He never threatened Aria. But after the wedding, he seemed obsessed with talking about her, wanting to know if I’d heard from her and how we planned to get heraway from you. He made me feel irrevocably guilty as a father, saying I should be doing more to save her. He painted horrific pictures in my mind of how you must have been treating her. It was only after the dinner, when I saw you two together, and you refused to divorce her, choosing her over saving your own skin, that I realised you were in love with my daughter.
I paused as I stared at those words. Santino hadn’t told me he loved me. He showed it, and I felt it, but he’d never said it out loud. However, just seeing them written in black and white, I knew they were true. And I knew I loved him too. I covered my mouth with my hand as I carried on reading.
And perhaps… I had placed my loyalties with the wrong man.
I have no evidence connecting Callum to the men who broke into my house and threatened my daughter and my life. All I have are my suspicions. And one thing Callum once said that I’ve never forgotten.
When he first moved to Rome, he befriended me at a charity event, and we went to get more drinks and discuss politics. The mafia came up, and he said he moved here for his family — a family he no longer had because of mafia wars. I found that odd, especially since he later told me his mother was originally from Venice but still lives in the UK, and his father died a few years earlier of a heart attack and was a stockbroker from London. When I asked about this, he changed his story, implying I must have heard him wrongly. He said he wanted to stop the mafia because of the harm they cause to families in Italy.
It may be nothing. Or it may be something.
Do not misunderstand me, Buccini. I am not on your side. My only concern is for my daughter. I have a terrible feeling that something is coming, and I believe you might be the only man who can protect her better than I can.
“Max!” I shouted, springing to my feet as Raya took the laptop from me to read it herself. “Max!”
He barged back into the room with Cami and Nero trailing behind.“Cristo,what is it?”
Panic began to rise as fear for my father’s safety crept up my spine. “All my father’s bodyguards. All his security. Callum hired them. They work for Callum.”
Max’s eyes widened, which didn’t help my hysterics.
“That’s why those men got into his house without being detected. They let them in! They’re watching over him at the hospital, Max. If Callum meant to kill mypapi,they could follow through with it at any moment. As soon as Callum gives the order!”
“Cazzo,”Max growled, pulling out his phone and ringing someone. He began shouting urgent orders to get as many of Sani’s men to the hospital immediately to take over my father’s security.
Cami sprinted forward and embraced me as my body began to tremble. I’djust left my father alone, vulnerable and helpless, with his enemies. If anything happened to him, I’d never forgive myself.
“He’ll be okay,” Cami soothed, but she couldn’t know that. “We will send our men to watch over him. Don’t worry.”
“What about Callum’s men?”
“They’ll be dealt with. We’ll capture as many as we can for interrogation,” Max said, pocketing his phone and striding over to Raya to read the documents. “So our suspicions were right. Callum is mafia-born. A Leone bastard, no doubt. Fuck. He’s been setting up his own empire right under our noses.”
“But I don’t understand how? I’ve found no offshore accounts in his name or any previous history linking him to the Leones,” Nero said, clearly annoyed that Callum had somehow managed to outwit his tech skills.
“He’s done everything legally under the name D'Ardenzi. But what we can’t see is what he’s been doing under a different name.”
I buried my face in Sani’s tux jacket and finally broke down. I wanted him here so badly. I hadn’t realised just how safe his presence made me feel. How much I craved his touch to ground me. He thought I was the one who could calm him, but it went both ways. I felt lost without him. He’d somehow buried himself into the very core of me, and I didn’t know how I’d survive if he didn’t come back.
As my sobs subsided, I sniffed into his jacket, bunching it in my hands, and then felt something hard in the inner pocket. I frowned, brushing my fingers over the outline again before I delved inside and pulled out what looked like a sleek black fob key.
I looked up at Raya, holding it between my fingers. The devilish look on her face told me she knew exactly what it was.
Sani’s Sanctuary
The cars came to a halt outside what seemed to be an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. The ground-floor windows were boarded up with splintered wooden crosses, and the garden was overrun with wild weeds and thorny vines climbing the walls and twisting around every stone arch, as if they were trying to choke the house.
“What is this place?” I asked, gazing up at Big-T and Raya’s main bodyguard, Ivano, who stood at our sides.
“You’ll see,” Raya whispered so only I could hear.
Max and Cami got out of the SUV behind us, with more Buccini soldiers and Nero heading our way.
“You’re about to see the other side of what we do, Aria,” Max said, his voice lacking its usual playfulness. “The darker side. Are you sure you’re ready for this? I’m not convinced Sani would want you here.”
“He gave her the key for a reason, baby.” Cami countered softly, offering me a reassuring smile.
“I’m ready. I know who he is.” I nodded, ignoring the nerves in my stomach. “Sani trusted me with this, and I want to help.”
