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Victor had gotten under everyone’s skin, including mine, but I don’t tell Angelo that. I’m still trying to figure out how things are going so horribly wrong. There wasn’t supposed to be a warning. There was supposed to be…somethingat the rehearsal dinner.
I was supposed to escape.
Victor wasn’t supposed to have proposed an offer Pavone never would’ve taken anyway of leaving the city with me as his prize.
“Of course he did. What did he do?” I stop poking at my pasta, setting down my fork.
Before Angelo can answer, Pavone storms back to us. He grabs my wrist and drags me out of the chair before tossing a few hundred-dollar bills onto the table. “We’re leaving. Angelo—you’re fired. If I see you again, you’re taking a cement bath.”
I stumble to my feet, almost bringing the tablecloth with me as I step away from the table. Everyone in the restaurant is staring openly at us, and a few people even have their cell phones out. They aren’t even trying to be discreet at this point, and I remind myself that people are recording this—fuck—as I keep my calm.
I don’t look at the people around us as I walk as gracefully as possible toward the exit of the restaurant.
Pavone walks up to the front of the hotel, where several cabs are waiting to take people to the local sights. He shoves me into the closest one and follows closely, shutting the door behind him.
He barks the address at the cabbie and says, “If you take any fucking detours, you’ll regret it.”
“Um, he just means he’ll talk to the cab company,” I say quickly, because I don’t need more attention coming our way. The cab driver looks like he wants to toss us out, but I guess the promise of a fat paycheck overrides his good sense.
Pavone starts tapping on the phone screen, then glares at it when it doesn’t unlock. “Fucking Angelo.” He puts Angelo’s phone in his jacket pocket and pulls out another phone—one of his own phones—and taps in his password.
I try to memorize the code, like I had for Saint’s phone, but the angle is bad. I don’t know what I’d use it for, anyway. I doubt Pavone will drop his guard around me the way Saint did.
After some more tapping, a news feed begins to play.
“The fire took out several offices in the building. At present, it is unclear just how many people were inside and how many survived, although there are five confirmed dead, including…”
One of the names listed isRafael Castella. Well, apparently it was averynot empty threat.
I wonder if the other people listed are also affiliated with the mafia, or if Victor’s show of force ended up with collateral damage.
Pavone’s face gets redder and redder as the news continues. “Motherfucker. He wants a war, does he?”
I meet the cab driver’s eyes in the mirror. His eyes keep widening as Pavone continues to cuss. I shake my head subtly, hoping he’ll take the hint not to say anything. He made the mistake of accepting Pavone’s business; now he has to keep his mouth shut.
By the time we reach the mansion, the cab driver is pale and sweating. Pavone jumps out almost before the car has stopped, leaving the door wide open.
I could tell the cabbie to take me somewhere else. There’s no Angelo, even, to keep an eye on me.
The only things keeping me here are… are Nessa and Mom.
I pause long enough to tell the cabbie, “I’d suggest not repeating anything about this trip.”
The cabbie looks at me and shudders, like I’m the one who’d come for his family if he let anything slip. He shakes his head. “No, ma’am.”
Ma’am.
Ugh.
I close the door and watch as he pulls away before reluctantly following Pavone inside. I should be grateful to return to my own home, but it isn’t my home anymore. He’s claimed it, tainted it, and now everything inside reminds me of him.
I walk through the open front door, and one of the guards closes it behind me, effectively securing me inside my prison.
Pavone and Rossi are standing by the front hall staircase, preventing me from sneaking up to my bedroom. I want to get changed out of these clothes and erase whatever lingering traces of Victor I still have on me.
I don’t want her.
That’s fine. I don’t want you either, Victor. Especially not after this show.
