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For a split second, I’m worried Pavone will tell her to sit down again, but Rossi gets up. “I’ll escort you.”
“I don’t—I don’t need an escort to the restroom,” Vanessa hisses. Her face is flushed red, probably from the anger and frustration.
“I’ll go too,” I say quickly. “So that poor Damien won’t need to get up twice for us women.”
Pavone scowls at me briefly, but he catches himself and offers a smile. “Of course, babe. Give me a kiss, and hurry back before I miss you too much.”
Ugh. I’d rather kiss a snake.
But I lean in and gently press a kiss to his lips, one he’s quick to intensify before he pulls back.
I get up before he can change his mind, and I follow Vanessa to the bathrooms. Rossi is right at our heels, a constant presence I resent because of the reminder of just how precarious our positions are. Neither Vanessa nor I will be pulling a runner here.
“Don’t take longer than five minutes,” Rossi says as he parks himself outside the women’s restroom. “Emilio’s on edge as it is.”
“We won’t,” I promise, taking Vanessa’s hand and pulling her into the restroom. I make sure the door is shut and lead us to the far back.
“What are you doing?” Vanessa asks me. “I just need a moment to collect myself. You didn’t have to come.”
“I don’t want you alone with Rossi,” I tell her.
“I can take care of myself,” Vanessa says, scowling at me.
Not with men like Damien Rossi and Giulio Pavone, but I don’t say that aloud. She thinks she’s much more capable than she really is, and I don’t want to disabuse her of that notion… but I have to take care of her the best that I can.
“I also wanted to talk to you,” I say. “Which I can’t do with Pavone breathing down my neck.”
“If this is about the other day… I’m sorry, all right? I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I shouldn’t have called you a… I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t put myself in your shoes. You were right that I was unfair.” She laughs bitterly. “I was never an extrovert, but being locked up in my room means I really have nothing to do but go over fights in my mind.”
“It’s fine,” I tell her, even though I’m a little sore about the whole thing. “I’m not mad.” Mostly. I can’t get her words out of my head, and maybe they’re the reason we aren’t being rescued right now, but I can’t stay angry at her. “We have to stick together.”
“Yeah? How long until Pavone makes that impossible?” Vanessa reaches up to rub her eyes, only remembering she’s wearing makeup after she’s already smeared some of the application. “Shit.”
“He won’t make it impossible,” I promise her. “I’ll figure out a way. You just have to… keep your head down. Men like Pavone, they want to feel powerful to make up for the fact that they’re terrified of the rug getting pulled out from under them. Let him, or Giulio, or Rossi, pretend that they’re powerful. We’ll bide our time and get out when they least expect it.”
“Do you hear yourself? How can you be so optimistic about all this when it’s… You’re getting married tomorrow, Lucia! I doubt Pavone is going to be keen on divorce or annulment. You’re more likely to end in a ditch.”
The words make me flinch despite myself. I know the harsh reality of my situation, but having Vanessa throw it in my face makes everything seem so much worse. I want to snap at her, but I take a deep breath instead. “He doesn’t need to divorce or annul me for us to disappear. We just have to make them think we’re cooperating until I can figure something out.”
Vanessa doesn’t look like she believes me. I open my arms for an embrace, though, and she’s immediately in my arms, hugging me back. “Please be careful, Lucia. I have nightmares that the next bloody corpse I see is yours.”
“Hey, I’ll be fine! You’re the one who needs to keep your cool,” I say with a soft laugh. I stroke her hair, although it’s awkward since she’s the taller one.
She snorts in amusement. “Right. I’m the hot-headed one. You’re the one who told Giulio to get his hands off me.”
“Because you’re my baby sister! Nobody should touch you unless you want them to.”
Vanessa pulls away from me and gives me a sad look. “You know that counts for you, too, right?”
The words hit me in a way I didn’t expect. I know in theory that no one should touch me unless I want them to, but I’ve gotten used to trading my body for relative safety. It hasn’t felt like my own since before the kidnapping, and I’ve grown used to using it to protect both of us. “Yeah, I know,” I say, but there’s no conviction in my voice. “It’s okay, Nessa. It’ll all be okay.”
I’m trying to think of what else to say when Rossi knocks on the door.
“It’s been five minutes,” he informs us.
I sigh, glancing at myself in the mirror. The white dress clings to my curves, and just like Victor had predicted, it looks gorgeous on me.
Victor.
