A day before I had to leave for Connecticut, we spent the day naked in bed, exploring each other. We hadn’t talked about what we’d do after I left, which made me a little anxious. I knew he wanted to—he kept dropping hints—but I wasn’t ready to burst our little bubble of happy.
He sighed, and it was a rare moment of seriousness over our break. “My dad called this morning. Apparently, Cristian called my dad, who called me.”
“Is that why you’ve been acting weird all morning?”
“I got another package from The Benefactor. I thought I was done with these packages a while ago. I don’t even know how he found us.”
“What was in the package?”
“The Benefactor wants me to drop Cris and promote someone of their choosing.”
“So, The Benefactor helps you take over the De Luca syndicate, then years later tries to plant someone in your ranks.” I bit my lip. “It sounds like a takeover. Or at least some sort of power play.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. I have this bad feeling that The Benefactor jeopardizes everything I’ve worked to build with the De Luca syndicate. We spent years undoing all the damage my father had done.” He ran a hand across his face. “I can’t really talk it over with Cris. I don’t know how he’d react, and I haven’t been too forthcoming with him about The Benefactor.”
“You can talk to me about it.”
I could tell he didn’t want to, which hurt me, but I understood. I didn’t want to talk about my mom despite his many, many hints. An hour later, Maman called again, and I hit ignore.
Damian eyed my phone. “She’s persistent.”
“I actually like that about her,” I admitted, though I didn’t elaborate on why I was dodging Maman’s calls.
“I need to meet this mom of yours.” Another hint of his.
“We can head to the Hamptons.” He stilled, but I continued, not thinking much of it, “As soon as we’re done representing our families in the city, we can make an overnight trip.”
“Where is she?”
“The Hamptons.”
“Your mom lives in The Hamptons? As in New York?”
“Yup.”
“Do you know any other mafiosos in the Hamptons?”
“No. Just my mom.” I laughed a little. “She made sure of that.”
“The mom you’re close to?”
My brows pressed together. “Yes. You’re acting weird.” I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. Regret laced my words. “She’s my best friend. We tell each other everything.”
Well, except for the fact that I was dating Damian De Luca.
“Is this why you’ve been ignoring your mom’s phone calls? Why you won’t talk about her except surface level bullshit?” He shook his head and backed away from me. “I tracked the packages! You didn’t think I’d find out? You know how much I’ve sacrificed for this syndicate, Renata!”
“Excuse me?” I scrambled after him as he left the bedroom, my mind spinning with no signs of stopping. “What are you talking about? I’m so confused.”
“Nice try, Ren.” His scoff held more disdain than a Westboro picketer. “I get that you’re a Vitali, and the Vitali have secrets, but why wouldn’t you say anything about The Benefactor? We’re supposed to trust each other.”
“Wha—”
We reached the kitchen, and he turned to face me, his eyes so damned hurt. “I told you how much The Benefactor bothers me. You said it yourself. There’s a power play going on. I just didn’t know you were involved.”
“Da—”
“Just so you know, your mom wasn’t as sly as she thought she was. I traced every package back to New York and, later, the Hamptons. I just didn’t know any mafia members lived there.” He raised his brow like I’d kept that info away from him on purpose.
My mind still reeled over his accusations. Namely, Maman being The Benefactor, which was impossible. But also, the way he was so quick to lash out at me for holding back on him, which I hadn’t been. I get that our past was layered with lies, but I thought we’d moved on. Why couldn’t we move on?
I shook my head. “I haven’t lied to you. You have to trust me.”
“I told you to drop your walls. I told you to trust me. But it’s you who couldn’t be trusted.” His words slapped me, and even though my head didn’t whip to the side, my gut did.
I raised my hands, wild gestures as frantic as my thoughts. “This world we’re in? It’s built on lies. There will always be another revelation. One after the next, after the next. We will never find love if we can’t take the leap.”
He turned and entered the pantry. “Look what trust brought my mom.”
“Your dad is sick! A psychopath!”
Gosh, the comparison wasn’t even close.
“Look what trust brought your dad. Does he know his wife schemes behind his back?”
Damian was crazy. Absolutely crazy. There was no way… My mom couldn’t be The Benefactor… But she hadn’t contacted me the entire time Papà exiled me to Devils Ridge. When I tried to talk about it later, tears always brimmed her eyes, and I could never bring myself to press harder.
And Maman was so connected for a Vitali first lady, wasn’t she? Friends with every wife and their powerful husbands. In a secret relationship with Vincent Romano. Married to the head of the freakin’ Vitali. I knew she was smart and held power, but she seemed fragile and unassuming.
What was it she’d told me all those years ago?
… Silent threats do not warn you, ma petite guerrière. They attack, lethal and unapologetic.
What if she was The Benefactor?
I shook my head. Why was I even considering Damian’s conspiracy theories? Maman lived sequestered in the Hamptons. She rarely left her home. How in the world could she be The Benefactor? She would never deceive me like that. She wasn’t that type of person. I refused to believe it. Hell, I’d recently just learned a benefactor even existed!
Damian dug around in a box. Silence slithered between us with the occasional ruffling from within the box.
I broke the silence first. “My mom is not The Benefactor. No way. Just no fucking way that would be possible.” Silence. “You believe me, right?”
I needed Damian to see reason, because Maman… she just couldn’t be The Benefactor. It made no sense. And me and Damian? This was our chance to make it. We couldn’t let our relationship slip by like last time.
Damian’s face told me he didn’t believe me, so I changed my line of reasoning. “My mom and dad never loved each other. It was all a farce. Us? We’re real.” Still, he kept digging, ignoring my words. I was shouting now, grasping at straws, at anything that would erase the past ten minutes. “I sacrificed my happiness for you, Damian! I sacrificed a happy future with you when I left Devils Ridge because I wanted you safe from your asshole father. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
I took a step closer, begging him to even look at me, which he didn’t bother to do. “So, you may have daddy issues, Damian, and that’s okay, but don’t you dare project that onto my mother, me, or our relationship.”
Swallowing back the anger that unhinged me, I lowered my voice. “Don’t you get what a big sacrifice leaving you was for me? I loved you, gave you my virginity, and left after your father threatened me.” Angelo was the enemy. Not Maman. I took another step toward Damian. My heart fractured with each second he ignored me. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Are you really that ungrateful?”
He ignored my words, pulled something out of the box, and showed it to me. A leather-bound book from the Vitali archives. The one my mom controlled. The one no one had access to without her help. Hell, Damian probably didn’t even know what he held.
Recognition lit up my face, followed by a truckload of Denial with a capital “D”.
He must have seen it, because his eyes narrowed, and disgust curled his lips. “What do you know? My dad was right about one thing.”
“What?” I asked out of reflex. I d
idn’t want to hear his answer. I didn’t want to hear any of this.
I trusted Maman.
She wasn’t The Benefactor.
Papà was the bad parent.
Damian stared me down, his voice as hollow as his eyes. “Love doesn’t exist.”
“He’s wrong. Your dad is wrong.” I shook my head. “And if you truly believe that love doesn’t exist, you’re wrong, too.” My mind raced, fracturing as I pictured my future without Damian. “Love exists. It’s real. We have it. You’ll never find what we have with anyone else. If you want to create a family without me for your De Luca throne, and I know you’ll need a family, a farce is what you will settle for. Because you love me, Damian. Anyone else is just a lie.”
I waited for him to wake up.
To see the truth in my words.
He didn’t.
The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.
Leonardo Da Vinci
It was silent as Damian drove me to the airport. I hadn’t brought much with me, just enough things to fit in my backpack. It made leaving all the more painful, like I had nothing to take with me except what I’d come with.
A part of me wanted to cling to Damian like ivy. The other part of me considered that I’d be pushing my luck. If he was remorseful, he didn’t show it. Silent as shadows, we spent the hour drive to his private airstrip bathing in tension.
It wasn’t lost on me that, just as I’d dropped my walls, Damian had built his quicker than a lightning’s flash. I couldn’t blame him. The circumstances didn’t look good. I knew how it felt to have trust issues.
That didn’t mean this didn’t hurt. It also didn’t mean that the hurt and anger didn’t push itself to the forefront of my mind. It did. I brimmed with anger. My fingers shook, and we both were so damned angry, I doubted either of us could form sentences.
At the airstrip, the male flight attendant opened my door for me and led me to the plane’s stairwell. I turned back to see Damian, but he’d already driven away. I knew he needed time, but once you’ve already waited ten years for someone you love, you can’t bring yourself to do it again.
I forced myself to sleep as I settled on the plane. The back of the private plane had been fitted with a small bedroom, and I wondered how often Damian slept in this same bed. The sheets and pillowcases smelled of laundry detergent, but when I peeled the case back, I caught Damian’s scent.
I slept on the bare pillow and woke up two hours later to Damian’s scent. Nostalgia crept into my heart, and despite how angry I was at Damian, I decided I needed to find answers for the both of us. Because what if Maman was The Benefactor? I didn’t believe it, but there were facts I couldn’t ignore.
The stewardess arrived soon after I pressed the call button on the nightstand. She was as perky as I was mad. “How may I help you, ma’am?”
“Ask the pilot to reroute the flight to the Hamptons.” I remembered my manners a beat later. “Please.”
“Of course. Which airstrip?”
“Nob Bay.”
I would go to the Hamptons.
I’d confront Maman.
And when I was done, I’d wipe my hands of heartache.
My heart hurt enough for a lifetime.
I reminded myself that Gaspard, Maman’s majordomo, had done nothing wrong as he reached out for a hug. After returning it half-heartedly, I pulled back. “Is my mother here?”
We stood in the doorway under a massive arch. A set of luggage stood idly near the entrance, and a few staff members brushed past us.
Gaspard nodded and led me to the library, where Maman and I usually spent our time together. “I’ll let her know you’ve come. She’s been missing you, my dear.” His stern look brushed off me. “She’s been sad that you haven’t returned her calls.”
I ignored his words despite the pang they caused. “Where is Mère?” It felt oddly comforting to say ‘Mère’ to someone who understood the difference Mère and Maman. Not comforting enough to erase the discomfort I felt from Damian’s accusations.
“She’s with a guest.” Normally, his French accent drew comfort.
Instead, I just felt sad. “Who?”
He arched a brow but didn’t comment on my barrage of questions and their less-than-polite delivery. “A law enforcement officer.”
“Is she in trouble?”
“No.”
Which meant he either worked for the Vitali or worked for her. “Does this law enforcement officer have a name?”
“Yes.”
“Does he have a law enforcement agency?”
“Yes.”
“But you won’t tell me?”
He didn’t need to. When I told Maman that Ariana De Luca was in the FBI, she hadn’t been surprised. Which meant she’d already known, and the law enforcement officer must have been connected to the FBI. Goodness, how many jars did Maman have her fingers in?
I tried to rack my brain for when my briefing mentioned Ariana. She showed up in Romano territory after the bounty on Niccolaio Andretti’s head was raised. Bodies had dropped. That had to be the catalyst.
“It’s best you bombard your mother with your questions and not me, little one.” Gaspard dipped his head in a small bow. “I’ll let your mom know that you’re here.”
“Gaspard?”
He turned back to face me. “Yes, Renata?”
“Please, leave the door open.”
He nodded, and when he left, I took a seat in front of Maman’s chess set. The porcelain set represented carved memories of my childhood. Weekends at Maman’s, spent begging her to play chess with me.
“Not this set,” she’d tell me before pulling out a different set.
We’d play, and she’d teach me the Vienna game. I’d almost been convinced that her porcelain set was merely decoration, except I’d seen her move the pieces one at a time. Sometimes, a month apart. Sometimes, a year apart.
But today, the dark king stood at a checkmate.
Oh, God.
How could I not have seen this? I loved Maman, but I was her pawn. Literally. Memories flashed into me as I saw them with new eyes, recounting the events that coincided with the chess moves I remembered Maman making.
Maman sent me to Italy as a surprise for Papà’s birthday. Pawn to E4.
I caught Dad cheating on Maman and was sent to Devil’s Ridge. Knight to C3.
Maman helped Damian take over the De Luca syndicate as The Benefactor. Bishop to C4.
Damian and I fell in love, entwining the Vitali with the De Luca. Knight to E5.
A five-million-dollar bounty was placed on Niccolaio Andretti’s head. Queen to H5.
Bodies dropped all over New York as Niccolaio evaded his bounty. Queen to E5.
Ariana appeared in Romano territory. Knight to D6.
Vincent Romano was killed. Knight to B5.
Maman sent me to Romano territory to represent the Vitali at Vince’s funeral. Knight to F7.
Damian and I reconnected as Maman encouraged me to drop my walls. Queen to C7.
What was Knight to D6? And worse, what was the Checkmate?
When I’d seen Maman after running away from De Luca territory, we’d read together. I glanced at the chessboard, but it didn’t strike me that she moved five chess pieces in the year I’d been gone. I hadn’t thought anything of it.
“Renata, darling, it’s lovely to see you!”
My eyes shot up to Maman as she entered the room. She looked as demure as a Catholic nun. I never would have expected this from her.
“Maman.” I forced myself to relax, hoping my face didn’t give anything away.
“Have a seat.” She gestured to the chair in front of her chess set. Fitting. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you here? You’ve been avoiding my phone calls.”
I nodded at the chess set. “What is this?”
“A game. The Vienna opening is quite effective.”
Chills traveled the length of my arms. “You’re a liar, Maman.”
>
Her smile slipped. “I can assure you the Vienna opening is effective. Far more effective than your father’s preferred King’s Gambit.” She reached out, knocked over the dark king, and sent me a serene smile. “Game over.”
“This isn’t just a game, Maman.”
“No, it’s not.”
“All those years ago, you sent me to Italy on purpose. You knew Papà was having an affair, and you knew I’d find out.”
She leaned back in her seat. “Ah, so you’ve figured it out…”
“How are you so calm about this?”
“I didn’t raise an idiot.” Actual pride beamed in her eyes. “I knew you’d figure it out eventually.”
“I don’t know how you did it, but you convinced Papà to send me to De Luca territory.”
How could I have missed this?!
Maman pressed the call button for a butler. “I may have suggested it to his consiglieri.”
Papà’s consiglieri married Maman’s childhood friend. Thanks to that friendship, he’d always had a soft spot for Maman.
“And you’ve been helping the De Luca syndicate. Damian… to what end? Are you trying to take over Damian’s syndicate?” I shook my head. That would never happen. Not even over the dead bodies of every other syndicate. I met Maman’s eyes again. “You’re tethering yourself to the De Luca family by helping them. And through me.”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve just met with someone from the FBI, which has to be connected to Ariana De Luca. But she likely came to L’Oscurità as a result of the bodies dropping after Niccolaio Andretti’s hit raised to five million dollars. How did you pull that off?”
“I had nothing to do with the hit. It was merely a fortuitous event, which moved a few pieces on the board in my favor.”
“But that hit resulted in Vince’s death. How could you do that to him?”
Dark Romance Collection: A Sexy, Dark Bundle Page 19