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“Oh, that’s why I didn’t hear from you.”
Not really, but sure let’s go with that.“Hey, I better go or I’m going to be late. Take care, Victor.”
“Gia, wait. I’ve missed you. Give me a couple of minutes here. Who are you going out with?”
“No one you know really. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be late.”
“Gia—”
“Victor, I have to go. If I don’t get off here, I’m going to be late for my first date in forever. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Have fun in Greece.”
“Date? Gia?—”
“I have to go, Victor. Have a good night.”
I hang up and I’ve barely taken two steps before it begins ringing. I send it to voicemail. I get a notification and it rings again not one minute later. I roll my eyes. I send it to voicemail and then before I can think twice about it, I turn my phone off. I know he’s switching into some kind of protective brother mode. I don’t want that. I need to push forward with my plan.
I toss my cell inside my clutch purse and snap it shut. I look into the full-length mirror and frown. I have my hair combed down in waves and I’ve pulled it forward so that it covers most of the side of my face. It doesn’t hide my scar, but it lessons it’s effect. I’m wearing a soft lavender silk blouse that has long sleeves and hits me about mid-thigh. I have on my best jeans. They stretch and show off my ample curves, but not in an obvious way. I look decent. I wasn’t pretty before the attack. Since it, I’ve felt nothing but ugly. My mother refused to have plastic surgery done. She said I needed to learn from my mistakes—as if it was my fault. It’s the only thing I ever begged her for in my entire life. It’s too late now. If I tried to have anything done, it would be like telling the world I haven’t put the past behind me. It would make me feel weaker than I already am. I’m not willing to do that. Perhaps it is a stupid reason, but it is who I am.
I’m not sure how long I stand, staring at myself. Time kind of stops for me. I think I might be on the verge of a panic attack. My heart is going crazy and that only gets worse when my doorbell rings. I feel sick to my stomach, and it would probably be embarrassing to barf on my date.
I frown when I think of my date. Victor specifically asked me not to go out with Caleb and to stay away from him. I probably would have listened to him, but it was clear that holding out for Victor to think of me as a woman would never be an option. Thatmeans, he doesn’t get a say so in who I date. Besides, I made sure to check Caleb out. I’m good at internet searches, plus I have connections thanks to Emilia. A background check was easy to achieve. It sounds like a lot. I know it does, but with my history, I couldn’t help it. I don’t want to say I’m scared because I’m not.
I’m petrified.
When the doorbell rings again, I make a fist and try to calm the trembling I feel. I can do this. I’m still not positive Deanna is right, but I think she might be. I definitely need to make changes. It’s more than that, though. I want to live. I don’t want my attackers to win and right now, they are.
I take a breath and exhale, the sound shakier than it should be. Then, I force myself to walk to the door. In my mind, I’m singing an old remembered song from a Christmas cartoon that I used to watch as a child.“Put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking out the door.”I even hum it out loud as I walk to the door. I run my hand down my pants leg to try and hide the way I’ve suddenly started sweating.
I unlock it and plaster a fake smile on my face, ready to greet Caleb. “Hey Cal—” I stop talking when it’s not Caleb’s face staring back at me. My forehead furls in confusion and my eyes narrow as I stare at Zane, one of Antonio’s men, in front of the door.
“Zane?”
“Hey, Angel. I’m supposed to escort you out tonight. Victorio said you were going out for dinner.”
“Um… I don’t need you to escort me, Zane. I have a date coming?—”
“I’m afraid that Mr. Southwood had to cancel for the night.”
“Mr. Southwood? Wait, how did you know I was going out with Caleb?”
“I told you, he had to cancel.”
“How do you know he was canceling? What is going on here, Zane?” I huff, my hands on my hips.
“That’s probably something you should take up with Victorio.”
I shake my head, not understanding what is going on. “Why would I take up anything with Victor? What does he have to do with this?”
“I think you should ask him,” he insists.
“Did you send Caleb away and ruin my date, Zane?” I ask, barely believing what I’m asking. I know Victor didn’t want me going out with Caleb, but surely, he’s not so unhinged that he would pull something like this.Is he?
“I did as I was ordered and I can see it has pissed you off, but I’d just like to ask you to not shoot the messenger.”
“Give me your phone,” I grumble, holding out my hand.
“What?”
