If she could only see me now.
After threading the other end of the hair tie through the buttonhole, I wrapped the opposite end back around the button. That gave me a flexible waistline while still keeping the things up so I could focus solely on talking to people instead of wondering when my pants were going to drop to my ankles.
I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror. “Now, for a shirt that covers all that.”
I found a gray tunic shirt stuffed at the back of my pajama closet. I couldn’t believe I still owned this thing. I hadn’t seen it in years. I held it up to me before sliding it over my head, and —damn it—the thing still fit. It was tight in the chest but was flowy around my waist. Perfect for covering up the jimmy-rigged jeans without drawing attention to me.
I sat down and rolled up the cuff of the pants before slipping into some flat boots.
With my sunglasses and my silk headscarf, I meandered into the hallway.
“Bonnie,” Israel called.
I pressed myself against the wall. “Yeah?”
“Can you get us some more seltzer water, too?”
I sighed. “Of course. Anything else?”
“Nope. That’s it.”
“Any limes or anything?”
He paused. “Yes. We need more limes, too.”
Of course he did. “Why don’t you just go into the kitchen and make me a list. Then, I can order all of it at once, so we don’t forget anything.”
“That could take a while. We haven’t done a grocery run in a few weeks.”
Perfect. “I’ll put on something nice for you tonight if you make me a list.”
He chuckled. “No need to bargain with me. I’ll do it. Just give me some time.”
“You can have all the time you need. I’ve gotten into reorganizing the closet anyway.”
I heard him laughing as his footsteps fell away from me. I slowly crept down the stairs and peeked down the hallway.
His shadow danced in the kitchen. This was my shot. But when I looked at the elevator, I knew damn good and well he’d hear those doors opening and closing.
Until I heard him put on some music in the kitchen.
Perfect.
I pressed the elevator button, and the doors opened. But I peered down the hallway one last time. It almost looked like he was dancing in the kitchen by himself, and part of me was envious at that. I’d love to dance in the kitchen with him. It sounded so romantic. Me, barefoot and pregnant with his child. Him, doting on me and giving me kisses as he bent me over.
I almost forgot what I had set out to do.
Until I hear the doors closing.
“Shit,” I whispered.
I snatched up my purse and slipped through the doors before they closed. I slid on my sunglasses and wrapped myself up in the silken headscarf, knowing damn good and well I’d also have to dodge and dip around guards once I got to the main lobby. I had to keep an eye out, too. Without Israel at my side, I had to keep a lookout for men that seemed suspicious.
Because without Israel beside me, I was taking my life into my own hands.
Israel
I danced around in the kitchen as I opened the fridge and took stock of what we needed. I opened pantries and cabinets as Renata Tebaldi’s voice filled the corners of my penthouse. My word, what a hefty voice that woman had. I remembered listening to her a great deal growing up whenever my father had wanted to listen to music in his study. I’d seen my mother and my father dancing to her songs many times in the kitchen while cooking together. And one day, I hoped to do the same with my own wife.
With my Bonnie.
I shook the thought away from my mind and finished scribbling the grocery list down. How domestic this all felt. And yet, I didn’t hate it. It shocked me, in all honesty. I always assumed settling down with a woman made someone weak. Made me weak in the eyes of my enemies. And yes, in some ways, it did. I’d seen my father miss out on plenty of opportunities in his lifetime because people had threatened Mom, had threatened my brother and me, had threatened people he loved and cared for.
But I never perceived that as a weakness.
“You hold yourself against too many standards,” I murmured.
A statement my mother had always made whenever we sat down to have lunch together.
“Bonnie? I have the grocery list for you!”
I picked up the piece of paper from the kitchen counter and walked down the hallway.
“I’m not sure what kind of tomatoes you got the last time you shopped, but they were amazing. Let’s get more of those, yeah?”
But I wasn’t greeted with the sound of her voice as I walked up the stairs.
“Bonnie?” I asked.
I saw our bedroom door hanging wide open. But I didn’t see her inside.
“Bonnie?” I asked again.
The kitchen list fell from my hand as I rushed down the hallway. I stormed into the room and found her closet door hanging open. The drawers of my dresser were pulled out. My clothes tossed about. There were socks on the floor and blouses on the bed, and high heels were strewn about.
“Bonnie!” I exclaimed.
She left. You know damn good and well, she left.
“Fucking woman.” What was I going to do to her?
I marched out of the bedroom and leaped over the edge of the staircase. I planted my feet firmly onto the ground before I rolled my entire back upright. With a sobering breath, I walked to get my coat. I slid my wallet and my keys into my pockets, then hailed the elevator. The mere fact the guards downstairs hadn’t caught her leaving told me I needed to hire new fucking guards.
After I found her, of course.
“Sir, is something—”
I put my hand in the guard’s face. “I’ll talk to you later. Right now, I need my car. Now.”
“Of course, sir. Right away.”
I charged out of the lobby and saw my blacked-out town car pull up. I slid into the back and closed the door, shooing the guards away who followed me. They were useless, anyway, if they couldn't even keep an eye on my damn elevator to see who was coming and going.
“Where to?” my driver asked.
Where in the world would she go? “The closest grocery store, please,” I said, hoping it would be that easy.
I knew she wouldn't be there, but it gave me time to think. And as I concocted a plan of my own, I pulled out my phone. I crafted a text message to Bonnie, consisting of the items on the grocery list I could recall in my muted anger.
Because the only advantage I had at the moment was that she didn’t know I knew she was gone.
Me: Grocery list: eggs, olive oil, those tomatoes you bought last time (double), three red and three white wines, cereal, a gallon of milk (not whole), and sausage.
“We’re here, sir,” my driver said.
I looked up at the sign for the grocery store and grinned.
Me: Go to that corner store that isn’t too far away from our place. The, uh… Store Shack? Or something? That’s where I got the wine from last time. Great place.
After sending those messages off, I sat waiting for my plan to take hold.
I kept my eyes on the parking lot, waiting for her to show up. Time passed slowly, though. Thirty minutes seemed like two hours. An hour and a half later, I was shocked when I saw a yellow cab pulling in, and then she stepped out
“What the…?” I squinted to make sure it was her, but I knew that cadence. I knew that walk anywhere, despite the jeans and the sunglasses and the weird wrap on her head. What in the hell was she doing? It didn’t matter, though. None of it did.
“Wait here for me,” I told the driver.
He nodded. “Of course, sir.”
I walked up to Bonnie, meeting her by the carts. When she reached for a cart, I placed my hand onto it.
“You know, for a woman who wants me to trust her, you really know how to shatter it against the floor.”
She smiled up at me as though nothing was wrong. “Hello, Israel.”
<
br /> “Take that idiotic thing off your head and look at me.”
She removed the scarf and her sunglasses. “Before you lay into me in public, though, you should know that you now have three more storefronts in uptown that have become happy clients of yours.”
What was she talking about? “Have they now?”
She nodded smugly. “Yes, they have. I convinced them, with a bit of time, to rely on us for—”
“You mean, ‘me.’”
She rubbed the back of her neck, her smile getting stronger. “We’re in this together, aren’t we?”
“Did you think that when you left the penthouse, you’d be building my trust?” That didn’t even make sense. “I thought a Moretti never went back on their word.”
Her face reddened with anger. “Don’t you dare put this on me. This was the plan all along. Had you come with me, they would’ve—”
“Had you told me what you were up to, I would’ve sent one of the guards with you.” A man stopped at the end of one of the aisles and stared intently at a box of cereal. Maybe a little too intently. “Because I know damn good and well, they wouldn’t have struck a deal with me. Only you. Because they trust you, not me. Except, now I don’t trust you. Because for some reason, you think I can’t separate business from pleasure when, really, it’s you who doesn’t have that ability.”
She frowned up at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Without those businesses, my uncle’s empire will start to crumble. Those were the businesses that brought him the most money. That fill and line his pockets. Money he uses to pay his personal security team. I suggest you get those businesses set up with different men by the end of the day. I promised them serious protection in exchange for their loyalty to us.”
I pushed the cart back. “To me.”
She closed her eyes for a moment and then smiled at someone behind me, waiting as another customer pushed a cart around us. “Whatever.”
I gripped Bonnie’s arm. “We need to go. Now.”
She wrenched away from me. “Not like that, we won’t.”
“Look around you and tell me otherwise.”
When she looked around us, she saw the men were staring at us. Both talking into their sleeves with their eyes diverting quickly away.
“Shit,” she hissed.
“Car. Now.” We were in trouble. “We’ll talk when we get home.”
I led her back to the town car, and we slipped inside. I turned around, eyeing each and every one of the men to let them know they’d been made. They were pathetic and sloppy, and Pava needed to know that. Then, I dipped into the car and looked over at Bonnie.
“Before you continue to curse me—”
“Drive,” I told the driver, then lowered my voice. “I never expected you to be that clever, you know.”
She looked over at me confused and pleased. “You didn’t?”
I shook my head. “I have to admit, this is a new side of you. Part of me wishes I could’ve been present to hear what you had to say.”
She smiled. “See? I’m not completely useless.”
“Who said you were?”
“Where to, sir?” the driver asked.
I felt Bonnie staring up at me as I drew in a deep breath.
“Home. Thank you.”
As I sat there, trying to swallow down my anger, I felt torn between being impressed and being on guard. Because while her plan was successful, it was still sneaky. Knowing she could get out from underneath me so easily forced my guard to come up. It forced me to rethink some things. Then again, she was an impressive woman. Independent. Head-strong, with a thirst for life and an eye for good business tactics.
And it was something I found myself loving about her.
8
Israel
“Do you know how many times you could’ve been killed out there today?” I asked as the elevator came to a soft stop.
Bonnie stepped out of the cab as she sighed. “I know. But you said it yourself. I know what I’m doing.”
When had I ever said that? “I never said you knew what you were doing. I said what you did was impressive. There’s a difference.”
She tossed her things into the chair. “So, you don’t think I can take care of myself.”
“No, I don’t. Not against men like that. Not against men who were stalking you in that store.”
“You know they probably got that information from your phone, right?”
I looked over at her. “I’ve already addressed that issue. I did it in the car.”
She nodded. “The phone call you made.”
“It’s already being handled. In the meantime, you need to understand just how easy it could have been for a hitman to follow you the second you stepped out of this building.”
“Like the guys at the grocery store.”
“You didn’t notice them until I told you to, did you?”
“I would’ve noticed them…” She clicked her tongue and winced. “…eventually.”
I huffed a breath. “That’s cute. But I don’t think you would have.”
“Then, you obviously have no faith in me.”
“Right now, I still don’t think I can trust you. Screw having faith in you.”
“You might not realize it, Israel, but it hurts when you say that.”
I glared at her. “And it hurts whenever I convince myself that you can be trusted, only for you to go off and do shit like this under my nose.”
She swallowed hard. “To be honest, I didn’t think you were actively trying to trust me.”
Her words gave me pause. “Fair enough.”
“So, what now?”
I had no idea. “Do you really think you can defend yourself?”
She held her head high. “I know damn good and well I can.”
“Good. Because once I get my hands on you, you’ve got less than two minutes before I kill you.”
Her face fell. “Wait. What?”
I charged her, my hands at the ready. Her eyes widened as she backed up, already cornering herself. Already doing half of the work for me. “Israel! Stop!”
“You said you could defend yourself. Now, show me.”
I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her away from the wall. She flailed around and twisted out of my grip, falling to the floor. But when she tried crawling away, I stepped onto her back, pinning her beneath my boot while she struggled.
“Damn it, Israel. I wasn’t ready!”
I sighed. “And you won’t be ready when those men jump you from out of nowhere. I’m only one man, Bonnie. What are you going to do if there’s two?”
“If another man attacks me—”
I dropped to the floor, pinning her with my body. “You’ll have to get past me first.”
“Done.”
She rolled me over and tried to jab me in my ribcage with her elbow, but I was too quick. I slithered out from underneath her and grabbed her ankles, pulling her toward me. She kicked her legs, and I tucked them underneath my arms. I grabbed the fists she tried to beat me with, wrapping my hands around me. As I bent forward to pin her wrists down, her legs came with me. And when she was beneath me, arms spread, and knees bent toward her chest?
There was nothing she could do.
“See?” I asked. “Less than two minutes, and you’re raped before you’re dead.”
Her eyes watered. “Get the fuck off me.”
I stood up and offered her my hand, but she smacked it away.
“You have an unfair advantage. You know no one can beat you,” she said panting.
I shrugged. “Which means if you can beat me, you can beat anyone. Which is going to be our next goal.”
She looked over at me. “Our what?”
I stood with my back straight, knowing this was the right choice. “I’m going to teach you how to fight and defend yourself.”
She licked her lips. “Fine. Try it again, now that I’m ready.”
“You won’t be ready if it happens.”
�
��Doesn’t matter. Just humor me.”
She hunched her shoulders, and her eyes darkened. She shifted her feet, planting herself firmly against the floor. Clearly, she’d had some sort of training. But training didn’t replace the skills needed to work out of a situation that is sprung onto someone. Still, she looked feral. Wild. Animalistic. And as I stood there, watching her welcoming my next attack, I felt the need to be close to her.
So I could be reminded that she was, in fact, alive and safe.
9
Bonnie
I watched him charge me, and I moved out of the way. I spun around on my feet and ducked down before aiming for his legs. I took them out from beneath him, and he fell on top of me. When I felt his hands scramble for my ankles, I rolled him over, kicking him in the chin.
“Fuck,” he growled.
I spread his legs with my body by leaning back and tumbled away from him. I stood up and watched him stumble onto his feet before I charged him again. I wanted him to know I wasn’t helpless. I wanted him to know I wasn’t less capable than him. I wanted him to know I could defend myself, even if I had just a few seconds to see the person coming.
Part of me hoped this would morph into something a bit more personal. “Come on. That all you got, big boy?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Cute. But it won’t save you during something like this.”
He ducked down and charged me, to which I crouched to his level. He swiped his long-ass leg and took me to the ground. He scrambled on top of me, and we began to wrestle, tumbling around the living room. And while he had the upper hand sometimes, I managed to wiggle away and get on top of him.
Before he’d roll me over into something else.
“I have to admit,” he grunted. “You’re pretty good.”
I rolled him over, pinning him down. “You aren’t so bad yourself.”
He kicked me over his head, pinning me on my stomach. “But I’m better. And you’re shit when it comes to surprise scenarios.”
I slammed my head against his nose. “I can outlast you anytime. Anywhere.”
Mob Princess: An Arranged Dark Mafia Romance (Cruel King Book 2) Page 6