by Sonya Jesus
I know he’s married and has kids, but I don’t like it. The girl walking by his side is my whole life. I don’t want to own her or lock her up, or ever make her feel like a doll again. I just want her to feel everything with me.
I’ve never met someone like her.
Kelsie’s wrong. Granted, there’s room for improvement, but she may be the greatest strategist in the game. While these fuckers are acting and reacting, she’s moving mountains to create a war. All while sitting back and not lifting a finger.
Once she disappears into the building, I remain vigilant on the exterior, watching as the guy outside moves around the courtyard, checking the perimeter. He nearly catches Kelsie leaving her hiding space, but she takes cover near his car and then darts out when he’s distracted.
Steps draw my attention back to the room and I move toward my bag, grabbing the hotel blanket from it. She rounds the corner, and the second she’s up, her eyes lock on mine. Without screens separating us and without Wi-Fi as a middleman, distance really fucking matters. There’s too much of it between us, and not enough of it between her and Robert.
He greets me and says something stupid, but I don’t care. I’m watching the beaming smile on her face. She takes a hesitant step toward me, as if the floor will cave beneath her soles. When it doesn’t and she realizes this is real, she runs into my arms and crushes herself against me. It really fucking hurts when she squeezes me tight, but her lips on mine dull the ache.
Dull all the bad things in my life.
Chapter Fifteen
Plan D
Isabella Santini
“You being here is dangerous, Luca,” I whisper as I run my fingers over the ridges of his chiseled chest, focusing on the muscular indents around his belly button and sometimes letting my fingers roam down his Adonis belt. Only slightly, before I remind myself of his bruises and where we are.
The warehouse.
The first property my father ever bought. For years, he hid bodies here in the old tin oil barrels on the first floor. He owns over sixty properties in the states around us, even if he thought to search them, it would be hard to find me, but the possibility still lingers on my mind.
“Bells, you being here is dangerous.”
“Yes, but if he finds me alone, I have a chance. He’ll kill you on sight just to punish me.”
“He’s not going to find us. Neither of them.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because I snuck your phone into Robert’s pocket while you hugged him goodbye.”
Without thinking, I slap him on the chest. “You did what?”
“Shit, Bells…” He winces and clutches at the sore spot, trapping my hand beneath his palm as he breathes through the pain. “Easy… it still hurts.”
“You gave my phone to a person who risked his life to save me? Someone I care about! I should hit you again. In. The. Fucking. Balls!” He still hasn’t explained the bruises to me, but right now, Robert takes precedence. I don’t have his number on my burner phone. “Damn it, Luca. Call him!”
“No.”
After dislodging my hand from beneath his, I sit up and crawl over his knees to reach his phone.
“Oh, I like this view.” He swats at my ass cheeks while laughing.
“Stop laughing. I’m not losing someone else. He has a family, a wife, and two kids. Two boys.”
He winces at the mention of them. Maybe because he saw them when he went over there on Monday morning.
“You met them… They deserve to see their father again. If Tony or Beppe get to him—” I shake my head. “I’m not losing any more family.”
“He’s nothing to you, Isabella,” Luca chides but not in his usual light tone—it’s more guttural and kind of hot. He snatches the phone from me. It’s fingerprint locked anyway, so unless I slice a finger off, having the phone does little for me.
“I’m not messing around.”
“Neither am I.”
“By now, Vinnie, Tony, and my father are probably hunting me down. The plan was to have him think I was kidnapped, but Vinnie got a call from someone. And he knew. He knew a lot. I didn’t delete Steele’s message when I went fire happy.”
“You think your father knows you put a hit on him?”
“No, I don’t think so, but Vinnie recognized the guy helping Robert from his army days. I don’t think it will take very long to find out who sent him. Veto may be in danger, and you putting my phone in Robert’s pocket will aggravate the situation.”
“Veto Calgrone is a grown-ass man who knows how to take care of himself. And if they go talk to Steele, then all he can say is you put a hit out on your father… if he doesn’t already know. Either way, while they chase down leads, they aren’t tracking you here.”
“I don’t want him—”
He unlocks the screen and types out a message before holding it out for me to read: I’m kidding.
I erase it and type my response: Not fucking funny. My eyes meet his, asking for an explanation.
“You didn’t give me your phone… we’ve been kind of busy catching up… a lot. Which I really think we should do again.” He smiles and yanks me by the wrist. He doesn’t anticipate the weight of my body against his bones, so when I collide with his chest, he sucks in air through his teeth. “Ah, fuck.”
“That’s what you get for scaring me,” I quip, sliding off of him to lie by his side. This time, with vision not clouded by desire, I examine his naked body. There are scratches on his knees, gashes on his shins, some even look like they are getting infected. The bruises on his shoulders only now become visible, and I gasp, bringing my fingers to my lips. “What the hell happened? Who did this to you?”
“I was in a car accident on Saturday.”
“You what?” Why didn’t he tell me? “Did you go to a hospital?”
“I didn’t sleep for twenty-four hours and nothing’s broken.”
I lightly touch his abdomen. “This looks broken.”
“There are no bones there to break. Just my intestine.”
“Luca, this is massive.”
“Bells…” He tugs me closer, a bit more carefully now. “I’m fine, I swear. I’ve had internal injuries before, and this doesn’t feel like it. Plus, I didn’t have time to go to the hospital. You needed me.”
“Alive. I need you alive,” I clarify, as I reach for his button-up.
“Death is always a risk—we’ve talked about this before. You really think we are going to get away with this, without anyone else dying?” He smirks after his words come out. “Well, minus Beppe.”
“I’m not sure that’s going to happen.” My fingers quickly fasten a couple of the shirt’s buttons to cover up my breasts.
“Why not?”
“In Robert’s car, I reached out to Teagan again. I thought things had gone down well, but turns out the shipment was worth half a billion dollars.”
“How the hell did you mess that up?” His tone elevates, earning a scowl from me.
“I didn’t. Tony’s been setting up distribution chains behind my father’s back. Beppe got suspicious. And Tony got suspicious of Beppe, and they ended up torturing one of Teagan’s guys. I think I burned a bridge with my cousin before we officially met.”
“What did she say?”
“She told me never to call again. One of the guys who got hurt was her friend.”
“So Plan D? Not really sure what letter you’re on anymore.”
“Without Steele Dominic or Teagan’s help, unless I reach out to Logan Slade or Bo, I’m going to have to do it myself. Today or tomorrow. Before they come to escort me to the plane.”
“No.” He gets up and reaches for his T-shirt. “I have someone who can help.”
“Your hotel friend, the mysterious business partner?” My eyes scan his facial features looking for a sign. Not once had he mentioned buying a hotel, or having money to buy a hotel. I imagine something like that is very expensive. After what Tony did with Unita, I wonder how Luca dip
ped his fingers into this business.
“He can help, but not with assassinating someone as high profile as Beppe.”
Yeah. Don’t like where this is heading. “Once we are done with all of this, I want to know about all of that.” I circle my hand in the air, indicating I intend clarification for anything not immediately within the present.
He smirks and nods his head. “He’s not Italian Mafia.”
The little tidbit of information assuages my curiosity, allowing me to move onto my next question. “Then who do you have in mind? No one wants to kill the Don… Wait, what happened to fake Paolo?”
Luca rubs at the back of his head and grabs some pills from his jacket pocket; they look like painkillers. “I let him go.”
“Really?”
“I paid him and told him to go back to Italy or I’d kill his whole family.”
“You let a witness go, Luca?” He could run to my father, or Tony, and … I want to be annoyed at him, but after Anthony Shard, I can’t. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
“I’m hoping I don’t come to regret sparing his life. But I’m done with all of this killing.” He pops the pills into his mouth and swallows, sans water. “Trust me, okay?”
Trust isn’t easy, but Luca hasn’t let me down yet. “What are you suggesting?”
“Kelsie Salvatore.”
“The Beneventis?” Why does it always come back to them?
He nods. “She and her boyfriend want out, and she’s in town.”
“Does everyone want out of the Mafia lately?”
Luca snorts and bobs his head, while searching through his bag for a bottle of water. He takes out the contents, including a small makeup bag he bought for me. “Sometimes the worlds our fathers built aren’t the worlds their kids want to live in.”
“Talking about father, Beppe’s on high alert after yesterday and my disappearance. Kelsie can’t just waltz into Old Ridge.”
He gulps down half the bottle and hands it to me. “She can if she has a session with Valerio Voight.”
“She’s getting married?” I don’t even wait for him to answer. “How did she get an appointment?”
“She called, and he accepted.”
“That seems strange,” I say, right before wetting my parched mouth. “But whatever, that gets her into Old Ridge; how is she going to get to my father?”
He finishes the rest of the bottle and tosses it in his bag. “Your dad goes to weekday mass on Thursday nights and then confession, right?”
“That’s what you were doing at the church? At Old Ridge?” I cross my legs and hold my ankles, while I run my fingers through my hair.
“Getting the layout. It was either that or Unita, but when I talked to her, she said the church would work.”
And that’s why he asked me about the necklace. “What’s all this going to cost?”
“Three million.”
“That’s it?” I still had some of the money I stole from my father, or rather Tony. I’m not quite sure who was paying the extravagant wedding if Beppe was broke.
Luca kneels beside me and cups my cheek, bringing my face closer to him. “I don’t want to lie to you.” His nose nearly touches mine.
“Then don’t.”
“Favors were traded. Backups in case things fell through with any of the other groups you hired. And for protection in New York.”
“What kind of favors?”
“The worst kind: open-ended ones.” He gently brings his lips to mine and kisses me, as if it changes our debt to the Beneventis. Mob ties travel over the sea and time.
“We aren’t really escaping,” I mumble out, disappointed in him.
“We are,” he says softly. “Just not the way you thought we would. Escaping the Mafia isn’t easy, Isabella. Something always drags you back.”
“I dragged Robert back in.”
“You called in a favor with Robert and Teagan. Even the others. One day, they may call upon you and offer you a price. Turning them down isn’t an option.”
“He’s right you know?” Some girl strides in, carrying a white bag from the grocery store, her gorgeous dark hair flowing over her shoulders.
My hid whips around to her while I quickly cover up and search the floor for my underwear.
Luca huffs out, “What are you doing here?”
She stops in front of us and uses her toe to kick my boy shorts out of the way before dropping the bag between Luca and me. “You’re taking too long.”
Luca covers his junk as he casually introduces us, “Isabella, meet Kelsie Salvatore.”
“Nice to meet you.” Kelsie nods her head in my direction and extends her hand, but not to shake it. “Can I have your phone?”
I point toward the pile of clothes as I awkwardly stand to put my panties on. “It’s in my sweat pants. The battery too.”
Luca rummages through the grocery bag. “You brought us coffee? And jerky?”
She smiles. “I figured after a year, you two wouldn’t want to come up for air that quickly.” She slides the pieces of my phone into her pocket and reaches down to grab her to-go cup and gaudy sunglasses. “There are donuts in the box.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you staying here?” she asks Luca before glancing over at me. “No offense, doll.”
“Don’t call me that,” I spit back.
Luca’s eyes are on me, surprised by my outburst.
“I hate being called doll, or doll face, or bambola. It all means the same thing: lack of respect.” I look down at my mostly naked body, fully aware that respect is usually earned with clothes on, but I don’t care.
“You got to give Kelsie a break, Bells.” Luca throws the empty bottle of water at Kelsie, hitting her leg and catching her attention. “All the Beneventi testosterone seems to be rubbing off on her.”
Kelsie offers a smile. “The closest thing I have to a girlfriend, is a Stone.”
What the hell does that mean? I glance at Luca, who finds her comment hysterical.
“Is that your boyfriend or something?” I ask, mostly to soothe my nerves.
At the mention of her boyfriend, she switches back to business mode and addresses Luca with a report. “I followed those two guys back to the Italian restaurant in the city.”
“You did what?!”
She tilts her head in my direction and continues, as if my outburst means nothing, which I don’t much appreciate. “They didn’t have a tail, so I don’t think anyone knows anything.” She looks at me.
Oh, so now I matter?
“Relax, they’re safe. I didn’t hurt them. My job has nothing to do with your friends, just your father.” She pauses and then adds, “But a cautious woman in this world, trusts no man. Ever.” She turns to Luca. “No offense.”
I swallow at the warning, feeling the weight of it on the tip of my tongue.
“None taken, but she can trust me. I want what’s best for her.”
“You want what’s best for you and her. That’s different.” With that she steps back and shrugs. “But I’m going to have some fun with the phone. I do like to play a little catch and mouse.”
“Be careful,” Luca announces and slides his hand over my back.
Kelsie smiles and bobs her head. “I’m off. I got work to do, and you two have more catching up to do.”
Once she leaves, I replay her words in my mind. They linger there, but before I can really comprehend them, Luca reaches over and lays me down on the blanket, bringing himself to lie beside me, not on top of me.
“I promise,” he whispers as he aligns our bodies. Parallel to one another. Noses touching and then foreheads.
“Promise what?”
He drops a kiss to my chin and traces the outline of my jaw with his lips, stopping at my ear. “To tell you anything you want to know.”
I tilt my head to the blanket, shivering under his heated breath, goosebumps chasing the path of his touch. My heart smiles.
“Anytime you want to hear it, Bells.”
“I’ve loved you for a long time, Bells.” His fingers slide under the shirt, and I gasp, meeting his gaze—at the eyes who forbid any sort of distance. “You’d start a war to escape, but I’d end one to keep you safe.”
Chapter Sixteen
The E’s of the Plan
Isabella Santini
“I don’t plan on seeing dongs or vaginas today. So stop and cover up, or get ready to be photographed.” From the staircase, Kelsie announces her presence by making a whole lot of noise.
“We’re dressed.” Luca chuckles as he stretches his legs out in front of him. He wouldn’t let me stay here alone, so we went to the drive-thru and got some burgers, milkshakes, soda, French fries and lots of pie. We had worked up an appetite.
After Kelsie left, we spent most of the time having sex and most of the night sleeping.
Or rather I did, Luca didn’t sleep much.
“You’re good,” he says before Kelsie comes into view.
“Good because I’ve got some news for you.” She’s wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but her hair is messier and she has a pair of sunglasses on her head.
“What news?” Luca holds out one of the extra burgers for her. “Here, eat with us.”
She takes a seat on the dirty-ass floor, instead of the hotel blanket Luca brought with him.
“Why are you sitting on the floor?” he asks as I reposition the light so it’s not blinding her.
“I prefer dirt stains.” She unwraps the burger and crosses her legs to rest her elbows on her thighs. “You two can keep your sex blanket all to yourselves.”
I chuckle at her comment. There has been a lot of sex in the last twenty-four hours.
“Want some?” I hold out one of the milkshakes, wondering if she had finished the job early.
“Looks like you all worked up an appetite.”