by L A Cotton
Chapter 2
Arianne
“How are you feeling?” Nora handed me the mug of coffee and sat down beside me.
We were in our new apartment. The one I’d convinced my father to let us move into.
My gaze was fixed on the hall and beyond that my bedroom. The same bedroom Nicco had made love to me in, less than forty-eight hours ago.
He’d loved me... and then he’d left me.
And now I was bereft, lost at sea without an anchor.
Nicco was gone.
And he’d taken my heart with him.
“I still can’t believe he left.” I ran my thumbs around the mug.
“He had no choice, Ari. I know it hurts, but it would have hurt a damn sight worse if you'd had to watch him be dragged away in handcuffs; or worse, a body bag.”
A violent shudder ripped through me as I smothered a whimper.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“No, you’re right. It’s not so much that’s he’s gone, it’s that he didn’t tell me himself, face to face.” If I’d have known it was the last night I was going to get with him, I would have savored every second. I would have begged him to make love to me over and over again.
I would have imprinted every touch, every kiss, and sigh to memory.
“You should talk to him.”
My chest tightened, my hand drifting there, as if the pain were physical. It sure felt like it. My heart felt bruised and battered.
“I know, I just... what am I supposed to say to him? He’s gone, Nor.” And I was stuck here, living my worst nightmare.
Tristan was still in a coma. My father had betrayed me in the worst possible way. And I was promised to Scott Fascini. The guy who had drugged me and stolen the one thing that had never been his to take.
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I pushed down the hazy memories. Cruel touches and dirty words. He’d tainted me. Beaten and bruised me. But I hadn’t let him take my heart.
He could never have that, for it belonged to another.
It belonged to Nicco.
He knew about the engagement. Luis, my bodyguard, had told him the second we'd left my father’s estate. I had been too numb to function. Too blindsided to do anything but quietly sob the whole ride back to University Hill.
My father had promised... he'd promised to fix things.
And he'd lied.
After Nicco had beaten Scott, and accidentally hurt Tristan, I’d made a deal with my father. A deal he had broken the second my back was turned.
Anger skittered up my spine. I’d eventually confided in my father, revealed to him just exactly the type of guy Scott really was, and he’d still betrayed me.
Roberto Capizola had picked a side and now he might as well be dead to me.
“Ari, look at me.” Nora shuffled closer, covering my hand with hers. “I know everything looks dismal now, but you’ll get through this, I know you will. Antonio is working on it, and you have me, and Luis, and your mom. We’ll figure it out. But I’m begging you, call Nicco. You need to talk about everything.”
I gave her a slight nod. She was right. It was a conversation Nicco and I needed to have. But how did you tell the man you loved that you were promised to another? That you were expected to court him and spend time with him and—
I stopped myself.
“Now is as good a time as any.” Nora handed me my cell phone. I stared at it like it was a grenade. “Take it,” she urged, and I slid my trembling fingers around it.
“I’ll give you some privacy.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, blood ringing in my ears.
Nora offered me an encouraging smile before disappearing down the hall toward our bedrooms. The apartment was only small, but it was light and airy and untainted with painful memories.
All except one.
Waking yesterday morning to find Nicco gone, reading his goodbye note, had broken something inside me. I’d thought we would face the coming storm together, but now he was there, and I was here, and like a mountain too steep to climb, Scott was wedged right in between us.
Inhaling a deep breath, I found his number and hit dial.
“Arianne?” My name was a whispered prayer that cracked my heart wide open.
“Hello, Nicco.”
“Thank fuck,” he breathed. “I’ve been so worried. Are you okay? Where are you? Is Luis there? Tell me everything.”
I smiled; I couldn’t help it. Nicco’s protectiveness was something I would never tire of.
“I’m at the apartment with Nora. Luis is right outside. He doesn’t let me out of his sight. Not that we’ve been far. We didn’t go to classes again today. Not after...”
“Perdonami, Bambolina. I didn’t want to leave like that. I didn’t want to run like a coward. But I knew if I didn’t... I knew if I stayed and tried to explain everything, then I wouldn’t be strong enough to leave you.”
“You hurt me, Nicco, you hurt me so much.” Pain coiled around my heart as I swallowed the tears threatening to fall. “My father betrayed me. He said he’d fix it, he said—”
“He betrayed us both.”
I gasped. “What do you mean?”
“He contacted me, before I came to the apartment. He said that there were things at play I didn’t understand and that he needed some time. He asked me to let him handle it and lie low.”
“He said that?” I can hardly believe what he’s telling me.
“My father had already ordered me to go to Boston and lie low. So I told your father I would disappear as long as he gave me his word you would be safe.”
“It doesn’t make any sense. When he summoned me to the house, Mike Fascini was there with...” I can’t say his name, but I know Nicco knows who I’m talking about from his sharp intake of breath.
Tears pooled in my eyes as I lost the fight to smother my heartache.
“Ssh, you don’t need to say the words, Bambolina. Luis told me everything.”
A garbled cry spilled from my lips. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t cry.” His voice wavered. “Please, don’t cry. Nothing can come between us, Arianne, I need you to know that. It doesn’t matter what your father says or what that piece of shit Fascini does... nothing can come between us. Not a damn thing. Il mio cuore è tuo.”
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe him so badly. But Nicco wasn’t here. He wouldn’t be there tomorrow at school or tomorrow night when Scott came to pick me up for our date.
I flinched.
Just the very idea of Scott being anywhere near me made my skin crawl. But I could see no way out. Scott was out for blood—Nicco’s blood. There was no telling what lengths he would go to. I couldn’t risk that.
I wouldn’t.
“Bambolina, say something...”
“How’s Boston?”
Nicco’s chuckle filled the line. It was like a balm to my broken heart, filling some of the cracks. “Boston is okay. Although my cousin Dane took an ass-beating earlier.”
“You were fighting?”
“I do that sometimes...” he said warily. “It relaxes me.”
“Fighting relaxes you?” I blurted out, disbelief coating my words. “What else don’t I know about you, Niccolò Marchetti?”
It was a loaded question.
I’d fallen hard and fast where Nicco was concerned, which meant we were learning about each other as we went.
“Nothing important.” I heard the smile in his voice. “You know my heart, Bambolina. You know my soul.”
The honesty in his words twisted my insides. “I don’t know if I can do this,” I whispered.
There was a beat of silence, and then Nicco let out a strained breath. “You are so strong, Arianne. You can do this, I know you can.”
“But what if he expects...” The unspoken words hung between us like a glacier.
My father and Mike Fascini expected me to date Scott... they expected us to behave like a couple, despite the officia
l engagement announcement being kept under wraps for now.
My father expected me to be alone with him after he’d.... I pushed the thoughts down, swallowing the bile clawing its way up my throat. I couldn’t go there. Whatever Scott had done to me in the past, I had to find a way to turn it into strength to help me survive this.
“Luis is working on it,” Nicco said.
“What does that mean? What’s going—”
“Bambolina, listen to me. You are not alone. I know it feels that way, but our friends, our allies, will do all they can to keep you safe. Just promise me you’ll stay strong...” He hesitated, his silence deafening. “Promise me you’ll fight.”
“I promise.” My voice trembled involuntarily. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to face the future with defiance in my heart and fury in my veins. But the truth was, I was scared.
I was scared of what would happen.
Of what I would become.
A rumble of voices filled the line, and Nicco said, “I have to go. But I’ll call you soon, okay?”
“Okay.” Pain was woven into every syllable.
Talking to Nicco wasn’t enough. I needed to see him. To feel his arms wrapped around me, his breath fanning my face.
“I love you Bambolina. Sei tutto per me.”
“I love you too,” I whispered as I hung up, pain burying itself further into the cracks in my heart.
“Ari?” Nora came rushing into the room, crushing me into her slender arms as I sobbed. “Ssh, it’s going to be okay. I promise.”
But people kept making promises and they kept breaking them.
My father. My mother. Scott... Nicco.
People called me the Capizola heir. The kids at Montague looked at me like that meant something; something to revere and envy.
Being the Capizola heir didn’t make me powerful though.
It made me a pawn.
A pawn in a game for which I didn’t understand the rules.
A game I was currently losing.
THE NEXT MORNING DIDN’T bring any signs of hope. Luis knocked early to inform me my father expected me to resume classes. Nora said it was a good thing—getting back to normal.
But nothing about my life felt normal anymore.
I went through the motions: showering and dressing, combing my hair and letting it hang in gentle waves around my face. I didn’t bother with make-up.
Nora made coffee and heated some waffles, but I wasn’t hungry. The pit in my stomach didn’t want food, it wanted answers. It wanted a solution to the mess I’d found myself in.
The door opened and Luis appeared. “All set?”
I nodded, feeling the claws of uncertainty tighten around my throat.
“Nora, the car is downstairs,” he said. “Could you give me and Arianne a few seconds alone?”
“Of course.” She grabbed her bag and came over to me. “You’ve got this.” Nora squeezed my hand gently before disappearing out of the apartment.
Luis closed the door and stepped further into the room. “How are you feeling?”
“Numb.”
“I’ll be right there,” his expression softened, “every step of the way.”
“And when I go tonight. Will you be there also?”
Luis’ nostrils flared, but he didn’t flinch. He was good at his job, able to present a calm and composed front at all times. He’d tricked my father, lied to his very face. It made me wonder if he could also lie to me.
“You can trust me,” he said, as if he had heard my thoughts. “I won’t let that piece of shit hurt you again. I promise.”
I released a small sigh.
More promises.
Promises meant nothing when you were dealing with men like Scott Fascini and my father. Men who manipulated and lied and twisted the truth to their ends.
I’d learned that the hard way.
“Have you spoken to my father?”
Luis’ expression morphed into anger. “He called me this morning.”
“Did he say anything?”
“Nothing. But something doesn’t add up. He’s a ruthless man, Ari, but I can’t believe he would hand you over to Fascini unless he thought he was doing it to protect you.”
“Protect himself more like,” I mumbled, indignation burning through me, betrayal and deceit lying heavy in my chest.
“Your father is many things, Ari, but he is not a monster. I have worked for him since before you were born, and everything he has ever done was to protect you.”
“How can you defend him after he...?” The words got stuck over the lump in my throat. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down, but my body trembled with anger. “He handed me over to Scott like I was nothing more than a possession. I told him what Scott did to me. I looked him in the eye and told him he...” I glanced away, refusing to let Luis see me break.
“I know,” he exhaled a strained breath. “But there has to be more to it. There has to.”
Slowly, I lifted my glassy eyes to my bodyguard. “So tell me, Luis, what am I supposed to do?”
“You are the Capizola heir, Arianne. You raise your head high and refuse to cower. Sometimes we don’t realize how strong we truly are until we are faced with our greatest weakness. Try to remember that,” he said around a half-smile. “Now come on, you don’t want to be late for class.”
I scoffed as he ushered me out of the apartment.
Being tardy was the least of my problems.
“EVERYONE’S STARING,” I said to Nora as we made our way to the food court.
“They’re just curious.”
“Curious?” My brow rose. “That’s what we’re calling it?”
She rolled her eyes, dragging me toward the doors. I didn’t want to be here. Everyone knew about Tristan. Everyone thought they knew the events that unfolded that fateful night, but they didn’t know the truth.
They couldn’t.
So I’d spent all morning trying to ignore the constant buzz of whispers and rumors.
“Arianne?” I stilled at the sound of Sofia’s voice. Slowly, I turned to meet her tear-filled gaze. “Is there any news?”
I shook my head.
She smothered a garbled cry with her hand. “I tried to visit, but they said it’s family only.” Her eyes pleaded with me, as if she somehow thought I had the answer.
I didn’t.
“Roberto would prefer to keep things private for now,” Nora answered for me. “But I’m sure he’ll let you know once Tristan is accepting visitors.”
She smothered another whimper. “I know we weren’t serious... but I care about him, I care about him a lot.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Oh, Ari.” Sofia threw her arms around me, hugging me tight. “If you need anything...”
“Thank you.”
She stepped back, finally composing herself. “I should go. But I meant what I said... I’m always here.”
As soon as she was gone, Nora let out a low whistle. “That was...”
“Don’t.” I made my way to the salad bar. I still couldn’t bear the thought of food, but I knew I needed to eat.
“Have you seen you know who at all?”
“You can say their names, Nor.”
“Can I? I don’t know the rules of espionage.”
My brows knitted as I met her amused gaze. “Seriously?”
“Made you smile though, didn’t it?”
“Fine,” I relented. “You made me smile.”
Nora leaned in closer, filling her own plate. “I know things are bad right now, but we have to find flickers of light in the dark.”
“We do, do we?”
“Yep. Besides, I was hoping to get another good look at Enzo’s—”
I clapped a hand over her mouth. “Keep those thoughts to yourself.”
“Prude.”
“Hussy.”
“But you love me.” She grinned.
I couldn’t argue with that. Nora was my best friend. My confidante.
She was the sister I’d never had.
And I was going to need her more than ever if I was going to make it through the next few months.
Chapter 3
Nicco
“You look like shit,” Dane said as I traipsed into the kitchen.
Alonso roared with laughter. “Couldn’t keep up with me and Benny.”
I grumbled, rubbing the back of my neck. I didn’t let myself drink a lot; I didn’t like the feeling of losing control. But after speaking with Arianne yesterday, I’d been a mess. I wanted to fight, to hit and hurt. But my uncle knew I was in no state to get in the ring so instead, he’d invited Benny over, pulled out his best bottle of scotch, and the three of us had sat around the fire pit out back drinking and talking until well into the early hours.
“Niccolò,” my Aunt Maria came over and kissed my cheek. “There’s coffee in the pot and I’m making pancakes.”
My stomach turned. “I think I’m good with coffee.”
Alonso and Dane snickered. “Shouldn’t you be at school?” I asked my cousin.
“Yes, he should.” Maria shot her son a meaningful look.
“But, Mamma—”
“No buts, Polpetto. It’s senior year, and you will graduate. Tell him, Alonso.”
“Ma, don’t call me that,” he grumbled.
“Your mother’s right. Go to school and try to learn something. And stay out of trouble.”
Dane mumbled something under his breath as he tucked into a pancake drenched in syrup.
“Not sweet enough already?” I flicked my gaze to the sticky mess covering his plate.
“Fuck you,” he mouthed around a smirk.
Laughter rumbled in my chest. Dane was a strange mix of Enzo and Matteo. He had Matteo’s humor but Enzo’s temper. It made him unpredictable and reckless and I didn’t doubt he was going to cause my uncle a few more headaches before he turned eighteen.
I helped myself to coffee and moved over to the window. My uncle’s house was a big corner plot overlooking South Boston’s shoreline. He’d bought it a few years back for Maria who wanted to move out of the brick rows in the heart of the neighborhood. It was ostentatious and came with a hefty price tag, but Maria was his wife, his woman, and she had my uncle wrapped around her pinky finger.