by Ash, Nikki
“I’m heading to the security room now to check the footage.”
Johnny and I hang up and I check the hotel room one more time before calling my dad.
“Son, have you already come to your senses?”
“If you did something to her, I’ll kill you.”
“To who? Aria? I haven’t touched her.” I can hear the truth in his words. He doesn’t have her.
“She’s gone. Fuck!” I bark, hanging up on my dad.
My phone rings and it’s Johnny. “Any news?”
“I pulled up the feed. She walked through the lobby about thirty minutes ago toward the back, leading to the beach.” I hear his fingers furiously typing on a keyboard. “The camera ends at the beach. She headed north along the water.”
I hang up and run out the door, taking the stairs to the lobby, and head out back. When I get to the beach, it’s dark, only the moon shining over the water. I make a left and start jogging up the quiet beach. I come across a few couples taking a stroll and stop to ask if they’ve seen a brown-haired woman walking alone down the beach. Nobody has seen her. I jog for what seems like miles until I hit a restaurant. It’s closed down, but I walk up to it, looking for her. She’s nowhere. It’s like she’s disappeared.
I turn around and walk slower back toward the hotel. As I’m pulling my phone out of my pocket to check back in with Johnny, I spot bright pink flip-flops in the sand. Aria’s. I would recognize these anywhere. They match the sweatpants with the writing on her ass. I pick them up and look around. There’s no way she would have gone into the water. I look behind me and see a wooden walkway, so I head that way. Once I get to the end of it, there’s a small park with some restrooms and a parking lot. It’s after two in the morning so the place is deserted. I walk into both restrooms to see if she’s in there, but she’s not.
I dial Johnny’s number. “I found her flip-flops about a mile down. I’ve checked everywhere, Johnny. She’s not here.” Even I can hear the sheer panic in my voice conveying the thoughts I don’t want to speak out loud.
“All right, Boss. Meet me back here and we’ll regroup and make some calls. We’ll find her.”
I don’t respond, but the words are said in my silence. But what if it’s too late?
* * *
It’s been twenty-four hours since Aria has disappeared. The thing about having money and connections is that when you need strings to be pulled, they get pulled. I have law enforcement checking into the cameras near the park. Rome and Caesar have flown out and are making calls. I’m calling in every favor owed to me.
“We found her!” Johnny pulls an image up on the computer. “Miami PD was able to confirm with facial recognition, this is Aria.” I lean in closer to the zoomed-in photo and see her. She’s being carried by a man, her head hanging back like she’s passed out, her bare feet dangling.
“Who the fuck is carrying her?”
“He’s wearing a mask.”
“Zoom in here.” I point to his forearm, which is wrapped around Aria’s thigh as he carries her bridal style down the sidewalk toward the parking lot. Johnny hits a few buttons and the picture, blurry as fuck, appears closer. The word is in black against his white skin: Lorenzo.
“Fuck, Boss.”
“Sebastian has her.” I pick up my phone and call the one man who can help me get her back. “Dad, I need you. Sebastian Lorenzo has Aria.”
“We’ll get her back, Son. But once we do…”
He doesn’t need to finish the sentence. I let her go.
“Yeah, I got it.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
ARIA
The only drug I’ve taken in the last six months has been my anti-anxiety meds, and even those, thanks to my psychiatrist, have been lowered to a mild dose and are only taken when needed. Sebastian Lorenzo has shot me up with enough heroin in the time he’s had me, that I’m not even sure if I’m awake or asleep, alive or dead, but I’m not complaining because as I lie in the bed he has me tied to, as he spreads my legs for the fifth maybe sixth time since I woke up here, I’m grateful that the drugs are running through my system to numb the pain. I can feel the tears running down the sides of my face, hitting my ears.
“Open your fucking eyes, bitch!” A slap against my sex has me jumping up slightly and opening my eyes. With the two black eyes he’s given me, his face is blurry but I can see the anger and disgust in his glare. “The senator made me a promise of twenty million dollars and since he’s dead thanks to your fucking boyfriend, you’re going to pay me.” I don’t bother responding. I’ve already tried to explain to Sebastian I don’t have access to that sort of money. The sale of the shares was close to five million dollars. I offered that to him for him to let me go and he spat in my face. My eyes roll back in my head as my mind fights to escape.
When Weston used to rape me, I’d use my mom as well as my childhood memories as an escape, but now that Gio has become a huge part of my life and my heart, my mind immediately goes to him. My goal has been to not think about Gio. I refuse to let Sebastian take those memories away from me, but the more my body breaks down, the harder he hits me, the more terrified I become that I just might not make it to see another day, and that thought has me wanting to remember Gio, has me wanting to die with only the memories of our love in my head and heart.
Of our trip to the Bahamas. The way he would smile just for me. I mentally replace Sebastian’s slaps and grabs with the gardens at the mansion. Of the art exhibit that now feels like years ago. I try to keep my thoughts on the day he found me in the basement, his promise to protect me. I remember the first time he told me he loved me. I wish I could die right here and now with the memories of him all around me.
Sebastian jerks away from me, jolting me from my only safe space—my mind. I’m thrust into the present. I can feel everywhere he’s violated me. Everything hurts. It’s as though my body no longer belongs to me. The only thing he can’t ever take is my mind. He hasn’t even backed up before I’m throwing up acid all over myself and the bed.
“You dumb slut!” Sebastian slaps me across the face. “Now you can lay in your own filth.” He slams the door behind him and I close my eyes, praying that he kills me and gets it over with.
I’m not sure how long I’m asleep when I hear the door swing open. My eyes snap open and I see Gio stalking toward the bed—a sudden sense of déjà vu hitting me. For a split second, I wonder if I’m dreaming. He scoops me up into his arms and memories of him doing this very same thing six months prior hits me hard. “Are you real?” I hear myself asking.
“Yes, Aria. I’m real.”
“You’re saving me again,” I choke out, raw emotion stuck in my throat. I let my eyes close, knowing I’m safe once again in the arms of Gio, and blocking everything around me out, I fall back asleep.
Chapter Thirty-Four
GIOVANNI
The minute I told my dad I needed to find Aria and who had her, he sprang into action. I knew the only reason he was calling in any favors he had was because I had inadvertently agreed to let her go once she was found. He placed a call to Victor Lorenzo, Sebastian’s father. It turned out, Sebastian had gone behind his father’s back and made a deal with the devil himself, Weston Hightower. In exchange for helping him get Aria back, he would give him a piece of the trust fund, and with that money, Sebastian would be able to come to us to buy back their territory.
Victor ordered his son not to make the deal but Sebastian didn’t listen. After he found out Weston was dead and his money train had come to a stop, he lost it. His dad told him to let it go and when he didn’t, he pretty much disowned him. When my dad called and told him he was holding Aria, Victor was willing to throw his son under the bus in exchange for the ownership of the territory back. My dad, the businessman he is, agreed with the clause we can use that shipyard for all of our shipments at no charge.
Victor agreed and gave us the location to their Miami safe house. With a single call to one of my dad’s enforcers, we were able to
get in and out. Sebastian was killed with a shot to his head before he even saw it coming, and Aria was on a private plane back to Nevada with Dr. Fox waiting for us at the house.
She gave Aria a sedative so she would sleep and checked her out.
Tearing of her anus.
Sperm.
Bleeding.
Damage to the vaginal walls.
Dr. Fox had concluded that Aria had been violently raped in every way possible.
Aria’s words hit me like a ton of bricks. You’re saving me again.
I lost it. I went down to my office and destroyed it. The computer went flying into a wall, papers were thrown around. I don’t know what else I did, but my knuckles were bleeding when Johnny walked in and sat next to me on the floor while I cried like a fucking baby.
You’re saving me again.
I did this! I saved her and then brought her into this life. I swore to protect her and keep her safe and I broke my promise. In my world, people kill over broken promises.
Johnny sat with me in silence for who knows how long before I let out a sigh and got to work figuring shit out. I made several calls and called in a lot of favors, and while it felt like my chest was being crushed the entire time, making it hard to breathe, I knew I was doing the right thing. When I was done, I started to clean up my destroyed office, until Vivian knocked on the door to let me know Aria was waking up. I nodded and stood to go upstairs.
Now I’m standing in front of the bed, staring at Aria. Her eyes are open but they look distant and lost. She blinks slowly but doesn’t say a word. She’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met but even the strongest, break, and my girl is broken. I put a call in to her psychiatrist and she’s going to be here soon.
I sit next to Aria on the edge of the bed. “We need to talk.”
She looks up at me with unshed tears. “You don’t need to say it. I already know.”
“Know what?”
“Sometimes you have to love someone enough to let them go.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
GIOVANNI
One year later
“Giovanni! Earth to Giovanni!” Natalie waves her hands in front of my face, snapping me out of my daydream.
“Yeah. Sorry. Just a lot on my mind. What’s up?”
Natalie gives me the same look she always gives me when she catches me spacing out. “Your mom is here. She’s at the bar having a drink.”
“Okay, thanks.” I stand from behind my desk and close the file I was supposed to be looking at but wasn’t really paying attention to. That seems to be the story of my life this past year. My numbers are down, memberships have decreased, and I don’t really give a fuck about any of it. I head out to the front to meet my mom, looking forward to having a drink more than conversing with her.
“Scotch neat,” I tell Edgardo as I sit next to my mom, who’s sipping on her usual fruity drink. I don’t bother starting a conversation. She’ll do it for me.
She places her drink down and turns toward me. “It’s time for you to go.”
“Go where? I don’t have any meetings today.” Edwardo places my scotch down and I pick it up, downing it in one large gulp before knocking on the bar top for him to get me another.
“To her, Giovanni. I need my son back.”
I let out a humorless laugh and take a slightly smaller sip of the new drink in front of me. “What the hell are you talking about, Mom?” I take another sip and finish off the drink.
“I was wrong last year. I was thinking like the wife of a mob boss and not like your mother. I never should have told you to let her go.”
“It doesn’t even matter. She’s halfway across the world and safe. What would I do? Bring her back here, into this life again? So, what? She can get kidnapped and raped again?” I wince at my own words and reach over the bar, grabbing the bottle of scotch to pour myself another drink.
“Natalie tells me you are drunk every day, Giovanni. We’ve all watched you self-destruct this past year. I thought you would come around but you haven’t.”
“What the fuck do you all want from me?” I roar. Members and staff turn their gaze on me, and I force my voice lower. “You wanted me to let her go, so I did. Dad threatened her. He wouldn’t even help find her unless I agreed. I did what you wanted. What. More. Do you want from me?”
I take a swig straight from the bottle, not even bothering to pour it into the glass tumbler.
“Aria…” my mom says, and I cut her off.
“Don’t you say her name! Her name is not allowed to leave your fucking mouth.” I swipe the bottle and tumbler across the bar, both flying off the end and crashing to the ground. Edgardo jumps into action, without even giving me a second glance, to clean it up. This isn’t the first, third, or probably thirteenth damn time glass has been broken at this bar. My elbows hit the bar top, my head going into my hands as I scrub my face in an attempt to calm down. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ve spoken to your father and you’re out.”
My head shoots up at her words. “What do you mean I’m out?”
The rims of my mom’s lids fill with unshed tears. “You are out of the organization.”
“You’re disowning me?” I ask incredulously.
“No.” She shakes her head. “You will always be our son, and while your dad isn’t happy about you leaving, he will come around. You’re out of the organization. Mario is moving here to take over the restaurant and Casino and Nico is going to take over the bordello and any other business you have. Amber has agreed. They won’t be living here, but he’ll run the place with Natalie. We were wrong to put you in such a position. We had it set in our minds about you and Cecilia.”
I hear what she’s saying, but it all feels so surreal. I’m free. So many times I’ve dreamt about what I would do if I was free, but I never believed it would happen. Could I have walked away a year ago? Yeah, I could have, but Aria wouldn’t let me. She told me she couldn’t come between my family and me. She asked—no, she begged—me to let her go. So, I did. I let her go, and it feels like the day she walked out the door, with her bags in her hands, is the day my heart stopped beating.
“Do you think she’ll want to see me? She was kidnapped and raped because of me.”
My mom’s built-up tears fall and she gives me a sad smile. “If she loves you the way you love her, the way I believe she loves you, I can’t imagine she’d ever hold you responsible for what happened. But there’s only one way to find out.”
“Why are you doing this for me, Mom?”
“Because once upon a time I believed in the fairytale. I believed in the power of love. But somewhere along the way, I got caught up in your father’s world of power and materialistic possessions and began to live a lie, telling myself those two things equaled love. I’ve told your father I’m done accepting him the way he is. I’m done turning my cheek while he cheats on me. If things don’t change, I am filing for divorce.”
My eyes widen at her admission. “You threatened to divorce Dad?”
“That’s right. He says things will be different so we’ll see. I’m not sure if it’s too late for us, but I don’t believe it’s too late for you and Aria.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
ARIA
“Buongiorno! Caffè e pasticceria per favore.”
Francesca, the wonderful woman who owns the bakery I frequent daily, smiles and grabs my usual coffee and pastry. I hand her four euros and make my way to the outside patio to set up my laptop. I plug it into the outlet and connect to the Wi-Fi before taking a sip of the hot, caffeinated goodness.
“Aria!” Trevor calls out my name and waves. “I’m going to grab a coffee and then I’ll join you.”
I nod and reach for my pastry, taking a bite. The buttery flakiness melts in my mouth. I could eat this for breakfast every day. I came across this cute bakery my third day here in Italy. After spending the first two days crying, then spending over two hours video chatting with my therapist, whom I still talk to on a bi-wee
kly basis, she insisted I get out of the flat and explore.
When I left Nevada and stepped on the plane to Italy, I had no idea Gio had gone to such lengths to make sure I was taken care of, but that shouldn’t have surprised me. I don’t think there was anything he wouldn’t do for me. One look into his eyes that night when he told me we needed to talk and I knew what he was going to say. I could hear it in his voice. He had no choice but to choose his family over me. What he didn’t know was that I had made the decision before I was taken to walk away.
I guess you could say our breakup was a bit unconventional, probably because unlike most people who break up because they’ve fallen out of love with each other, we were breaking up because we were in love with each other. Gio gave me my space to heal but still constantly checked on me. A week later, I was packed and got on a plane, leaving my broken heart back in Nevada.
Gio gave me all the information I would need. A car service was waiting for me when I stepped off the plane and took me straight to the gorgeous flat he had rented for me in the heart of Florence. He had contacted an English-speaking art college, which was walking distance from my flat, and through whatever strings he pulled, he had me enrolled and starting classes two weeks later.
He got me in contact with a financial advisor to help me budget and invest my money, and he made sure Dr. Weisberg would continue to see me through video chat as often as I wanted or needed. All of this was put in writing, and the day I walked out of the bordello was the last time I saw or spoke to Gio. We hugged goodbye and I about lost it. He whispered that he would always love me and apologized for hurting me. I was too choked up to respond and so many times in the last thirteen months and seventeen days, I have wished I would have told him I loved him back, told him he didn’t hurt me, he had saved me, and I didn’t blame him for what happened with Sebastian. I didn’t need to ask Gio if Sebastian would ever be an issue. I knew he was dead and would never hurt me again.