Page 116 of Caught in the Crossfire

Thatfucker. Threatening my best friend! I stood, ready to stomp downstairs, but then I froze. “Pretend?”

“Yeah. He laid everything out. He just needs our men for now, and he needs my brothers under control. He said he’ll use them as leverage against me, but he doesn’t want to marry me. If I just let him do what he wants, he’ll let me go when this is over.”

“And you believe that?”

“Strangely, yeah,” she said quietly. She cleared her throat, and I could picture her wiping her eyes.

I had no idea what to think. What to feel. “So what have you been doing since?”

“Pretending, letting him think he’s in control, and trying to figure out how to give you the upper hand. Has it helped?”

I remembered how she’d texted me the date and time for the VCI board meeting. Without that, I wouldn’t have claimed my seat.

“Yeah. It’s really helped, Chi.”

She sighed. “Thank God. I snuck into his computer and saw the meeting, and I listened to whatever phone calls I could when he wasn’t paying attention. I threw a tantrum—pretending that I just wanted to get out from under house arrest—to get him to bring me to that board meeting because I was desperate to see if you showed up. After, he sent me away and told me I had to lie low.”

“Where are you?”

“I don’t even know. Within driving distance of New York, because he had someone drive me here at night. I can see the ocean, but I haven’t left this little house.”

I rubbed my eyes, already thinking through plans. “I can break you out. My men and I can get you free. You can stay with us.”

Despite Max’s warning, there was no way I was going to let her stay prisoner there.

She was quiet for a moment. “I think…I think I’m okay here. It feels a little safer outside the city. And for how much of a dick he is, I do trust that Max doesn’t want to hurt me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. At least for now.”

My jaw worked as I weighed the choice. Try to rescue her. Leave her with Max. But she felt safe. She wanted to stay. “Okay.”

“So tell me about you.” Her voice went conspiratorial. “Who are yourmen?”

I laughed. No use beating around the bush. “I’m in a relationship with five guys. Cas and the Shadows.”

“Five.Girl. Get that dick.”

I snorted. “I’m getting it, and it’s pretty good.”

She squealed. “I knew it! Tell me everything!”

I filled her in on what had happened to me since the last time we’d spoken. I told her about each one of my guys and how much I loved them all. When I got to the part about the kidnapping and the Albanians, I hesitated, my mouth open and frozen. The words stuck in my throat.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said with a cough. The box in my chest rattled. My heart started pounding. My eyes squeezed shut. “It’s nothing.”

I couldn’t tell her. I didn’t want to. I skipped the part about being kidnapped. She’d just worry about me if she knew what had happened. Besides, I was safe now. I had everything under control.

I told her that the Albanians were our biggest problem right now, so Max and I had a temporary truce, but I wasn’t sure how long it was going to last.

The conversation lasted a lot longer than the five minutes Obi had allotted, so I wasn’t surprised when someone knocked on the door.

“Amore. It’s time,” Cas said.

I nodded, turning back to Chiara on the phone. “Chi, I can’t tell you how good it is to hear your voice. Just to know that you’re okay and you’re safe.”