“Elio!” Gigi shouts. “Elio has to be the one and he was using me to get information to send back to his grandma. He knows I love to talk.” She slams her fists into the blanket. “I trusted him. I want him dead!”
“Now, now, Gigi,” Matteo enters the room and leans against the doorframe. “We don’t need to start a war.” He looks at me. “How long are you planning on keeping us prisoner here, boss?”
“Ideally until all of this is over and resolved.” I rub my temples. “I need to figure out who is the next person to get attacked.”
Out of all the chess pieces, this is the first time I’ve been gifted a knight.
“We can’t be cooped up in your house forever,” Matteo groans. “I’m going to lose my mind.”
I roll my eyes. “This house is a paradise. You won’t get bored. Besides, it’s nice having all of us under one roof.” I lock eyes with Matteo. “But if you have to leave, the guards will go with you. Do you understand?”
He nods.
“I swear if I ever see Elio's pathetic face again, I’ll kill him myself,” Gigi snarls.
At that exact moment, my burner dings with a message from Enzo.
The fish has been caught :)
A smirk spreads across my face.
The rage that’s been simmering in my soul all day cools.
“Don’t worry Gigi,” I hand her the phone. “Elio won’t be bothering anyone ever again.”
Chapter forty-nine
Elio’s blood is on my hands and I’m not sorry. I’m only upset I wasn’t there to do it myself. They say an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but I think it paves the way for clarity if you’re smart enough to survive.
Besides, his blood won’t be the first or last spilled in this war.
The steady hum of Dominic’s engine vibrates beneath my feet as the highway stretches ahead of us. It feels good to be out and about while sitting passenger princess. For the past three days, I’ve barricaded myself in my home with my family trying to figure out this chess match I’m unfortunately playing. Thankfully no surprise attacks have occurred since I’ve been gifted the knight and I aim to keep it that way.
Taking a sip of coffee, my thoughts drift back to the chess piece. Knights don’t move in straight lines. They strike where you don’t expect them to. As the sun crests over the trees, I can’t help but wonder if this move is mine…or theirs.
“You’re quiet.” Dominic keeps his eyes on the road, one hand gripping the steering wheel while the other rests possessively on my thigh.
“I’m just thinking and I’m tired,” I admit. We had gotten up early to beat the traffic but it appears everyone else had the same idea. I take another swig of my coffee and turn to him. “Do you want a sip?”
“No, thank you, my hands are quite comfortable where they’re at right now,” Dominic’s thumb strokes slow circles on my thigh. “Are you planning on keeping your family imprisoned in your house forever? You know it’s smart but not a long-term solution.”
I sigh. Good old Dominic, always blunt and to the point. “I want to, but I know I can’t. When we get back, I’ll let them go where they please, but everyone has to be armed at all times and have a guard with them.”
“Do you think the reason everything has been quiet these past few days is because you eliminated Elio?” Dominic squeezes my thigh.
“I think Elio was a part of this puzzle but he wasn’t the killer or the one behind it. He was just a pawn. I think we surprised them by finding Gigi and they are planning their next attack. Besides they can’t get us if we’re all together in one place guarded. That was my thought behind it all.” I lean my head against the window, watching the trees move past in a blur. “And remember I did get gifted a knight piece and an attack hasn’t happened. Maybe it’s still in the process of being planned.”
“Did you figure out who the knight represents?” Dominic flicks on his blinker and changes lanes.
“I don’t know. I need more time.” I take another sip and let the hazelnut flavor dance on my tongue. “I don’t want anyone else I care about to die. I feel like I let my dad down.”
“Cipi, you didn’t let your dad down. He would be proud of the way you took over the empire.”
“My dad wrote me the letter hours before he died and it sat in a box for the past ten years. I should have opened it right whenMama gave it to me after the funeral. Maybe I could have figured out who was behind this sooner so that he didn’t have to die in vain. The night he died, I was out on a date with you. If I had stayed home instead of going, maybe I could have saved him.”
“That’s a lot of maybes,” Dominic rubs my leg. “Cipi, you had no way of knowing when we went out to the movies that night that your father was going to die. Even if you had stayed home your father would have never let you into his office when he was discussing business matters. That door would have been closed all night. You can’t beat yourself over this, Cipi. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Then why does it feel like it is?” I breathe a sigh of relief as the Wisconsin border comes into view. The blue metal sign with the words Welcome to Wisconsin fills me with motivation. Our almost three hour journey is coming to an end.
