anything.
Romero took a glass of water from the nightstand and held it out to me. My eyes searched the skin of his hands for blood but he must have cleaned them thoroughly. There wasn’t the slightest hint of red, not even between his fingers or under his nails. He probably had a lot of practice cleaning up blood. Bile crept up my throat at the thought.
“You need to drink, kiddo.”
My eyes flew up to his face. “I’m not a kid.”
The ghost of a smile crossed Romero’s face. “Of course not, Liliana.”
I searched his eyes for mockery, for a hint of the darkness that had been there in the basement, but he looked like the good guy I wanted him to be. I sat up and took the glass from him. My hand shook but I managed not to spill water on myself. After two sips I handed the glass back to Romero.
“You can go to your sisters soon, but first Luca wants to have a word with you about what you saw today,” he said calmly.
Fear speared me like a cold blade. I slid out of the bed when someone knocked, and Luca entered a moment later. He closed the door. My eyes darted from him to Romero. I didn’t want to break down like I had before, but I could feel another panic attack pushing through the drugs in my bloodstream. I’d never been alone with them, and after today’s events, it was too much.
“Nobody will hurt you,” Luca said in his deep voice. I tried to believe him. Aria seemed to love him, so he couldn’t be bad, and he hadn’t been down in the basement torturing Russians. I risked another look at Romero, whose eyes rested on me.
I lowered my face. “I know,” I said eventually, which probably sounded as much a lie as it felt. I took a deep breath and leveled my gaze on Luca’s chin. “You wanted to talk to me?”
Luca nodded. He didn’t come closer, nor did Romero. Maybe my fear was plain as day to them. “You can’t tell Aria about what you saw today. She’ll be upset.”
“I won’t tell her,” I promised quickly. I’d never intended to talk to her. I didn’t want to remember the events, much less to tell anyone about them. If I could, I’d wipe my memory clean of them instantly.
Luca and Romero exchanged a look, then Luca opened the door. “You’re much more reasonable than your sister Gianna. You remind me of Aria.”
Somehow his words made me feel like a coward. Not because Aria was. She was brave and so was Gianna, both in their own ways. I felt like a coward because I agreed to keep my silence for selfish reasons, because I wanted to forget, and not because I wanted to protect Aria from the truth. I was pretty sure she could have handled it better than I did.
“You can take her to Gianna, but make sure they don’t walk around the house again,” he said to Romero.
“What about Aria?” I blurted.
Luca tensed. “She’s asleep. You can see her later.” With that he left.
I wrapped my arms around my waist. “Do my parents know what happened?”
“Yes. Your father will pick you up once he’s done with business and then take you back to Chicago. Probably in the morning.” Romero waited but I didn’t move. For some reason my body bristled at the idea of going closer to him, which was ridiculous considering that not too long ago I’d fantasized about kissing him.
He opened the door wide and stepped back. “I’m sure your sister Gianna is eager to see you.”
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to walk in his direction. His body was relaxed and his face kind, and despite the terror and fear still simmering deep in my body, my stomach fluttered lightly as I brushed past him. Maybe it was shock. I couldn’t possibly have a crush on him after today.
CHAPTER TWO
Liliana
Whenever I thought I’d gotten over what had happened last September, something would remind me of that day and my stomach would tie itself into a hard knot. Like today. Gianna and I were on our way to visit Matteo, Aria, and Luca in New York. Father had finally given in and allowed us to leave Chicago again to celebrate my fifteenth birthday. After what happened with the Bratva, he’d kept us on a short leash.
“Are you okay?” Gianna asked quietly when our plane landed, startling me out of my rising nervousness. Only being back in New York and seeing Matteo and Luca again was enough to fill my nose with the sweet stench of fresh blood.
“Yeah,” I said quickly. I wasn’t a little girl anymore who needed her big sisters for protection. “I’m fine.”
The waiting hall of JFK was crowded when Gianna and I stepped through the doors. Aria ran toward us when we’d almost reached them and threw her arms around both of us. “I missed you so much.”
Being reunited with my sister, I couldn’t help but smile. I would have walked straight down into that basement if that meant I could see Aria again.
Aria gave me a once-over. “You’re as tall as me now. I still remember when you didn’t want to go anywhere without holding my hand.”
I quickly looked around, but thankfully nobody was around to overhear her. “Don’t say anything like that when Romero is around. Where is he anyway?” I realized a moment too late how idiotic I sounded, and flushed.
Aria laughed. “He’s probably in his apartmen
t. He got the day off but he’ll work the night.”
I shrugged, but it was too late. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten the blood on Romero’s hands but for some reason I wasn’t as scared of him as I was of Matteo, or even Luca. And I realized just how much they terrified me when we walked toward them. My heart sped up and I could feel a panic attack rising up. I hadn’t had one in weeks, so I fought it desperately.
“The birthday girl,” Matteo said with a smile. How could that charming guy be the same person whom I’d seen covered in blood in the basement?
“Not yet,” I said. I could feel my panic start to abate. In real life Matteo wasn’t as frightening as in my memories. “Unless you have an early present for me.”
“I like the way you think,” Matteo said with a wink. He took my suitcase, then held out his arm. I glanced at Gianna. “Won’t you carry Gianna’s luggage?” I didn’t want Gianna to think I was flirting with her fiancé even though she didn’t seem to like him very much, regardless of the fact that I’d caught them kissing on Aria’s wedding day.
“Luca can take care of it,” Matteo said.
Gianna glared at him before she sent me a smile. “Go on.”
I accepted Matteo’s arm. I wasn’t sure why Gianna despised him so much because it had started before the basement so it wasn’t that. But it wasn’t any of my business and Gianna didn’t talk about her emotions with me anyway. That was what Aria was for. In their minds I was always too young to get it. But I knew more than they thought.
* * *
Fifty minutes later, we arrived at Luca and Aria’s apartment building. I checked my reflection in the mirrors of the elevator, making sure my makeup was in place and I didn’t have anything between my teeth. It had been months since I’d last seen Romero and I wanted to make a good impression. But when we walked into Aria and Luca’s apartment Romero wasn’t there yet. My eyes darted around and eventually Aria leaned toward me, whispering, “Romero will be here soon, don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t looking for him,” I said quickly, but she didn’t buy it. I looked away before she could see my blush.
“Of course,” Aria said with a knowing smile. “He’ll come over around dinnertime to guard us when Matteo and Luca have to leave for business.”
Excitement bubbled up in me, but it was mixed with something queasy and nervous, too. I’d had the occasional nightmare about that night in the basement, not about Romero in particular but I wondered if a live encounter would bring more of the bad stuff up. But that wasn’t even the main reason why I was nervous. So far Romero had always ignored me, well not me, but my flirting. He’d treated me like a kid. Maybe he’d finally show more interest, or any interest at all. After all I was turning fifteen and it wasn’t as if I hadn’t caught many of my father’s soldiers checking me out. Maybe I wasn’t Romero’s type, no matter my age. I didn’t even know if he was dating someone or promised to someone.
During dinner I could tell that Aria and Gianna were exchanging the occasional glance. I wasn’t sure what it meant. Were they talking about me?
The elevator made a bling sound and started its descent to whoever had called it.
“That’s Romero,” Aria said. Luca gave her an odd look but I didn’t react at all, merely nodded as if I didn’t care, but I did, and I was glad for Aria’s warning.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” I said, trying to sound casual. Gianna rolled her eyes. I snatched my purse from the floor and rushed toward the guest bathroom. When I closed the door, I heard the elevator doors slide open. A moment later Romero’s voice rang out. It was deep but not rough. I loved the sound of it.
I faced the mirror and quickly refreshed my makeup and fluffed up my dark blond hair. It wasn’t as bright and pretty as Aria’s and not as eye-catching as Gianna’s red hair but it could have been worse. The others would notice that I’d gone into the bathroom to make myself presentable, my sisters at the very least, but I didn’t care. I wanted to look nice for Romero. Trying to look relaxed, I stepped out of the bathroom. Romero had taken a seat at the table and was loading a plate with the remains of our dessert: tiramisu and panna cotta. He was sitting on the chair right beside mine. I glanced at Aria wondering if she had something to do with it. She merely smiled at me, but Gianna didn’t even bother hiding her amusement. I really hoped she wasn’t going to embarrass me in front of everyone. I strolled over to my chair, hoping I looked grown up and relaxed, but apart from a quick smile Romero didn’t pay me any attention. Disappointment settled heavily in my stomach. I sat down beside him and took a sip of my water, more to have something to do than because I was actually thirsty.
If I’d thought Romero’s obvious disinterest in me was the full extend of my embarrassment today, I was sorely mistaken. Once Matteo and Luca had left for some kind of business meeting, it became obvious that Gianna and Aria were looking for a chance to be alone. They could have just asked me to leave but apparently they needed to get rid of Romero as well. Aria leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Can you distract Romero for a while? It’s important.” I didn’t get the chance to refuse or ask any questions.
“Romero, why don’t you play Scrabble with Lily? She looks like she’s bored out of her mind, and Aria and I need a moment for girl talk,” Gianna said pointedly.
My face burned in shame. Gianna usually knew better than to embarrass me like that. She made it sound like Romero needed to babysit me while she and Aria discussed important stuff.
Romero walked over from the kitchen where he’d been checking his phone and stopped beside me at the dining room table. I could barely look at him. What did he think of me now? I peered up through my lashes. He didn’t look annoyed but that didn’t mean he actually wanted to spend his evening entertaining me. He was a bodyguard, not a babysitter. “Your sister looks like she’d rather spend time with you,” he told Gianna. Then his brown eyes settled on me. “Are you sure you want to play Scrabble with me?” he asked, and I couldn’t help but smile. Few people ever asked what I wanted; even my sisters occasionally forgot that I was a person with her own opinions and wants.
Aria and Gianna gave me a meaningful look. I needed to convince Romero that I wanted it or I’d ruin things for them. “Yes, I really want to play Scrabble with you. I love that game, please?” I said with a bright smile. I didn’t even remember when I’d played it last. Our family had never played board games.
Romero glanced toward my sisters. There was a hint of suspicion on his face. “You could join us,” he said.
“I’d rather play alone with you,” I said in a flirting tone. Gianna winked at me when Romero wasn’t looking. “My sisters hate Scrabble and so does everyone else I know. You are my only hope.”
A grin tugged at Romero’s lips and he nodded. “Alright, but be patient. It’s been a while since I played.”
Playing Scrabble with Romero was actually a whole lot of fun. It was the first time we really spent time alone together. I looked up from the word I’d just put down, debating if I should ask the question that was burning a hole in my stomach. Romero was busy figuring out his next word. His dark brows were drawn together in an adorable way. I wanted to lean across the board and kiss him. “Do you have a girlfriend?” I blurted when I couldn’t hold it in anymore. And then I wanted to die on the spot. Apparently, I didn’t need my sisters to embarrass me. I was doing just fine on my own.
Romero glanced up. There was surprise and amusement on his face. I could feel a blush traveling up my neck. Way to go, Lily. I’d sounded like a moron. “Is that your way of distracting me from the game so you can win?”
I giggled, glad he wasn’t angry with me for asking such a personal question. He returned his attention to the letters in front of him, and my amusement faded when I realized he hadn’t answered my question. Did that mean he had a girlfriend? I couldn’t ask him again without sounding desperate.
I sank deeper into my chair, annoyed. My eyes darted toward the rooftop terrace where my sisters were having their girl talk.
>
Aria and Gianna probably thought I wasn’t sure they were up to something. They thought I was oblivious to everything going on around me. Just because I was flirting with Romero, however, didn’t mean I didn’t notice the secretive looks they shared. I didn’t ask them because I knew they wouldn’t tell me anyway, and I’d feel even more like the fifth wheel. They weren’t doing it to be cruel but it hurt anyway. Aria looked upset over something Gianna had said. I had to resist the urge to go to them and ask them what was going on.
“It’s your turn.”
Romero’s voice made me jump.
I flushed and did a quick scan of the words on the board, but my concentration was frayed.
“Do you want to stop?” Romero asked after a couple of minutes. He sounded like that was something he wanted. He was probably bored out of his mind.
Pushing my disappointment down, I nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to read in my room a bit.” I rose to my feet, hoping my face didn’t give my emotions away, but I needn’t have worried. Romero gave me a distracted smile and picked up his phone to check his messages. I backed away slowly. He didn’t look up again. I needed to figure out a way to get his attention, and not with stupid games.
* * *
Aria had decorated the entire apartment with balloons for my birthday, as if I was a kindergarten kid. I’d thought we might be allowed to head to one of Luca’s clubs but he and even Aria had refused to take me there. The amount of food on the table made it look as if a huge party was planned, but it was only Romero’s two younger sisters and us. Aria had asked him to bring them. I felt like the loser kid without friends who needed her big sister to find friends for her. Maybe I should have stayed in Chicago, then at least I could have spent the day with my friends.
When Romero arrived with his sisters, I put on my brightest smile. “Happy birthday, Liliana,” he said, handing me an envelope. It was a voucher for a bookstore. “Aria said you love to read.”