Once upon a time that line from that man would have sent shivers through my body for completely different reasons, butright now it’s like ice dripping in my veins. Talk about one big fucking coincidence.
He’s wearing a beanie and layered a hoodie over the top so I can’t see if his hair is the same as it was in L.A. or if he’s switched up his appearance again. Even if he’s trying to disguise his identity for everyone else, he wants me to know it’s him.
I reach the elevator but don’t press the button just yet. This might be my only chance to get answers.
“What do you want from me, Alessandro?” I hiss. “You manage to disappear for years without a word, and now you just happen to randomly run into me, twice in two different cities?”
All the hurt and anger I’ve pushed down over time billows inside me like a flame exposed to gas.
He goes to cup my face, but I push his hand away. “Don’t you dare touch me.”
“Okay, okay,” he says, raising both hands in surrender. “But please, just let me explain.”
My phone vibrates with an incoming call. I quickly check to see it’s Avery, but I don’t answer. I know he’ll come looking for me, and it’s the out I need. I flash my phone at Alessandro, the man I once believed would keep me from danger. Now, heisthe danger.
“That’s my security detail,” I warn. “Yeah, that’s what happens when your parents are murdered.”
“If you just give me a chance, I can explain everything,” he pleads. “I didn’t have a say back then. I was just the shitkicker running the girls, b?—”
“Running the girls” I repeat. “What the fuck do you mean? Was I? Were you?” I can’t form a coherent thought. I think back to underground clubs we’d meet at. There was always other guys and girls there, but at the time it felt exciting. Now I realize he was grooming me for something more sinister and illegal.
His sharp tone jolts me back to the present. “I have power now. I’m building my own empire, and I came for you. I want you by my side, Chiara. I need you. We’re cut from the same cloth.”
I believed that once, but now I see him for his true colors. He’s a sick predator.
The whirring of the elevator alerts us that someone is on the way up.
“That’ll be my security guard,” I say.
“I won’t stop chasing you until you’re mine,” Alessandro snarls before quickly turning and walking towards the emergency exit.
Seconds later, the doors open and Avery steps up to me immediately.
“Chiara. It’s been more than ten minutes, and you didn’t answer your phone,” he grumbles, scanning our surroundings, his eyes catching the last of Alessandro’s body as the emergency exit door slams behind him. “Are you okay?” he asks, putting a protective hand on the small of my back and ushering me into the elevator.
He removes his hand briefly and pushes the button to take us down to ground level. I note how his other hand is casually draped behind his back, no doubt hovering over the piece I know he keeps on him.
Avery scrutinizes my face for a moment. “Chiara, did you know that guy?” he implores when I don’t respond, too caught up replaying Alessandro’s words, wondering how long it will be until I come face-to-face with my nightmares in broad daylight again.
“Yup!” I chirp, popping the p.
“You do know him?” he asks.
“What? No! I mean, yes I’m okay, and no I didn’t know him!” I ramble.
“Are you sure?”
I nod a little too enthusiastically.
“You know what else I am sure of?” I say, linking my arm through his as we step off the elevator on ground level. He tenses, because he’s my bodyguard not my bestie, but I really need something solid to hold on to right now.
“What?” he says, clearly not comfortable with my affection, but not pulling away either.
“A good Italian red wine. Maybe a Sangiovese or Chianti. Yes! A Chianti. That’s exactly what I feel like. Thank sweet baby Jesus that AJ told me to meet him at La Rosa—oh wait. I didn’t tell you that, did I?”
“No. I’ll just text the driver to let him know our movements.” Avery tugs at his arm, but I don’t let go, too lost in my head. Alessandro is here in New York, and out of all the places he could be, he’s in the same studio as me and somehow manages to run into me as well. Not just that, it’s the second time he’s just happened to bump into me. The fact he’s following me settles into my bones.
“Chiara, my arm?” Avery says, tapping on mine.
