Bound By Love

by Reilly, Cora

  And that was the understatement of a lifetime. Damn it.

  “The asshole has been on your death list for a while. He’s been stirring up shit. You are glad he’s gone—admit it. We’ve discussed having him killed countless times. I decided to finally act.”

  “Of course I wanted him dead, but not in his own fucking home at his Christmas party. Damn it, Matteo. Can’t you think first and shoot second for once?”

  I could tell that he wanted to make a joke, probably about having stabbed Bardoni and not shot him, but I narrowed my eyes and he shut up. “I’ll call Romero. He’s keeping an eye on Aria and Gianna, but we’ll need him here to deal with this fucking mess.”

  I called Romero. He picked up after the first ring. “In how much trouble are we?”

  Trust Romero to know shit had happened. “Come to Bardoni’s office asap.”

  When Romero joined us a few minutes later and took in the scene, he looked at Matteo. “You killed him?”

  “Why did it have to be me?” Matteo asked.

  “Because you’re the crazy one,” I muttered. His sanity hadn’t improved since his wedding to Gianna. I turned to Romero. “Can you make this look as if Bardoni killed himself?”

  Romero grimaced. “Few people stab themselves in the brain.”

  “There’s always a first time for everything,” Matteo said with a fucking grin. I glared at him.

  “Oh, come on. It was funny.”

  I had to stifle a laugh. Matteo was a crazy fucker. “Search the room for a gun that could have blown his fucking head off. I don’t need the Bardonis on my back right now. I want this matter dealt with quietly,” I ordered.

  “No matter how we make it look, the Bardonis will suspect something. They won’t believe it was suicide. Bardoni was far too narcissistic to end his own life,” Matteo said.

  “Maybe I should put a fucking ankle monitor on you, too,” I growled. “You are a ticking time bomb.” I’d been the one who had suggested he put that thing on Gianna, but apparently he needed more supervision as well.

  Romero stopped searching the drawers of the desk. “Even if the Bardonis suspect something, they won’t say it aloud. If they don’t have proof, they won’t seek retribution.”

  Matteo shook his head. “I wouldn’t count on it. But we’ll make sure they won’t get a chance for revenge.”

  Matteo’s knife was still wedged in Bardoni’s fucking head. If someone entered the room now, we’d have to turn this Christmas party into a bloodbath. “Maybe you should pull your knife out of Bardoni’s head. Nobody will believe it was suicide with your blade stuck in his chin.”

  Matteo carefully removed the knife and jumped back before blood could get on his clothes.

  Romero pulled a high-caliber Smith & Wesson from a drawer in the cupboard behind the desk. “This could do.”

  I nodded. Romero was my best soldier hands down. I knew why I’d chosen him to protect Aria, which reminded me that she was currently unguarded. “Good. Matteo and I will return to the party. Wait about five minutes before you blow his head off, then get the fuck out of here. Matteo and I will hopefully be here first, and in the commotion nobody will notice you are gone.”

  Romero was already busy figuring out the best angle to shoot Bardoni and barely reacted when we slipped out of the room and closed the door. The annoying redhead stood at the end of the corridor.

  “Make sure she doesn’t let something slip,” I muttered. “And we’ll have a talk about this fucking matter later.”

  “Don’t worry. Gianna can lie if she has to.”

  My eyes moved to Gianna. “Oh, I don’t doubt she can lie very well if she wants to. But she’s not exactly the most trustworthy person.”

  “She’s my wife,” Matteo growled.

  “That’s the problem,” I said as I walked away. Aria was clutching a wineglass in her hands, eyes filling with relief when she spotted me. She excused herself from a conversation with a young woman I couldn’t place and came toward me. I gripped her arm and she shot me a questioning look.

  I couldn’t tell her what was going on with so many people around us. I led her toward the buffet table, making sure enough people saw us. “Luca,” she said quietly, body tense.

  I gave a small shake of my head, and just then a loud shot rang out. Playing my part, I pulled my Beretta and whirled toward the direction of the noise. Aria’s body jerked against mine, fear flashing across her face. I leaned down to her ear. “Stay here. It’s nothing, trust me.”

  I rushed toward Bardoni’s office with the other men, shoving some of them away to be at the front. Matteo, too, came running. “What’s going on?” he shouted.

  Bardoni’s wife let out a high-pitched wail when she spotted her dead husband. It was a horrible attempt at acting.

  When I returned to Aria later and met her worried gaze, I swore to myself that I would never have Aria see me like that, because I knew her agony would be real. I was leading a life full of death, and I didn’t exactly fear dying, but since Aria came into my life I had another reason to stay alive.

  Things went smoother than I’d hoped after the Bardoni incident. Bardoni’s wife and daughter didn’t seem to miss him, and his son was a sniveling coward who would never act on his own.

  Of course, Bardoni’s Christmas party wasn’t the last time Matteo fucked up.

  Business associates had invited us to their Christmas party five days before Christmas in a warehouse, which had been turned into a winter wonderland with fake snow and a bar carved out of ice. Matteo had been in a terrible mood all evening, because of Gianna, naturally. She refused to fall for his charm.

  Aria sent me a placating look. “Let’s enjoy the rest of the evening.”

  Now that I’d sent Matteo and Gianna away, that was maybe an option.

  “Will you dance with me?” Aria asked, her expression hopeful and soft. If we hadn’t been surrounded by so many people, I would have kissed her, but as it was I gave a nod and pulled her against me. She released a small sigh as we began moving to the music.

  “Will your sister ever come to terms with being married to my brother?” I asked quietly.

  Aria raised her eyes. “I don’t know. I think she really likes him but she doesn’t want to admit it.”

  “Why? Does she enjoy making everyone miserable so much?”

  Aria pursed her lips, her steps faltering, but I steadied her. “That’s not it. She feels guilty for liking a man like Matteo.”

  My lips twisted. “A man like Matteo?”

  “Gianna thinks she will have blood on her hands if she accepts Matteo’s dark side. She feels guilty. She wants to be a good person.”

  “What about you?” I murmured.

  Aria’s brows drew together. Her hand traveled up my back until her palm pressed against the tattoo on my shoulder. “You know that I accept every part of you.”

  “I know,” I said, lowering my voice even more. “But do you feel guilty because of it?”

  “Guilty for loving you? No, never,” she said firmly, not a hint of doubt in her voice, and my chest swelled with love for the woman in my arms. “If that makes me a bad person, I don’t care.”

  “You are good, Aria. Nothing about you is bad,” I whispered fiercely.

  She rewarded me with one of those smiles, and I had trouble keeping my hard mask. “I think you may be biased.”

  “I’m not. It takes a lot of goodness to cancel out my darkness.”

  She huffed but I didn’t get the chance to say more because my phone started ringing. “Fuck,” I muttered. Aria and I moved off the dance floor and I checked the screen. “Matteo,” I said, annoyed. Aria followed me toward a calm corner of the warehouse.

  I took the call, feeling my blood boil. “I’m not in the mood to talk to you, Matteo. You acted like a major asshole tonight.”

  A female sob sounded on the other end. I tensed and Aria moved closer.

  “Gianna?” I asked carefully as I headed toward the door and walked outside.
Aria had trouble keeping up with my pace. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “He’s dying,” Gianna said.

  I stopped in my tracks. “What are you talking about? Give me Matteo.” My breath left my mouth in clouds from the blistering cold, and Aria shivered beside me.

  “I can’t. The Russians attacked us. There’s so much blood, Luca, so much blood.”

  My throat constricted. “Is Matteo alive?”

  Aria gasped and pressed up to me. “Luca?” I shook my head, and her eyes filled with tears. “Call Romero and tell him to bring Sandro.”

  Aria took out her mobile, following my orders.

  “He’s not breathing. He was a moment ago, but he’s not anymore,” Gianna whispered.

  If he’d still been breathing not too long ago, he could survive. Matteo was a fighter. Aria nodded at me and lowered her phone.

  “Gianna, you have to do CPR. I’ll be there soon. I have your GPS coordinates. But you’ll have to get him breathing or it’ll be too late.” I motioned for Aria to follow me as I jogged toward my car. She was fast on my heels and we both got into my Aston Martin.

  “Give me your phone. I need to track Matteo’s cell,” I told her, still pressing my own mobile against my ear, but Gianna had been silent on the other end for a while.

  “Gianna?” I said as I revved the engine. Static crackled in my ear and for a heart-stopping moment, I thought Gianna had hung up. This was her fucking chance to escape once and for all. If Matteo died, she’d be free. But if she let him die to be free, even my love for Aria wouldn’t stop me from hunting her down.

  “I know you feel like Matteo trapped you, that he ruined your life, but no matter what you think, he didn’t do it to make you miserable. For some unexplainable reason Matteo loves you. You don’t have to believe me. You can keep hating him but don’t leave him alone, not now. If you help me save his life, I’ll grant you freedom. I swear it on my honor and my life. Aria is here. She’s my witness. You will get money, a new identity and even protection from the Outfit if you want. It’s all yours, if you save his life.”

  Aria’s lips parted in shock, eyes wide and incredulous but I kept my eyes on the street, following the directions of Aria’s phone.

  “Okay,” came Gianna’s reply.

  That fucking bitch. I stifled my fury and focused on saving my brother’s life. “You have to do chest compressions. Hard and fast. Don’t worry about breaking his ribs. Thirty pushes, two breaths. Fast.”

  I could feel Aria’s eyes on me the entire time.

  “He’s not reacting!” Gianna shouted.

  “Keep doing it,” I ordered. There was silence on the other end, and my throat got even tighter. Aria touched my leg but didn’t say anything.

  “We’ll be there in ten minutes,” I got out past the lump in my throat. “How’s Matteo?”

  More silence, and I stiffened. “Gianna? Are you still there?”

  “Yes. Matteo is breathing again.”

  Relief surged through me and Aria squeezed my thigh tightly. She let out a shuddering breath. “Good. Stay where you are,” I said quietly. My eyes were drawn to the rearview mirror where I could see Romero’s car approaching.

  “Don’t worry,” Gianna said.

  The moment we arrived, I saw Matteo’s smashed car. I hit the brakes, shoved open the door and ran toward Matteo. I fell to my knees beside him and did a quick scan of his injuries. His head was covered in blood, but like Gianna had said he was breathing. Romero and Sandro joined me.

  “Called the Doc,” Romero informed me as he sank down on the ground beside me. Aria was talking to Gianna, who still hovered beside Matteo as if she actually gave a damn if he lived or died. Since we’d been little Matteo and I had protected each other; it had been us against the rest of the world—against a sadistic father, against a mother who let her despair out on us, against the enemies that wanted to see us dead.

  I looked up from my brother to Gianna. Just seeing her face made me want to kill her. To think that I had to convince her to save Matteo’s life… “Get her away. Take my car and drive her to our apartment.”

  “Where are you taking Matteo?” she dared to ask.

  “To the hospital. This is too serious for our Doc,” I said, trying to keep it together in front of Aria, but I gave Gianna my coldest smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll honor my promise. When I return to the apartment, we’ll make the necessary arrangements to ensure your freedom.”

  “Maybe Gianna wants to go to the hospital with Matteo,” Aria suggested softly as Sandro and I lifted Matteo off the ground.

  “She doesn’t. Help her gather her things from Matteo’s apartment, so we can get her settled in her new life before my brother returns home.” I didn’t want her anywhere near my brother ever again.

  ARIA

  I grabbed a few clothes out of Matteo’s wardrobe even if it felt strange to rummage in his underwear, and stuffed them into the small bag with a couple pairs of sweatpants and shirts as well as socks.

  After that, I went into his bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush. My eyes lingered on Gianna’s hairbrush that she hadn’t taken with her. Sandro had driven her to a hotel. She had taken Luca up on his deal. I couldn’t believe her decision was final. I’d seen how she’d looked at Matteo when she thought no one was paying attention. Sighing, I turned and headed back to the elevator.

  Even if she changed her mind, I didn’t think Luca would ever forgive her. He was convinced she would have let Matteo die if he hadn’t made his offer. I’d rarely seen as much hate in his eyes as when he’d looked at Gianna yesterday.

  The elevator took me back up to our penthouse. Luca perched on a barstool, a coffee on the counter in front of him and his eyes trained on his phone. He looked up when I entered but the tension didn’t leave his face. I walked over to him, dropped the bag beside the bar and stepped between his legs. He put the cell down and cupped my face. “Where is he?”

  “In the big guest bedroom,” he said, looking exhausted, shadows under his eyes.

  “Soon he’ll be back to annoying you,” I assured him.

  Luca smiled wryly. “He was already a pain in the ass when I picked him up from the hospital today.”

  I searched his eyes. “I’ve never seen you as worried as you were yesterday.”

  His fingers trailed down my throat then pushed my collar off my shoulder, revealing the small scar there. “You didn’t see my face when you got shot.”

  “You didn’t lose me back then, and you didn’t lose Matteo.”

  Luca stroked my scar then his gray eyes met mine, full of emotion. “You took a bullet to save my life, while your sister would have let my brother die for her own fucking freedom.”

  I didn’t try to defend Gianna, even though I knew deep down that he was wrong. Luca leaned forward and kissed my scar, then my throat until his mouth claimed my lips. His phone rang and he pulled back with a sigh, glancing down at the screen. It was Sandro. He picked up and listened for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He hung up, sighing. “I need to go to a meeting with my Captains. We’re going to plan our retribution.”

  Surprise washed over me. He usually held back with information like that, and it showed me how rattled he still was because of Matteo.

  “I will keep an eye on him,” I said with a reassuring smile.

  Luca frowned. “Romero and Sandro are both out. I will tell Romero to come back as soon as possible, but it might be an hour. I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone.”

  “I won’t be alone. Matteo is here.”

  “Matteo is injured and probably passed out again.”

  “Luca,” I said firmly, touching his chest. “Nobody can get inside the penthouse without a code, and Matteo is still deadly when he’s injured. I’ll be fine until Romero returns.”

  Luca stood and pulled one of his guns from his holster, then handed it to me. “Just in case.”

  I didn’t point out that I didn’t have much practice sh
ooting a gun. He kissed me, before he walked toward the elevator, already lifting his mobile to his ear.

  The moment he was gone, I stuffed the gun into the back of my pants, then picked up the bag with Matteo’s clothes and headed toward the guest bedroom. I hesitated. Matteo and I hadn’t been alone since he’d attacked me seven months ago. Pushing back the memories, I turned the handle and slipped in quietly. My eyes landed on the bed where Matteo was stretched out, his back to me. He was covered by the blankets, only his disheveled and still matted hair peeking out.

  Relieved that he was asleep, I headed toward the wardrobe on the other side of the bed to put away his clothes. I opened the door.

  “I don’t think you need that gun. I’m a fucking mess anyway,” Matteo said.

  I cried out, dropped the bag and whirled around, my back colliding with the wardrobe as my eyes flew to the bed. Matteo sat up, brown eyes attentive despite their swelling. He regarded me silently.

  He was dressed only in sweatpants, and his upper body was covered in bruises and cuts. He looked a mess but I didn’t relax. I straightened despite my racing pulse.

  He sighed. “You can stop being scared of me, Aria. I told you I’d never threaten you again, much less hurt you, and I meant it.”

  I wasn’t scared. I was wary. “I got some clothes for you.”

  He nodded then grimaced. “You don’t need to unpack. I won’t stay here forever. You can leave now.”

  I dropped the bag and headed for the door but stopped when I saw Matteo pushing to his feet. “What are you doing?”

  “Going to take a piss,” he muttered, taking a step toward the bathroom and swaying precariously.

  I rushed toward him and wrapped an arm around his middle without a second thought. He leaned heavily on me for a moment before he caught himself and tried to straighten, but I didn’t let go of him. I wasn’t sure if his tension was because he didn’t want to show weakness in front of me, or because he worried his closeness would make me nervous.