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“Please, don’t do this,” she says through gritted teeth.
“I’m sorry, cara, but I won’t risk your safety.”
Milene’s nostrils flare, and she takes a step closer to stand right in front of me, our bodies almost touching. She tilts her chin and looks straight into my eyes.
“You’ve ruined my life,” she whispers.
I bend my head until our noses touch, just like the day we met in the parking lot. “I know.”
She doesn’t say anything. Eyes locked, we stare at each other for a long time, the tips of our noses the only point of contact between our two bodies. After what seems like an eternity, Milene turns abruptly on her heel and disappears into the guest bedroom.
Chapter 8
I’m browsing the soap aisle when the phone in my pocket vibrates, indicating an incoming message.
09:23 Bianca:Angelo just told me. What the hell were you thinking, going to New York? I can’t believe you lied to me! Are you okay?
I sigh and hit the microphone icon to record a voice message. Bianca and I usually text each other since she can’t speak, but it would take me half an hour to type everything I want to say.
“I’m sorry for lying to you, twinkle toes. I’m okay, I guess. Still trying to come to terms with the fact that everything I’ve worked for is all just... gone. Did you know I delivered a baby in a parking lot earlier this month? It was scary, Bianca, but at the same time it was the best feeling ever. Salvatore said I can’t work anymore. That controlling son of a bitch... Just a second.” I turn to face the mountain of a man who’s standing a few paces behind me. I thought Salvatore was strange, butthis guy beats him by a mile. He didn’t utter a single word on the way here.
“Alessandro, right? Do you mind?” I motion with my hand for him to move away. “I’m trying to have a private call here.”
My bodyguard takes one step back and crosses his arms, regarding me with a piercing black gaze. I roll my eyes and continue.
“About Salvatore. I’m so mad at him!” I whisper-yell into the phone. “We’d already met. Salvatore and me. Three times. He never told me who he was, and I thought he was just a guy, you know? I only realized who he was when he came to my place to sign the marriage papers yesterday. I liked him, Bianca. I really liked him. We went on a date, kind of, and then he ended up being the fucking don of the New York Family.”
I take a chocolate-scented body wash from the shelf and sniff it.
“I’m not sure what I think of him. I hate him for making me marry him and ruining everything I had planned. If I could turn back time, I would never have come here. But part of me still kind of likes him, and that’s making everything so much more frustrating.”
I put the chocolate wash back—too sweet-smelling—and pick up one with a coconut scent.
“Looks like someone’s trying to kill him, so I’m saddled with four bodyguards. Four! I’m in a fucking supermarket with four guys in dark suits trailing behind me. Jesus. Talk about taking someone’s life and turning it one-eighty in twenty-four hours. How’s Mikhail? Lena? How are you? Does your back hurt? I miss you, honey. I’m sorry for lying to you, but trust me, I’m paying for it with interest.”
I send the message and head to the cash register, with Alessandro trailing after me and another bodyguard following a few yards behind. The third is standing in a corner, observing the space. The fourth guy stayed out front by the entrance. What an overkill. What if I decide to go jogging? Would all four of them come along, snapping at my heels?
This morning, I caught Salvatore as he was leaving and told him I had to go to the hospital to hand in my resignation. He said it was already handled. Handled! As though it were a subscription to a fucking online magazine and not my life’s dream! What am I going to do now? Maybe, I could find some small private hospital to finish my residency and work there. It wouldn’t be as much of a high security risk as working in a big hospital like St. Mary’s. Yes, that would work perfectly.
* * *
“No,” Salvatore says and returns to his meal.
“What? Why?”
“They wouldn’t allow bodyguards to accompany you in a hospital. Any hospital.”
“They can stay outside.”
“Not good enough.”
I put my fork down and take a deep breath. “What do you expect me to do all day long?”
“You can do whatever you want.”
“I want to work.”
“Anything except for that.”
