AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“One moment.”
I wait beside Geo, holding my breath. He doesn’t look at me, his anger palpable.
“Connor is going to murder me,” he mutters, and I cast my eyes his way.
We are standing on the tarmac, still at the base of the private Soltorre plane, and we haven’t moved. The wind whips my hair and musses his. I put on a pretty dress and did my hair and makeup. I’m presenting myself nicely, a wrapped-up gift that Viktor will want to help. Hopefully.
“He can’t murder you if he gets killed first,” I snap at Geo and then instantly feel guilt.
I shouldn’t act like this. I know Geo’s only trying to protect me, but if there’s one thing in this world that I’ve learned in the short time of being part of a mob family, it is that God protects those who protect themselves.
I now sort of understand Connor’s frustration surrounding Francesca. Maybe in his shoes, I would have done the same thing. She presented a threat, and she wasn’t his. He didn’t care about what had happened to her, but he had to make her leave. From my moral standpoint, I took the high ground. But maybe he was taking the safe route. To keep us safe. To keepmealive.
Maybe those times we touched weren’t to satisfy an urge, but a feeling.
“Mrs. Soltorre.” Viktor’s smooth voice fills my ears, making me shiver.
“Mr. Leoni,” I say and then stop.
“Viktor,” he corrects me, and I nod even though he can’t see me.
“Viktor, I’m in Chicago,” I say, and there’s silence on the other end.
“Trouble in paradise?” he asks, no joking tone in his voice even though his words are light.
“Something like that,” I say. My hand is sweating around the phone, and it slips a fraction. I flinch to catch it and bring it back up. “I need a meeting … with you.”
“Consider it done,” he says, and I blow out my breath.
That was too easy.
“We will be there in—” I glance at Geo, who holds up three fingers. “Thirty minutes.”
“I’m all yours.” Viktor’s words are so at odds with how we left things.
I feel like I’m missing something, a huge piece of the puzzle. I know he forced us to leave that night. After he said that phrase to me, the one that I can’t get out of my mind at night.
Before I can say good-bye, the line clicks off, going dead, and I hand Geo his phone back. We look at each other for a moment. Some of the anger fades from his eyes, but I square my shoulders. I can’t go weak now.
“Thank you,” Geo says, and I nod.
I know that he might be upset, but he knows this is the only way to have any sort of outcome in our favor.
I need to sell my soul to the devil.
I’m led backinto the same room we relaxed in after dinner that night. The parlor. A woman in a maid’s uniform shows me in and then leaves. I didn’t think that people still wore them, but it seems Viktor is very old school. I glance at the piano still sitting in the corner and then take a seat on the Victorian-style couch, laying my small purse on the table beside it.
It’s cold, or maybe that’s me. I can’t tell anymore with the riot of nerves making my stomach clench as I wait. I smooth my hands over my dress, making it look as pristine as possible after being on a plane. I push a stray curl tickling my collarbone back over my shoulder. I smack my lips together and extract a tube of lip gloss from my purse, reapplying.
The door opens, and I stand, turning to look. Viktor strides in, a smile on his face. He looks the same—formidable, open, scary, welcoming. It’s a confusing mix of conflicting things, all meant to throw his opponents off.
I’m hoping to become his ally today though.
I smile at him, the strawberry scent of my gloss hitting my nostrils as I move.
“Wryn,” he says, striding forward and pulling me into a hug.
I don’t want to touch him, but I force my arms to wrap around him. He is my grandfather-in-law after all.
