by L A Cotton
“Do you know what he has on my father, Luis?”
My bodyguard liked to talk in riddles, but riddles didn’t help my predicament.
“I have my suspicions.”
I raised a brow. “Are you going to share them with me?”
“Will it change anything?”
Silence fell over us. “No, it won’t.” The truth was like a knife to the heart. “He made his choice. And I made mine.”
Luis placed down his mug and stood. “You should get some sleep, it’s late.”
“You’re probably right.”
“I’ll handover with the night shift and get some shut eye. See you in the morning, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay. Goodnight, Luis.”
He gave me a tight smile, his mask of indifference sliding back into place as he resumed bodyguard mode and headed for the door.
But he paused at the last second, glancing back. “It won’t always be like this, Arianne. Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives set us on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us. Try and hold onto that.”
I wanted to believe him.
But something told me the worst was yet to come.
Chapter 11
Nicco
She was late.
Arianne was supposed to meet me at the motel on the edge of Blue Hills Reservation, twenty minutes ago. But there was still no sign of her.
I’d almost worn out the spongy carpet pacing back and forth, waiting for the black SUV to roll into the parking lot. I’d been tempted to ask Uncle Alonso for the keys to one of his places, but it was already risky asking Arianne here. So I’d kept it vague. The glint in his eye as I’d told him I would be gone all night was all the sign I needed that he knew exactly where I was going. He didn’t try to stop me though, because he knew he couldn’t.
I needed to see her.
I needed to hold Arianne as I told her everything I’d learned after talking to Elizabeth Monroe. But it was more than that. I needed to know she was okay. I needed to look her in the eye and see it.
I was just about to call Luis when I spotted their car. “Thank fuck,” I breathed, yanking open the door.
Luis climbed out and scanned the parking lot. I’d already done a sweep of the area. Twice. Watching Arianne step out of the vehicle had the tension in my shoulders melting away. She spotted me and ran. She ran all the way until she launched herself into my awaiting arms.
“Nicco.” My name was a prayer on her lips. But it was me who wanted to fall to my knees and worship her.
“You’re okay.” I cupped the back of her head, cradling her body against mine. “You’re okay.”
“I’ve missed you.” Arianne craned her neck to look at me. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I know, Bambolina. I know.” Dipping my head, I brushed my lips over hers. Once. Twice. Letting myself memorize their shape, reacquaint with their taste. But it was Arianne who took control, fitting her body against mine like a missing puzzle piece and deepening the kiss. Her tongue slipped between my lips, searching for my own.
Luis cleared his throat. I liked the man, I did, but right then, in that moment, I wanted him to disappear.
“We should talk,” he said, when I made no effort to break the kiss.
Arianne had fisted my sweater, anchoring us together. “Bambolina,” I breathed against her mouth, gently tugging her hand away. “Give me a second.”
She smiled up at me, her cheeks flushed, and lips swollen.
“Go inside.” I flicked my head to our room. “I’ll be right there, I promise.”
“Okay.” Arianne hesitated, letting out a small sigh as she stole another kiss before disappearing inside.
I pulled the door shut and stepped toward Luis. “You swept the area?” he asked me.
I nodded. “It’s clean. No one knows I’m out here, not even my uncle.”
“Nicco,” he frowned, “that’s a big risk.”
“She’s worth it”.
“You said you found something in Vermont.”
“I did. But we shouldn’t talk out here. You were on Roberto’s security detail when someone tried to get to Arianne at the school?”
“I was.”
“I need you to talk to this guy.” I handed him Tommy’s nondescript card. “He’s expecting your call.”
“We can trust him?”
“We can. I got you a room.” Fishing the second card out of my pocket, I gave it to Luis. “Didn’t know if you’d want it, but it’s yours.”
“I’m going to set up on watch, but thanks, I appreciate it. You should probably go see to her, she’s getting impatient.” He handed me her overnight bag.
I glanced back just in time to see the curtain twitch. “I will.” My lips curved. “But first, I need to know... how is she? Really?”
“It’s been less than a week. Ask me again in a month.” Luis’ expression hardened. He cared for Arianne, that much was obvious. But part of me sensed he disagreed with how we were handling things.
“Go, be with her. We can talk tomorrow.”
“Call me if there’s any problems,” I said, slowly backing up toward the door.
“Same goes for you.”
I watched him double back to the SUV, before entering the room. There was nothing special about it: it had four walls, a small bathroom, a queen-sized bed, and a few other pieces of furniture. But it could have been a hovel for all I cared. Because sitting there, on the edge of the bed, was the girl who held my heart in the palm of her hands.
“Bambolina.” It fell from my lips on a whispered sigh, as I dropped the bag.
Arianne got up and came to me, pressing her hand against my cheek. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
Inhaling a ragged breath, I drew her into my chest, holding her. “I had to see you.”
“I know.” She laid her palms on my chest, staring up at me with so much emotion, I felt winded.
I brushed a stray hair from her face, tracing the lines of her face. Arianne’s breath hitched as I let my fingers glide down the slope of her neck. “Kiss me.”
She complied, pushing up on her tiptoes and giving me her lips. I cupped her face with two hands, sweeping my tongue into her mouth, tangling it with her own. She tasted like love and promise.
She tasted like home.
“Nicco,” she moaned softly, fitting herself closer. I kept kissing her. Peppering her face with tiny desperate kisses, licking and nibbling the skin beneath her ear. I wanted to paint every inch of her with my lips, brand her with my touch. The need to have her burned through me, a wildfire no amount of water could douse.
“God, Bambolina. I want you, I want you so fucking much.”
Her hands slipped to the hem of my sweater, dipping underneath and finding my warm skin. Arianne explored my stomach, my abs and chest. Taking her time to trace every hard ridge and taut dip. “I’ve missed you so much,” she breathed the words against the corner of my mouth. Her voice was thick with lust and want.
“I want to lie you down on the bed, strip the clothes from your body and make you mine in every way possible.”
“Yes,” she moaned, her hands dropping to the waistband of my jeans. “Make love to me, Nicco.”
I snagged her wrist, holding it between us as I lowered my face to hers, staring into her honey-brown eyes. “We have time.”
I didn’t ask her here for this, no matter how badly I wanted her. We needed to talk. Arianne needed to understand the situation. But she was staring at me with such intensity, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to resist.
“Nicco, what it is?” Her eyes clouded with uncertainty.
I cupped her face, brushing my thumb over her cheek. “It shouldn’t be like this. You deserve so much, Arianne, you don’t deserve this.” Guilt snaked through me, coiling around my heart as my eyes shuttered on a harsh breath.
“Nicco,” Arianne smoothed her fingers over my jaw. “Look at me.”
I opened my eyes and she smiled.
God, her smile. It was enough to bring me to my knees.
“My life has never been my own, I realize that now. I have been groomed for a life I never asked for, a life I don’t want. I thought going to MU was the start of my freedom, the start of me choosing my own path.”
A tear slipped down her face and I swiped it away with my thumb.
“But it was all a lie. Until you. I choose you, Nicco. I choose a life... with you.”
I leaned down, touching my head to hers. “There was never a choice where you were concerned.”
I knew that now.
Something had changed in me that night Arianne stumbled across me and Bailey in the alley. I’d wanted to protect her, to make sure nothing ever hurt her again. And those feelings had only grown the more time I spent with her, turning into something primal, something soul-deep.
Something I couldn’t fight even if I tried.
“We should talk, come on.” I took Arianne’s hand and led her to the bed. “I’m sorry about the room. I know it’s not what you’re used to.”
“You think I care about that?” She sat down and kicked off her boots before crawling onto the bed and sitting against the headboard. It creaked and moaned as I joined Arianne, slipping my arm around her shoulder and pulling her into my side.
“I didn’t think this through.”
“Meeting me?”
“Meeting you at some dive motel.” In a room that had no couch or chairs for us to sit on.
“It’s not that bad.” She peeked up at me. “What’s really going on in that head of yours?”
“The truth?”
“Always.”
“I’m having a hard time thinking about anything except getting you naked right now.”
Heat flared in her eyes. “I’m right here.”
A low groan bubbled in my throat. “I’m trying to do the right thing, Bambolina.”
“And I love you for it.” She shrugged out of my hold and moved around me.
“What are you doing, amore mio?”
“Making it easier for you.” I felt her body tremble as she straddled my legs. My hands went to her waist, guiding her over me. “Is this okay?” Her voice was thick, and her pupils were blown with lust.
“More than okay.” I curved a hand around the back of her neck and kissed her. Slow deep licks. “But you won’t tempt me, Bambolina. We need to talk.”
Disappointment etched into her expression, and I chuckled. “We have time.”
“Do we though? Because it feels like the clock is already running out.”
“Arianne,” I breathed, pain slicing me open.
“It’s okay. You said we needed to talk, so talk.” My eyes narrowed, but she added, “I’m okay. You’re here, that’s all that matters.”
“I found out some things.”
“I’m listening...”
Fuck. How was I supposed to tell her this? After everything she’d already been through.
“Nicco, talk to me. Whatever it is, we’ll get through it.”
I guided Arianne’s face to mine, inhaling a deep breath. “I think I know who ordered the hit against you.”
“It really wasn’t your father?”
I shook my head. “I think it was Mike Fascini.”
Arianne frowned. But her confusion quickly turned to something else. Her gaze widened, fear swirling in her big brown eyes. “You think he... tried to have me killed?” She choked out the words.
“I met his aunt. That’s where I went yesterday.”
“What else she did say?”
“She wasn’t surprised that Mike is trying start something. She knew, she fucking knew her brother moved to Verona County to come after us.”
“Her brother?”
“Yeah, Mike’s father. He died a long time ago. But I guess the damage was done.”
“It doesn’t make any sense... why would he want...” Arianne shuddered.
“Have you ever heard the name Ricci?”
“It isn’t familiar, why?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about our history, Bambolina.”
My strong brave girl laid her palm against my cheek and gave me a sad smile. “So tell me.”
I TOLD ARIANNE EVERYTHING. She already knew about Emilio Marchetti and Elena Ricci and their betrayal. But I told her how Alfredo Capizola hunted them down and killed Emilio. I told her how the Ricci fled Verona County and became an unspoken name among our families.
“I can’t believe it,” she sighed, the sound making my heart ache. The last thing I ever wanted was to cause Arianne any pain. But with every revelation came a new hurt.
“Scott’s your... cousin.”
“Distant cousin.” That fucker might have had Marchetti blood in his veins, but he would never be family.
“Do you think he knows?”
“Does it matter?” My brow quirked up.
“No, I guess not. Why did you tell me?”
“Because...” I pulled her closer, putting us nose to nose. “You need to understand the severity of the situation. Scott and his dad are out for blood. They want to bring down our families. I think the hit on you was a way to incite war between the Marchetti and Capizola. If it had been... successful...” I barely got the words out over the lump in my throat. “Your father would have demanded revenge.”
Arianne scoffed. “You don’t know that. He doesn’t care about me.”
“He does, Bambolina. In his own messed up way, I think he thinks he’s protecting you.”
“By promising me to the family who wants to see us fall?”
“But what if he doesn’t know the truth? Think about it... If he suspected my father was behind the hit, maybe he turned to the Fascini to strengthen his position. Fascini and Associates are well connected. Together, Mike and your father would be a force to be reckoned with.”
“So what’s his endgame? If Mike Fascini is really who you say he is, then where is all this leading?”
It was the one thing I still hadn’t figured out. There were other ways to get revenge. Anyone with enough money could pay for someone to disappear or be taken out. They could make it look like an accident, a tragedy no one would question.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty,” I said.
“Or maybe he has some bigger plan we still don’t know about.” Arianne let out a weary sigh.
“Hey.” I kissed the corner of her mouth. “This doesn’t change anything. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I’m engaged to Scott, Nicco. They want me to marry him.”
Every muscle in my body tensed. “You will never be his,” I ground out.
Arianne was mine.
“This,” I pressed my hand against her breastbone, right where her heart lay. “Is mine. One day, when all this is over, I’ll make you mine, Bambolina. You’ll be my wife. My queen. Do you understand that?”
Her bottom lip quivered as she gazed up at me with tear-stained eyes. “Tell me you understand that,” I said, desperation clinging to every word.
“I’m scared, Nicco.” Silent tears streaked down her cheeks, and my heart broke for the girl who had already faced so much. “When I was at the restaurant with him... he went out of his way to make me uncomfortable, to let me know that he’s the one in control.”
“Did he... touch you?” My voice shook with anger. Luis had told me everything was fine, that Scott had kept his hands to himself. But I sensed it wasn’t the full story.
“Not like that, no. But something happened...”
Red mist began to descend over me, my grip on Arianne’s waist tightening. “I need you to move, Bambolina.”
“Nicco, don’t—”
“I’m okay,” I said, “but I need space. Please...” My voice cracked.
Arianne crawled off my lap, pressing herself against the headboard and folding in on herself while I stood up, pacing the room like a caged animal.
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” she whispered.
“What did he do?”
“It wasn’t anything really.” Her eyes drifted past me as if admitting this to me was a burden too big to bear. “I wanted to leave. He wanted to stay. But I told him I was leaving. We got outside to the car and he told Luis he could drive. He got in my space and brushed my waist, that’s all. But it felt so possessive, so intimate. Everything came rushing back to me. It was like this giant wave just hit me.” She finally lifted her eyes to mine again. “Luis thinks I had a panic attack. I passed out.”
“Fuck.” My fist shot out, crashing against the solid wall. Pain ricocheted through my knuckles and down my wrist, burning like a motherfucker.
“Nicco!” Arianne clambered off the bed and rushed to my side.
“Wait.” I held up my other hand to stop her. A dark angry storm was raging through me. I wanted to hit something, to hurt and bleed.
I needed it.
Dark rivulets of blood seeped over my hand, but I barely felt it. I was too wired. Too hungry for the kill.
“Let me take a look at it.” Arianne stepped forward and I jerked back, like a caged animal being riled.
“Nicco, it’s me. It’s only me.” She had me cornered with no way out. My body trembled violently as I desperately tried to hold on to my frayed rope of control.
“Nicco...” Arianne brushed the hair from my face. My head hung low, my shoulders hunched and tight. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to hunt him down and kill him with my bare hands.
“Come back to me.” She gently lifted my busted hand and inspected the damage. “It needs cleaning. Let me see what there is.” Arianne left me and went into the bathroom. When she came back, she had a small first aid kit. “I found it in the cabinet. Sit.” Her gaze went to the bed, but I remained rigid.
“I need to stand.”
“Okay. Hold still.” She worked in silence, cleaning me up and bandaging my hand. My pulse began to slow, the tightness in my chest easing.
It was her.
Her touch, her calmness.
“I’m sorry,” I choked out.
Arianne took my face in her hands and looked right at me. God, I wanted to drown in the dark pools of honey. “Talk to me.”