Page 30

O livia

S wiping tears born of anger and frustration from my cheeks, I hurry along the corridor and get into the elevator.

I feel dirty, used, and unbelievably hurt.

The way Piotr looked at me makes me wonder if there’s any way back for us.

His disgust was palpable. He thinks I betrayed him and he hates me for it.

Though I should have been honest with him about Dario from the start, the way he treated me just now isn’t okay. He acted like I meant nothing to him. His revelation about the photographs shocked me. I have no idea how I’m supposed to feel about that.

I need to know how he got ahold of the photos.

I don’t think he did business with Joey Gallo, but of course I know little about my husband’s dealings.

It’s hard to understand why he kept the pictures to himself.

Was he just waiting for the right moment to throw them in my face?

Perhaps it was a game to him, to build me up to where I was happier than I ever believed possible and then wreck the illusion.

Because that’s all it was, right? A fantasy.

Piotr having the photos raises so many questions.

I wonder if he’s the mystery person Dario’s been working with all along.

No, that can’t be right. He said the person who wanted to sell me the photos was a woman.

Perhaps Piotr doesn’t have all the photos, or just as likely, there are duplicates out there.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Joey made copies as insurance.

I feel like shit after what happened between Piotr and me, and the stupid thing is he’s the one I want to seek comfort from.

It’s Piotr’s arms I want around me, his words of reassurance whispered in my ear.

Nobody has ever made me feel as valued as he did, and that makes everything worse.

I fear he’s been laughing at my naivety all along.

A part of me wants to go back to the room and confront him.

I need to know if what we had was real or if he’s been playing me.

I’d like to lay the truth bare and see if there’s anything of our marriage to salvage.

My heart tells me to return to him, to not let anything fester.

I long for his closeness. My head tells me that’s not a good idea right now, that some time apart will allow our emotions to settle. It’s my head I decide to follow.

A quick glance at the elevator’s mirrored wall tells me it would be unwise to return to my party.

People will speculate about my red, puffy eyes and bruised lips.

Wisps of hair have come loose from my ponytail, completing the dragged-through-a-bush look.

Even if I could do something about my appearance, I’m not in the mood to celebrate now.

Hopefully, I can slip out of here without running into anyone I know.

That hope is dashed the moment I step out into the lobby and come face to face with one of the last people I want to see right now. Dante Parisi. He’s a judgmental ass who loves to point out my every little flaw. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to notice how disheveled I am.

“Have you seen Alessia?” he demands.

“No, I haven’t and you should leave her the fuck alone.” I am sick of the men in our world using women as pawns in their ridiculous power plays. “She doesn’t need an asshole like you in her life.”

Dante’s face darkens. If he was any other man, I’d be afraid, but he’s my brother’s closest confidant and no matter how much he’d love to smack me right now, he’d never risk upsetting Antonio. “Keep your opinions to yourself.”

“Fuck you, Dante.” I storm off across the lobby, muttering under my breath. “Fuck all of you.”

As I head for the exit, I spot Leo making his way out of the hotel.

He’s not the brother I would normally choose to help me, but I don’t want to go into the ballroom in search of one of the others.

Leo walks into the street and heads for his car.

His latest acquisition is a flashy neon green McLaren Artura.

It’s not his usual style, but I heard he took it from a debtor and is driving it around to rub salt in the guy’s wounds.

“Leo,” I call after him. “Wait.”

He turns around and looks me up and down. “Olivia? What the fuck happened to you? Where’s Reznov?”

“We had a fight.”

Leo grasps my chin and tilts my head one way and then the other as he inspects my face beneath the glow of the hotel’s exterior lights.

“Ouch,” I grumble when his fingers dig in too hard.

“Did he hit you?” Leo snarls.

“Of course not.” Do I really look so bad that he thinks I’ve been beaten?

“I’ll kick his ass if he did.”

As touching as it is that Leo is willing to avenge me, that’s not what I need him for.

“He didn’t hit me,” I say firmly. “We had a fight, and I walked out. I need somewhere to stay tonight. Can I come to your place?”

Leo looks uncertain. No, worse than that, he looks appalled by the very idea. He rubs the back of his neck. “Wouldn’t Matteo be better? I can go get him.”

Nine out of ten times I would prefer the company of Matteo or even Alessandro, who’s more tolerable now that Emilia has softened his harsh manner, but Leo’s who I’d rather be around right now.

I don’t want someone to console me and tell me everything will be alright.

I want someone to tell me to pick myself up and fight for what I want.

Tough love is what I’ve always got from Leo and for once I’ll welcome it.

“No, I want you to take me to your place and let me sleep in one of the four fucking guest rooms I know you have.”

“Olivia, I…”

Whatever excuse he’s about to pull out of his ass, I don’t want to hear it.

“For fuck’s sake, Leo. I’m your sister, not some disease-riddled outcast you don’t want to let into your home.”

Startled by my tone, he nods. “Okay, get in.”

As I settle into the surprisingly comfortable leather seat of this phallic symbol on wheels, Leo starts the engine. He doesn’t drive off.

“I could drop you off at Mamma’s house,” he says.

Is he still trying to fob me off? I’m not feeling much brotherly love here.

“Leo, for the last fucking time, I want you to take me to your place. You’ll give me a bed for the night. I’ll leave in the morning, and you can go back to pretending I don’t exist except on special occasions.”

His mouth flaps open and shut as he tries to come up with a response. Eventually, he just nods.

“Just don’t disturb Vinnie. She’s sick.”

“I’ll be quiet as a mouse.” I use two fingers to make a cross my heart gesture. “She won’t even know I’m there.”

Leo’s expression still suggests he’d rather jump into a vat of bleach than play host to me for the night, but he doesn’t argue. He pulls away from the curb and takes off down the street at hair-raising speed.

“So, what was your fight about?” he asks.

“Do you care?”

Leo shrugs in a typical display of indifference. “I might have some advice to offer. Vinnie and I have gone a few rounds over most topics.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you treat Vinnie like a whore because she talked to a man, then announce you’ve acquired photos of her that she was being blackmailed over for months?”

“What?” My brother knows exactly which photos I’m referring to because he’s been helping Antonio in his quest to find them. “Why does he… shit!”

I’m pressed back into the seat as Leo suddenly slams his foot down on the accelerator. We take a sharp right and then a left, heading away from his apartment building. I glance over my shoulder to see a couple of black SUVs gaining on us.

“Here.” Leo takes his cellphone from his jacket pocket and thrusts it at me. “Call for backup.”

“Passcode?” I ask as I find the phone locked.

“1504.”

I key in the code, which I believe is Vinnie’s birthday, and open his contact list to find Antonio’s number. I press call and my oldest brother answers after two rings.

“Leo?” he asks.

“It’s me, Olivia. I’m with Leo. We’re being chased by two black cars. We’re headed down…”

I don’t get a chance to find a street sign as a car slams into our side. As the car spins, I scream. I’m thrown against the door and the phone flies from my hand. After what seems an eternity, the car comes to a stop as it slams into a metal post.

Dazed, I take a minute to process what just happened.

My shoulders and chest hurt, but I don’t think I’m badly injured.

Leo, however, is unconscious. Blood gushes from his nose as he lies slumped over the steering wheel.

His side of the car took the brunt of the impact, and he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt.

I reach across to tentatively touch his arm.

“Leo?” I shake him gently. “Leo?”

He doesn’t stir. With shaking hands, I release my seatbelt and look around, trying to find Leo’s cellphone.

It’s on the floor by my feet. Grunting in pain, I lean down to pick it up, but before I reach it, my door is flung open and someone grabs me.

I don’t recognize the man’s face. He’s an ugly brute with a spider web tattoo on his neck.

He drags me away from the wreckage of Leo’s car as a gray box truck screeches to a halt beside us. The back doors open. My captor picks me up and throws me into the back of the truck. There’s already a man in there, pointing a gun at me.

“Get up here.” He motions to the bench seat opposite the one he’s sitting on.

I do as I’m told and clamber up onto the hard metal seat. A moment later, my brother is dropped heavily onto the floor in front of me, still unconscious. Two men jump into the truck. They handle Leo roughly as they drag his arms behind his back and slap metal cuffs on him.

“Who is she?” One of the men, a heavy-set guy with a buzz cut, nods toward me. “She’s not the wife.”

“She’s Reznov’s bitch,” the man on the bench opposite me replies. They all have accents, not Russian, but something similar. “The Italian punk was supposed to grab her, but he failed. We got lucky she was with Volante.”

As the doors slam shut, my heart thuds. I guess if nothing else, I’ve learned that both Leo and I were targets of these thugs. I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt my family and Piotr, but it must be something to do with business.

As the van takes off, its tires spinning on the asphalt, I realize nobody has bothered to restrain me. Clearly, they don’t see me as a threat. I can use that to my advantage.

Leaning into the role of damsel in distress, I heave out a dramatic sigh, close my eyes, and flop forward onto the metal floor of the truck. The impact reverberates through my already aching body, but I don’t make a sound.

One man chuckles darkly. “Pathetic whore. I hope I get to fuck her before we kill her.”

It takes every ounce of strength I have not to flinch at that.

As nobody makes a move to pick me up, I continue to play dead.

The weaker our abductors think I am, the more likely they are to let their guard down.

If they focus on Leo as the greater threat, they won’t notice what I’m doing.

I’ll wait for the right moment to get myself and Leo out of this mess.

Then I’ll gather the joint forces of the Volantes and Reznovs and make the men who took us sorry they were born.