Page 13 of Depths of Desire (The Emerald Dagger Mafia #3)

CHAPTER TEN

I slide out of Nico’s office as he is busily working on his computer.

The last thing I want to do right now is continue the conversation.

My stomach rolls, and suddenly, The brunch Carson prepared site like a boulder in my stomach.

I know this is all happening because of my father. I know it deep down in my soul.

I make my way outside to the balcony again, trying to recapture the peace I felt earlier, but with the way my mind is racing, it is no use.

Could my father have sold out Renzo and the Valdici family?

I find it hard to breathe. I know the answer is yes, and it makes it hard to catch my breath.

He could have easily done it if Malrick were the one who asked.

My father is totally beholden to him. He would sacrifice everything for Malrick, including me.

To be fair, I’m not sure he has a choice. I think Malrick would kill my father and my mother if my father defies him. He might even kill me, too. A shudder runs through me, and a sudden chill envelops me, even though I’m sitting in the late afternoon sun.

Even if I wanted to go back, I can’t now.

Forward is the only way. My place is destroyed and despite what Mia said about redecorating, I don’t have the money for that.

Beyond that, I don’t want to go back because those…

creatures on the camera weren’t men. God only knows what they were, but I know they aren’t human.

Even on video, I can tell they are magickal.

They have a halo around them. All the magickal creatures do.

I can always see it, no matter what they’re wearing or what time of day it is.

Just a light halo. The woman who works the counter at my dry cleaner’s.

The man at the garage. They aren’t men and woman at all, or at least they aren’t ‘normal’ men and woman. They’re magickal. I can always tell.

Except when it comes to vampires, I am halo-blind.

I have no idea why. I want to ask my parents, but the one time I tried to bring all this up, they freaked out and made me swear to forget everything and never ask again.

I suspect that I can’t tell vampires because either they aren’t magickal and they are a race of their own, or it’s because they are evil and emit no light. Malrick certainly fits that bill.

Carson once again appears at my elbow, and I jump. “You really have to start making some noise,” I tell him.

He smiles and holds out a cell phone to me. “For you, miss.”

I frown, taking the cell phone and putting it to my ear. “Hello?” I say, but my voice is uncommonly squeaky.

“Luna,” Mia’s voice comes down the line. “Pippa is here with me. We have you on speaker.”

“Mia, Pippa.” My voice breaks, and I swallow hard.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were going to do a runner?” Pippa demanded.

I blink back tears. Hearing my best friends’ voices almost breaks me. I’m exhausted. I’m scared. All I want to do is go back in time to our boarding school days when the worst thing we had to deal with was a math test.

I swallow again. “I…you two are so happy, and I didn’t want to bring you into my mess. I knew if I told you, then you’d have to hide it from your husbands, and I didn’t want to put you in that position.”

“Honey,” Mia snorts, “we don’t tell the boys everything. That would be idiotic.”

Pippa laughs. “Yes, they don’t need to know all that we do, so don’t worry about that.”

The knot in my stomach loosens slightly. “I can't tell you how much I've wanted to have this conversation with you. I've been so scared, and it's hard, because whenever I've been scared before, I've always shared it with you both.”

A soft groan comes through the line. "Luna, you should have just said something. What's going on with your father?"

I take a breath. Do I tell them the whole truth? No way am I sharing about the magickal creatures and vampires. They wouldn’t believe me. But the rest of it? Honestly, at this point, I don't think I can hold it all in anymore.

"Okay... so, my dad, years ago, made a deal with someone. His name is Malrick Comescu—" I don’t tell them how many years ago because Comescu looks about thirty-five. God only knew how old he really is.

"Wait," Mia cuts in. "I know that name."

"Yeah. I figured you would. He's part of the organized crime family from Moldova."

"What kind of deal did your dad make with him?" she asks.

I take another breath. When they hear what I have to say, I have a feeling they’re both going to regret telling me I should share. The kind of regret that makes them keep secrets from their own husbands.

"When your father was still running the family—Mia, way back in the beginning—they were having some serious problems. Power struggles with the southern Italian families. Tension with some of the other big-name mafias—the Albanians, you know the drill.

"Anyway, my father made a deal with the Comescu family. They offered some security for shipments, and I don’t know for sure, but my guess is they took out some key players, which helped solidify your father's hold on the family. It also solidified my father’s and Pippa's father's places beside him. And it all went swimmingly.”

I don’t even try to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “The thing is, part of that deal was… me.”

There’s silence on the other end of the phone.

“What do you mean—‘you’?” Pippa asks slowly.

“I mean, my father agreed that I would marry Malrick Comescu when I was old enough. At a time they could both agree to.”

“Holy shit,” Pippa whispers.

Mia has remained silent this entire time. That worries me.

“Mia?” I call her out.

“I’m thinking,” she says.

“I know what you’re thinking,” I respond. “You’re thinking my marriage to Comescu would tie the families together. That, business-wise, this would put us ahead. I know that’s exactly what you're thinking. It’s what my father thought all those years ago.”

“Luna—” Mia starts.

“Don’t you Luna me. I know that's what you're thinking, because ever since you married Renzo, you’re all business. This is why I didn’t tell you anything. Because you'd just be right there beside my dad, selling me out."

"That's not true. You're not giving me a chance?—”

“Really?’ The perception of my good friend’s betrayal stings. “Tell me where I'm wrong.”

She stays silent for a second, and I know she's choosing her words carefully. Which means she's selling me out.

"Comescu is a son of a bitch," she says finally.

"He and his family have been a thorn in our side for as long as I can remember. And you're right—back when my father was in charge, Comescu was making inroads. Now that Renzo’s in charge, it’s stepped up.

He was always content to take a back seat or at least rule his own area.

But he's expanding. A marriage to you could change all that. "

"Mia, I'm gonna stop you right there," I say coldly, "because I really don't give a shit about the family.

I don't care what your business ideas are.

I'm glad that you're happy with Renzo, but that's not my life.

I am not sacrificing myself to marry that asshole.

He's cruel, he's mean, and he's cold—and I'm not doing it. So, you can just plan your business strategies around something else." I don’t add that he’s also a vampire, and that I won’t marry a vampire.

I hang up the phone. I knew saying anything was a mistake.

I knew it— I knew it . It also means I have to leave town.

And I need to leave now. Mia is going to tell Renzo, who is going to talk to my father, which will set the whole thing off.

Once Renzo discovers that my father’s been helping Malrick, then the shit is really going to hit the fan.

I do not want to be anywhere near Genoa when that happens.

I’m sure the ship sinking was Malrick taking a swipe at the Valdicis.

It would be exactly the type of thing he would do.

I go back inside in search of Carson. I find him in the kitchen.

“Carson, do you have a backpack or an overnight bag I could borrow?”

“Yes, Miss.” He disappears for a moment and comes back with a good-sized backpack.

“Going somewhere, Miss?”

“No. I just like to be ready. You know how it is,” I offer him a quick smile, “being in l a famiglia —you always have to have a go-bag. I’ve been trained.”

I smile again, but I know it’s brittle. Does he believe me? I really don’t care.

I turn and head up the stairs to the bedroom I’m staying in. I open the closet—and somehow, there are more clothes there for me. I don’t know where Carson dug them out of or when they arrived, but he managed to find quite a few.

I sort through, picking out shorts, T-shirts, a couple of dresses, and some long pants. I grab a sweater, then fill the bag with underwear and socks. I grab my toothbrush from the bathroom, toss it in the bag, and zip it up.

And then I stare. I’m ready to go. But how do I get there? It's not like they’re going to let me call an Uber. And where is there?

Tonight, I tell myself. When everyone’s asleep.

But I have a feeling that won’t work either.

Still, at some point tonight, I’m going to have to sneak out.

Maybe I’ll take a walk around the property.

Nico’s gated estate should be safe enough.

I’ll have to convince Nico, but I think he’ll go along with it.

I’ll make him go along with it. His speech earlier left me frozen.

I didn’t know whether to be angry that he was so arrogant or touched that he’d take the time to acknowledge my strengths.

It was…confusing.

Just another reason to get away from here.

Nico confuses me too much. It would be so easy to like him.

To stay with him. But that would just lead to more problems. Nope, I just have to bring the backpack down, hide it somewhere, and then take it with me when I go out.

If I can get off the property, I can call an Uber to take me directly to the Nice airport.