Page 22 of Beautiful Torment (Empire of Kings #1)

ABELLA

A wave of nausea rolls through me as I pause on the stairs to the private jet. Once I board, there’s no going back. I’m still holding out hope I’ll wake up from this dream any second now. But Gabi’s voice anchors me to the present, where the undeniable truth awaits me.

“You okay?” she whispers.

A panicky feeling settles in my lungs, triggering every survival instinct that tells me to run. I choke it down.

Pretend.

Pretend.

Pretend.

“Yes.” I force the word through clenched teeth.

Valentina sighs from her position on the top stair, reaching out to help me along. I fumble my way to my seat with their assistance, as far from my father as I can manage. It still isn’t enough to escape his glare when I take a glass of champagne from the stewardess and swallow it in three gulps.

“Don’t be sloppy, Abella,” he warns.

All eyes on the plane turn to me, and heat rushes to my face. It doesn’t matter that it’s just my bridesmaids on the flight. Being scolded in front of them like I’m a child is humiliating, no matter how you slice it.

Mariella shoots my father a glare when he turns away, and Valentina secretly flips him off.

Truthfully, I don’t know why he’s even on the same flight when he could be traveling with the other men.

But if I had to guess, this is his way of ensuring I don’t run off and his million-dollar wedding deal doesn’t fall through.

The stewardess returns and takes my glass, and I don’t dare ask for another one.

As the crew prepares us for takeoff, we all settle in, and the cabin falls silent.

My stomach is in knots as I stare out the window, wondering what the chances of survival would be if I parachuted myself off this jet at forty thousand feet.

My phone chimes, and I glance down to see a text from Matteo.

See you there.

I stare at those three words for far too long, typing out at least ten different replies, all of which revolve around me begging him not to go through with this. But in the end, I send none of them, knowing it’s already too late. He’s ignored every request I’ve made.

I spoke to him briefly to offer my condolences, and he kept it short, leaving emotion out of the conversation. Matteo loved his father, but he never had the same bond with him that Angelo did.

As I close my eyes and lean back against the seat, it’s his face that I see. And for him, my heart bleeds. It feels wrong because I should be concerned about my fiancé. I should want to comfort him. But all I’ve been able to think about is how Angelo is handling this.

“Don’t worry.” Val leans over to whisper in my ear. “We’ll have two days to relax before the wedding. And by relax, I mean get as drunk as you need to. Papà won’t hang around to supervise once we’re at the resort.”

I open my eyes and glance at my father, making sure he’s not eavesdropping.

“Can you finally tell me where we’re going?”

“A little town called Saturnia in Tuscany,” she says. “You’re going to love it.”

“I thought Matteo would have chosen the villa in Chianti.”

“This place offers more privacy.” She shrugs.

By privacy, she means there’s less chance of our enemies showing up to put a bullet in my head as I walk down the aisle.

It makes sense, considering the vineyard would have been the most obvious choice for our wedding.

Regardless, it doesn’t matter where the wedding takes place.

The fanfare isn’t for me. It’s to send a message of a united front between our families.

“Rest up,” Val says. “We’ll be arriving early in the morning, and we have a full schedule planned.”

A quick glance around the cabin confirms everyone else is doing the same. Mariella has a pair of headphones on, while Serafina, Lucia, and Gabi have closed their eyes and settled in for the flight. Natalia is flying separately with Alessio and the kids, but she’ll be there to greet us.

At least there’s one silver lining in choosing not to run away.

I’ll always have my friends.

“Hey.” Gabi pokes my foot. “Don’t fall asleep in the sun. You’ll burn to a crisp.”

I open an eye to peek up at her, wondering how it’s possible she hasn’t hit her wall yet. Usually, she crashes hard after a few hours of socializing. But somehow, after a full afternoon, she’s still hanging in there.

We’ve spent the day being smeared with mud, massaged, exfoliated, waxed, and oiled. At lunch, I ate a toasted sandwich bigger than my head with no regrets, and now all I want to do is sleep. But the girls have other plans.

At least put on a hat, Natalia suggests.

“She’s right,” Val says. “A sunburn isn’t exactly giving bridal glow.”

“In that case, maybe I should get extra toasty.”

The joke falls flat as all my friends exchange worried glances. They have questions, but it isn’t something I want to get into right now.

“How’s the water?” I change the subject, my gaze skimming over the shimmering blue spring this resort is famous for.

“Life changing.” Lucia floats to the surface, closing her eyes as she bathes in the sunshine. “You should get in. They say it has healing properties.”

“So do grapes.” I snag one from the fruit bowl beside me and pop it into my mouth. “I’ll heal from here.”

“Suit yourself.” Gabi shrugs. “That guard hasn’t stopped staring at your melons all afternoon, and he’s got the boner to prove it.”

I eye the guards around the perimeter before my gaze settles on one by the restaurant.

Sure enough, his attention lingers on my chest, and the outline of an erection bulges against his pants.

Being that the Vitales rented out the entire resort for the weekend, there are a lot of guards on patrol, and I don’t recognize most of them.

“Is he one of yours?” I ask Mariella.

She follows my gaze and nods. “Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll handle this.”

“This should be good,” Serafina says.

We all watch as Mariella swims to the edge of the pool and summons the guard over with a whistle. “Hey, Cam. C’mere.”

“Miss Vitale.” He stalks over and stands before her, his gaze dipping to her bikini before he looks at her face. “What can I do for you?”

“Come closer.” She gestures for him. “I want to tell you something.”

He leans down, and Mariella grabs his junk and twists so hard he doubles over and topples into the water with a big splash. A chorus of muffled gasps erupts around us as he flails his way to the surface, and two other guards appear, dragging him from the water.

“Miss Vitale.” Pauly, her personal guard, enters the fray as Nicky joins him. “What would you like us to do with him?”

“Take the creep to another post on the property,” she tells them. “He’s not to have any more contact with us.”

“What the fuck,” the man splutters.

“Just be grateful you’re still breathing,” she says. “If one of my brothers were here, that would have been an executable offense.”

The other two men haul him off, and I shudder. “Thanks for defending my honor.”

“Always, baby girl.” Mariella winks at me. “Now come join us. This is supposed to be a bachelorette party.”

“Exactly,” Serafina chimes in. “Let’s have some fun.”

I groan, and she gives me an evil little smile before she cannonballs into the pool and splashes me with water.

“Ta-da.” She bobs back to the surface and peers over the ledge. “You’re healed.”