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Chapter Eighteen
ARIA
"Look at you, girl, you would look super hot in this. Salvatore would LOVE it!" I throw my head back and laugh, feeling normal for the first time in ages as my bestie, Isabella Ricci, shows me a teddy at this high-end lingerie store she insisted we come in. We have known each other almost our whole lives, and even though she is not technically a clan member, the fact that her father runs the books for mine, she has been a part of this world all the same. She knows everything and totally accepts it, including the caveat that one day she will get married to a man of her father's choosing.
Salvatore has let us have a girls’ day, shopping on his own dime. Not that I feel too bad about that considering I was always shopping on my father’s before, but it is kind of different, being a wife. I feel more pride at it, actually. "Oh, please, I would be falling out everywhere," I tell her with a crooked smile. My body is a plump and curvy one, and I love it. I have no qualms about it, but there are certain things that flatter me and some that don’t. And what Isa is holding up is barely a string down the front of the body and across the top. "Maybe you should get it and save it for your wedding night," I suggest, in way prying her to see if she might be closer to that day. It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been allowed to just have girl talk like this, and I feel so left behind.
"You may think you're too well endowed for this, but I am not endowed enough," she says, putting it back on the rack. She is tall and model thin, long straight as a board hair pulling up into a tight ponytail at the back of her head. She looks chic without even trying. I know both of us draw an eye whenever we go out together, but I am pretty sure the ring on my finger will make anyone look the other way now, which after what I have been through, I guess I am okay with.
I can’t say I am used to being Sal's wife yet, but it is not a bad position to be in. In truth, he saved me from a lot of things. He deserves my love and loyalty. Which I have been giving more of each day.
I follow Isa to the clearance rack where she starts making faces at everything, making me laugh so hard my belly hurts. I take her by the arm and drag her out of there, plenty of other places to shop at. Though, we already each have a couple of bags. But shopping is not truly shopping without your hands full, right?
But then as we walk along the sidewalk, heading towards a jewelry and purse boutique, I get a funny prickle on the back of my neck and glance around. I happen to notice a man in designer jeans and a hoodie pulled over his head across the drive from us. I try not to act different or seem paranoid, but I have a bad feeling. I know that my last name can still put me in danger, the only difference being I am much more secure in my husband’s ability to protect me than my father’s.
I file his face in the back of my mind and move on for now, allowing myself to relax as we look through some of the jewelry and a necklace catches my eye. Isa grabs her own finds; a purse and a pair of earrings that look like they will make her ears ache after a couple of hours. But as we come outside again, I find myself looking for the guy again, and as soon as we walk into the next building, I swear I catch his reflection in the glass.
As we continue to shop, I see him to more times in various poses, and I know it’s time to go. "Psst," I say, getting Isa's attention. "We need to go." I force her to look at me so she gets my means, and she nods before slipping her sunglasses on and talking to me about our finds today, heading for the car. It is a long walk, and my nerves are on edge. I know it’s best for us to look natural, but I pull out my phone and dial the phone number now listed under "husband". I need some reassurance of my safety.
"Mio dolce," his voice comes in sweetly through the receiver, and I try to keep my voice quiet and calm.
"There is someone following Isabella and I," I say. "I have seen him too many times for that not to be the case."
"Get home, quickly. I will be here. You will be safe." I nod my head even though he can’t say it, and I can hear the anger and worry mixed in his voice.
***
He is waiting there when I get inside, and Isabella is instantly taken to a room so we can talk. I know she will be safe, but as I look over at my husband, I begin to worry. I don’t like the way he treated her, sending her immediately away without a goodbye, and he looks furious.
"Tell me what he looked like," he demands, and I tell him, though, I feel like I need to cower in a corner or something; something I don’t like feeling. I didn’t leave my father's clutches and Cheng's just to end up afraid of another man. So, I fight the fear and speak plainly.
"At first, he just looked like anyone else, he had a hood on and jeans, but the more I saw him, the more I noticed he looked out of place. He had these hazel eyes and a very angular face. Kind of a long, pointy nose, and he wasn’t much taller than me but very muscular. He looked Italian or Romanian maybe, like us."
And that is when the beast begins to come out. He reminds me of my father, and I can’t stand it as he begins to angrily give orders to figure out who this man was and how to make him pay.
I stand up and place a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes and silently beg him.
Before anything can be said, his phone rings, and I know this is not good news. Whenever his phone rings at inopportune times, it is always bad news.
He begins mumbling into the phone and pacing so that I can’t understand him, but his animated gestures let me know I was right. What is going on? He hangs up and looks to me. “Your brother is missing.”
