“I don’t want to risk anyone seeing him and word getting back to father.” I pull the drawer open on my desk and pull out the bottle of Jack. Reaching across the desk, I grab the glass and set it in front of me, pouring it full.
“Day drinking now?” She asks. When I look up at her, I can see her raising her eyebrow.
“Yes, you cause me to day drink, Gaia. You don’t listen.”
“I’m an adult. A married adult at that and I want my damn husband,” she whines as she stomps her foot. Yes, very adult like. I take down the glass of Jack and pour another as she watches me.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I tell her. Cue the squeal once more. Gaia runs around the desk and throws herself into my arms, hugging me around the neck.
“Thank you,” she whispers. I pull back and look into my sister’s dark brown gaze.
“You truly love him?” I have thought this over. I know that Preacher took care of her and after the fact, I’d learned exactly what Gaia had done but that doesn’t change the facts. She’s a mafia princess, not a biker chick.
“I do. I’m not sure when I started to be honest. Preacher made me feel safe but he also made me feel in general. I’ve never felt that way for anyone, Enzo. I know what I did was wrong and I regret the way I went about things but I don’t regret a minute with him.” Judging by the look in her eyes, she isn’t lying. She truly does love that man. As much as I’d like to say this is wrong I know you can’t choose who to love.
“I’ll see what I can do. This isn’t going to be an easy feat with father, you do understand that, yes?” She nods her head and climbs out of my lap pulling her hair up on top of her head and securing it.
“I know that. I will do whatever I need to do to help you with that as well but…”
“You need him. I understand, Gaia.”
“Did you send him the message I asked you to?” Her hope filled eyes make me wonder what’s out there in life. If she could find love in a biker, maybe there is someone out there for me. Shaking the thoughts away, I nod in her direction.
“As strange as it was, yes. What did it mean?” She smiles and it melts my heart. If there was one thing I cherished in this life, it’s her. My sister will forever be the reason I breathe.
“It was a verse from the bible,” she adds.
“I’m very well aware of that. What did it mean for him?”
“It was to let him know I wasn’t dead. He had to have seen all that blood…he must have thought…” Her words catch on a sob. I’m out of my chair and pulling her into my arms, holding her as tightly as I can.
“I know. I’m sorry it had to be that way. I couldn’t have father knowing you were still around, Gaia. If he would have known, we would all be dead.” Whispering the words into the top of her hair, she sobs once more.
“I know but it’s been six months, Enzo. Six of the worst months of my life. I miss him so much.” Her tears wet the front of my shirt but I don’t let her pull away. I let her have her moment.
“I know. He will be around soon enough, Gaia. I need you to understand that you can not for any reason leave this house even if he’s here. Do you understand that?” Pulling away from her, I need to see the look in her eyes. I need to see that she understands what I’m telling her because if my father knows that she’s alive and well, that will be end of this plan.
“I know, Enzo. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize your plans.”
“I know you wouldn’t. I’m worried about your hotheaded husband.” That earns me a smile and a laugh. Something I haven’t heard in a very long time.
Something I needed more than I realized.
Chapter Three
Tessa
His hand curls around my throat as he shoves me against the wall. His eyes are like wildfires dancing in the night. He’s pissed. I knew he would be but after the day I’d had I needed a break. Probably not a four hour break but the number of shots I’d downed got away from me quickly.
“I told you to come right back,” he hisses so close to my ear. My body trembles needing something, anything. The haze in my head doesn’t still just because Tino is this close. In fact, it becomes worse. His warm breath dances over my skin before I feel his lips caress me. Closing my eyes, I let the feel of him wash over me, pulling me to another place, another time.
“Tessa? Are you back?” Tino growls before he pulls away and opens the bedroom allowing my mom to walk in. She walks in, her worn body carrying her across the floor until I’m safely tucked in her arms.
“I’m okay.”
“I wish you would stop this, Tessa. Just give it up,” she whispers. She hates what I’m doing and with every right. It’s a dangerous game I’m playing but danger is what keeps me going every day. I can’t live my life like them, in hiding any longer. I have to make things better for them in whatever way I can.
“I’m okay mom. I promise,” I remind her once more. She pulls back and looks me over when her gaze falls to my wrists. I try to slip my arms behind my back but she doesn’t allow me the space to do so. Instead, she grabs them in her hands and pulls them in front of my body so that she can look them over.
“This is not okay, Tessa. None of this is. Valentino I thought better of you. I thought allowing you here in my home, you would help her,” she says turning her attention to him. His head slowly lowers. He’s not usually one to back down from anything but from her and the hell they were forced to endure, he will. Maybe it’s too much for him. Maybe he regrets what he had to do more than we know.
“It isn’t his decision, mom. It’s mine.” Her head snaps back in my direction as she blows out a breath.
“This makes no sense. It’s the past, Tessa. Nothing good can come from the past and you know that. Why can’t you let it go?”
“Have you?”
“What?” She looks at me, the broken empty shell of a woman she once was.
“Have you let it go?” She straightens her back and swallows hard.
“Yes.”
“You’re lying! Do you think that I don’t hear you? The both of you?” She looks at me like I’m her saving grace and her demise all at once. It’s a pain filled gaze that will forever be burned into me.
“This was because of me, Tessa. I made mistakes. I messed up. That doesn’t mean that you have to fix it!” Licking my dry lips, I nod my head and take a few steps closer to her.
“Don’t you deserve peace? Don’t I? Valentino?” I ask glancing in his direction briefly before pulling my gaze back to hers.
“We all find peace at different times, Tessa. It isn’t up to you to dictate when that happens,” my mom says.
“I’m not dictating anything. I’m fixing a problem that plagues us all. Don’t you see that?” When she doesn’t answer me, I shove past and her and head for the door. Tino’s hand stops me, resting on my stomach.
“You can’t run away from this, from her.” I slowly raise my head, my eyes meeting his. They are so intense, blazing.
“I’m not the one running from the truth, Tino. You know your place is out there somewhere. Your life, your freedom. Your revenge.” I can see it in his eyes. He wants to taste it, all of it but he’s afraid of the repercussions that come along with challenge. That’s where he and I are different. I don’t care. I will stand up to the devil himself.