“No,” she says in a small voice.
I peek over my shoulder to see her staring at a thin gold bracelet on her wrist. There’s a wistful look in her eyes and I can see her eyes brimming with tears as she raises her gaze up to me.
Julia holds up her right arm, pointing at the bracelet. “This was my mother’s,” she whispers, a sad smile on her face. “She gave it to me before my first concert, told me that whenever I wore it and she wasn’t in the audience, at least she’d be on my wrist.” Julia tucks her hair behind her ears. “I always wear it on my playing arm, so she’s along for the ride.” She lets out a sniffly chuckle and my heart aches for her loss.
It makes the moments that she finds a reason to smile that much more precious.
“You know,” she continues. “I still feel like this is just a really long and drawn-out bad dream. I’ve pretty much lost over a week of my life because I’ve been in a drug-induced fog for most of it. It all feels so surreal, like people are telling me what’s happened…happening…but it just doesn’t feel right. That’s why I need to see my father so badly, no matter how dangerous or stupid it may be to put myself out there. I think it will help me deal with everything. Move forward with whatever comes next. Give me closure,” she murmurs, toying with the bracelet. “Does that make sense?”
I nod. “Yeah,” I say in a low voice. “I get it. Somehow seeing things for yourself makes them a reality that you’re forced to deal with, however harsh it may be.”
“In my mind, I can totally convince myself that this really isn’t happening because I’ve basically been on another planet.” she mumbles, her shoulders sagging.
“No,” I say, sliding an arm around her. She leans her head into me and lets out a little sigh, plucking the strings on her rescued violin, the one I ran out to the car to grab while she showered.
“Sorry I couldn’t grab the bow, too,” I say. “But Elia took it with him after he pulled it out of his eye.”
“Don’t worry, you’re forgiven.” A faint smile lifts her lips. “I like playing this way. It reminds me of how I first started.”
“So you pluck the strings instead of using the bow?”
She nods. “It’s called pizzicato.” Her fingers expertly work the strings and I furrow my brow, trying in vain to place the tune since I’m not really much for classical music.
“It’s Beethoven,” she says, her fingers working with a mind and determination of their own. “I used to play a lot of classical pieces for my mother. That was always her favorite type of music. She was never really a fan of the pop compilations I put together, so I tried to incorporate classical snippets in especially for her.” Her face takes on a faraway look as her fingers continue working the strings, and I can hear the grief flow through them. My gut clenches when her eyes pool with tears.
“I let so much time pass before coming home again. Did I tell you that I’m on a break from touring?” She murmurs, a soft sigh expelling from her lips. “The night I met you in the airport was my last show for the next couple of months. I wanted to take some time off, spend time with my family, and focus on the foundation with Papa. It was supposed to be relaxing and rejuvenating.” A dry laugh escapes her lips. “And hours later, everything in my world crumbled. I have no idea what to do next. One day, I had everything, a charmed life I knew like the back of my hand and now…” Her voice trails off for a second. “Everything is broken, and somehow I need to piece everything back together.”
“You will.” I lean my head on top of hers, breathing in the scent of citrus shampoo. “You’re not alone in this, Julia. You never will be.”
She stares up at me. “Promise?”
“Yeah,” I choke. “I do.” And it’s the truth because I can’t imagine her not in my life. It shocks the hell out of me, only knowing her for such a short amount of time, but I found out everything I needed to know during those first few minutes in the airport lounge.
And what I know is that I’m falling in love with her.
It’s not because the stress of the situation or the sheer intensity of the life-or-death threats looming over us.
It’s because she’s perfect in every way.
Perfect for me.
So I won’t ever leave her side because being without her would be torture of the worst kind.
I felt a hint of it after I left her at the airport, and after being with her tonight?
My life without her was an empty shell.
I thought I had it all until I met Julia.
I’ve never been so wrong.
“What do you know about Nic Fortunato?” she asks, twisting a strand of her hair around her pinkie.
“More than I’d like to admit,” I grouse. “Did you see that whole mess in Palermo a few months back? Franco Vitale’s murder?”
“Yes, of course. His daughter Serena is a huge supporter of women’s rights and a big opponent of sex trafficking.”
“Well, Serena is my brother Diego’s girlfriend. He’s the one who saved her from the shootout in that Sicilian café. And my family is the one who saved her after she was kidnapped by Nic Fortunato. Unfortunately, we weren’t in time to save Franco.”
“Oh, no,” she breathes pulling away to look at me. “You were there? Thank God you weren’t hurt.”
“Well, things didn’t turn out too well for Nic. He thought he was about to take over the world, dumb fuck that he is.”
“Is that why he wants revenge on your family?”
“One of the reasons.” I rub the back of my neck. “I might’ve killed his daughter.”
She gasps. “Holy shit! Are you serious? What happened?”
“Let me just tell you that his daughter Via is…was…a crazy bitch. Possibly crazier than Elia. She pointed a gun at Diego and I did what I had to do to protect my family. Trust me, I did the world a big ass favor.”
“And that’s why Nic wants you dead,” she muses.
“Yeah. But he’s got a laundry list of grievances against my family. He lost a lot of money because of shit Diego pulled a while back. He messed with Nic’s business and Nic doesn’t like losing money.” I shake my head. “And because we’re associated with the Severinov family, he sees us as a big threat, one he’s been trying to destroy for a long time.” I smirk at her. “But the asshole doesn’t ever back down. He just backs away for a little while to regroup. We need to stop him this time. For good.”
“I remember bits and pieces of things Elia said while he was holding me captive. I heard him talk about someone named Via. He got angry when her name was mentioned.” She looks up at me. “Do you know why?”
“Nic is a bastard who constantly pinned Elia and Via against each other. He’d always planned for Via to take over his organization until she wasn’t around to accept the job. I guess Elia got tired of being passed over and decided to revolt.”
“Jesus, Antonio. My mind is so scrambled right now, I don’t even know who I’m running from and why.”
“Welcome to my life,” I say. “My list of enemies is a hundred times as long as my list of allies.”
“That’s not good,” she says in a soft voice. “I think you may need to work on your people skills a little bit.”
“Maybe a lot if you ask my brothers.” I waggle my eyebrows at her and she giggles.
“Yeah, especially the one you shot,” she says before her tone sobers. “You know, there are moments when I think I’ll never laugh again because the pain and guilt get so intense. But then you say something or give me a look and it erases everything for a few seconds, making me feel like it’s okay to be happy. It’s like one minute, my heart feels like it’s been shredded and beyond repair. Then you look at me and smile, piecing it back together.” She rolls her eyes. “I know that sounds so silly, like, how can it even be possible after such a short time, but it is. To me, it is.”
“I get the guilt thing, believe me. When my father died, I thought I was to blame, too. I missed a meeting he’d gone to with my sister, Gianna, because o
f an argument we had. He was doing things his way, as usual, and not listening to any of us. I told him the guy he planned to meet was bad news and that he should pull the plug on the deal. He was stubborn and didn’t like to be told what to do, so he ignored what I said and kept the meeting. The guy ended up selling him out and that’s when he was hit.” I clench my fists, the anger bubbling to the surface once again. Things might have been different if he’d listened. So much might have been different if he cared enough to pull his head out of his ass. ”He put my younger sister in the line of fire, too, because he was all ego and didn’t like to ever hear that he was wrong. She could have been killed, too.”
“Do you really think you could have stopped it?” she asks.
“That time, yes. But afterward? It was a lost cause. My dad was a vindictive bastard who was on borrowed time. It was just a question of who was gonna be the one to pull the trigger, not when. He got sloppy. Reckless. Made mistakes. Put a target on his own back with the ruthless way he did business.” I lean back on the mattress. “He might have escaped that day, but it was inevitable.”
“It must have been really hard for you all to deal with.”
“Yeah. My mother died when we were young. Cancer. And after that, Pop just went into his own little hole, working like crazy, trying to hold things together. He wasn’t around much, and when we were old enough, he taught us what we needed to know to take over the family businesses. He was cold, detached, and angry all the time. Losing my mother changed him for the worse. And after years went by, I think he kind of gave up and took a lot of risks because he just didn’t care anymore. He’d been a different person when my mother was alive. He was actually happy. But that version of Pop died with her.”
“I’m so sorry.” Julia lays her head on my chest, her even breaths warming my skin through the fabric of my shirt.
“Thanks. Anyway, we were all on our own after that. Pop got careless and bad shit happened. We’ve spent the past few years trying to recover. And it hasn’t been easy, either. Nothing about this life is easy.”
“At least you have each other,” she murmurs. “It must be nice. I only have Mama and Papa.” Her voice catches. “Well, Papa. I can’t lose him, too.”
I hug her tight against me. “I’m going to do everything I can to prevent that from happening.”
“We both know that power and money can buy anything,” she whispers. “What if you’re right? What if some things really are inevitable?”
Chapter Seventeen
Julia
I drop my towel and quickly pull on a t-shirt and pair of sweatpants while Antonio washes up in the bathroom. I comb my fingers through my hair, dabbing the beads of perspiration that have popped up along my forehead. My entire body feels as though it’s on fire from the withdrawal and my limbs are stiff as hell, cramping every time I sit still for a minute too long.
Thank God I was only on the drugs for a week. I can’t imagine how much worse off I’d be if he’d kept me longer.
The bathroom door creaks open and Antonio inches out, his eyes covered. “Are you decent?”
I giggle. “If you want to call it that, sure.”
He peels the hand away from his eyes and smiles. “I’ve never seen you look more gorgeous.”
“Wow, old habits die hard, huh? Those lines worked at one time for you, didn’t they?”
He closes the space between us and drops a kiss on the top of my head. “I told you, I’m a changed man. I’d never use a line on you.”
I wrap my arms around his muscular torso and breathe him in, my face pressed against his chest. I feel safe. Protected. Happ—
And out of nowhere, waves of nausea crash over me. I clap a hand over my mouth and push away from Antonio.
“Are you okay?” His eyebrows knit together and he guides me down to the bed. “Take a few deep breaths, babe.” He gently rubs my back as the feeling passes and I let out a deep breath, finally sure that I’m not going to end up with my head in the toilet.
This time.
“I’m good,” I rasp a couple of minutes later, clutching my midsection.
“I’ll get you some water,” he says, starting to stand up.
I grab his hand and shake my head. “Not yet. First, I need to call my father.”
He pauses for a second, then nods, handing me a phone he digs out of his pocket. I stab Papa’s private phone number into the keypad and wait, holding my breath until his familiar voice answers.
“Si?”
“Papa!” I exclaim, tears springing to my eyes. “Papa, it’s me!”
“Julia?” he asks, his voice thick. “Oh, thank God! Are you okay, mi amore? Are you hurt?”
“No,” I weep. “I’m with Antonio and his brother now. They saved me, Papa.” A choked sob erupts from my chest just hearing my father’s gravelly voice, thick with grief. “Oh God, I’m so sorry! We lost Mama because of me, and I am sorry. I miss her so much!”
“You didn’t do anything, Julia,” he says, struggling to keep his voice steady. “This was not your fault. Never think that. This was my doing. I lost so much that night, and I was so afraid I’d lost you, too, mi amore. I won’t be able to live with myself if anything happens to you. Antonio and Tommaso will take you away from here. They can protect you—"
“No!” I wail. “I won’t go! I can’t. Please, Papa. I need to see you. Don’t send me away!”
“It’s not safe. You need to go!”
I look up at Antonio and he nods. “He’s right. You’re not safe here.”
“I have to see you, Papa,” I whisper, my shoulders sagging. I know they’re both right, but I can’t just go without saying goodbye. I didn’t get to say goodbye to Mama. I can’t leave without seeing my father, too. “Please. Just for a few minutes.” My body shakes, my gut twisting. “Don’t send me away before I get that chance.”
A long pause follows and Papa finally clears his throat. “Okay,” he whispers. “Tomorrow. After the fun—" When his voice cracks, I feel the tears catch in my throat.
“I never got to say goodbye,” I whimper, my head falling against Antonio’s chest. “I never got to tell her so many things. I never told her I loved her one last time.”
“She knew, Julia,” Papa says. “And she adored you. She would want it this way, for you to remember her when she was full of life.”
“I can’t believe she’s really gone,” I whisper.
“I know.” Papa cries softly into the phone as tears rain down my face.
Antonio just rocks me as the grief rolls through me and my father and I grieve together, for the first time.
After what feels like hours, Papa clears his throat. “Tomorrow,” he repeats. “I will call tomorrow with a time and place. But then you have to leave. You have to save yourself, Julia. If not for me, do it for Mama.”
* * *
ANTONIO
“Antonio!”
Julia’s panicked whisper jolts me from my deep sleep. I rub my eyes, blinking fast to adjust to the lack of light in the bedroom. I don’t even know when we drifted off, but I crashed hard.
I didn’t think that was even possible.
I barely sleep because I spend so much time listening to what’s going on around me.
Occupational hazard.
You never know when someone might jump out of your closet with a pick axe.
But with Julia’s warm body plastered against mine, her soft, even breaths fluttering against my chest, I guess exhaustion finally won out.
I won’t lie.
It feels fucking great.
And I really want to stay right here with her pressed against me.
She pokes me in the side with her elbow. “Are you awake?”
I flash her a sleepy grin. “I can be if you give me a minute.”
She rolls her eyes. “I heard something,” she whispers. “Upstairs!”
I roll off the bed, my clothes rumpled. I pat down my pants and groan.
Fuck. No gun.
I left
it upstairs like a goddamn rookie!
“Stay here,” I say, running a hand through my hair, trying to wake my ass up before staggering out of the room. “Do not leave this room, okay?”
“Be careful,” she murmurs, her fingernails flying into her mouth as she huddles against the head of the bed.
I slowly creep out the door and up the stairs and that’s when I hear the banging. My chest tightens. As much as I trust the Doc, I know that everyone has a price, and even though he was close with my father, loyalty doesn’t come cheap. I grab a long, thin floor lamp, hoisting it over my head, ready to take out whoever might be waiting for me.
Great. I can shine it in the prick’s eyes and maybe blind him for a second before he puts a bullet between my own.
I take a few more steps, my heart thumping as the sounds drifting from the kitchen get louder.
I furrow my brow.
Whoever it is sure isn’t worried about launching a stealth attack.
I inch closer to the dimly lit kitchen, the lamp clutched in my hand, ready to pounce.
That’s when the smell hits me.
Basil?
I lower the lamp and pop my head through the door. I roll my eyes and collapse against the doorway. “Jesus Christ, Tommy!”
He looks up at me, bare-chested, his shoulder bandaged up, and the IV bag hanging from a metal rod next to him. He grins, holding up a slice of pizza. “You want some pizza?”
I sink into a chair next to him and let out a deep breath. “No. I was sleeping until Julia cracked me in the ribs because she heard noises up here.”
“I’ll bet that put a cramp in your deviant plans.” He snickers. “Get it? Cramp? Because of the ribs?”
“I’m glad that you didn’t lose your twisted sense of humor along with all that blood.” I roll my eyes. “How are you up, anyway? Doc said you’d be out until morning.”
“Well, I guess since I hadn’t eaten in a fucking day, my stomach made other plans.” He grins and takes a large bite of the slice in his hands. “I smelled fresh basil and it led me here.”
Coveted: Men of Mayhem: Book Two Page 16