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“Oooh! I’ve got it! How do you feel about getting a new piercing?” And just when I think her devious smile can’t get more evil, she winks and I laugh until I cry.
Chapter Nineteen
Alessandra
This last month has gone by in a blur. My mom and nonno were only supposed to be here for a week, but thankfully they extended it a little bit longer. Mom and I worked out and she reminded me how good she is on the mats. I got my ass handed to me a few times. Nonno being the boss worked in our favor because he just moved some meetings around and called it good. I’m perfectly happy with that.
We ironed out all of the details for the contracts involving me and the guys, plus the special “gift” for Matteo, and he even helped me come up with a plan to deal with Raffaele’s misogynistic bullshit if, or more realistically when, it comes up again. For now, I’ll play my part as the sweet little doting female to Ren in front of anyone outside my family and once everything is finalized with the other guys’ contracts, I’ll take Raffaele down a peg or five.
I’m not a total idiot. I know it’ll be dangerous. He doesn’t have the reputation he does because he’s a little bitch and he sure as hell didn’t get to be the boss by tiptoeing around big problems. I’m about to be his biggest problem, so there are some safeguards in place for that. Plus, I’ve stayed true to my word with Ren and kept him in the loop with everything since it’s his grandfather I may or may not have to kill. None of my guys would let anything happen to me if they could avoid it, but there’s still a lot ‘Teo, Noah and Cohen don’t know. I’ve wanted to clear the air with them since my heart to heart with SB, but I just can’t find a way to lay everything out. So nonno and I kept a lot under wraps while we discussed everything and kept most of our business meetings to the office without everyone else present.
Eventually though they left and the guys, SB and I all spent the rest of the time relaxing and enjoying our mini vacation. Sunbathing, swimming, learning the ins and outs of the island, watching movies and playing games. It’s been the most fun I think I’ve ever had. With summer winding down, I’m not really ready for it to be over. Which is weird because I’ve always loved school, or at least, I’ve loved learning and being driven towards a singular goal. That and summers growing up meant not having guaranteed meals and a way to escape the house for something slightly less dangerous.
Ren says that I don’t have to go back to school. We technically can do everything from here and I was ahead of the curve for the most part so graduating isn’t something I have to worry about not happening. Do I really want to give up my senior year though? Especially after the way things ended last year. I was sort of looking forward to walking the halls with my newly built family. It’s the experience I don’t want to miss out on, I guess. I’ll have to make up my mind when the guys decide what they want to do. There isn’t anything really stopping anyone from staying here. The twins are eighteen and one of them has already graduated. Cohen and Noah are both capable of doing their classes online. SB might have a slightly harder time convincing her parents, but I don’t mind having a polite chat with them to get my way if necessary. It’ll have to be a decision we make together as a whole.
I feel arms wrap around me, pulling me out of my self-reflective thoughts. I can smell a hint of aftershave just before Cohen drops his chin to my shoulder, wrapping me up so completely, I can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else. Our view is amazing since I was already gazing at the lazily setting sun. It’s like it knows how beautiful it is, so it’s prolonging it’s time before it fully sets. Like somehow, the sun knows how much ugly I’ve seen in the world and has decided to give me something so beautiful and bright, it makes up for all the darkness I’ve endured.
“Hey Red, what’s up?” I turn in his arms to see something even more phenomenal than the sunset. The love and affection shining back at me has me feeling dizzy, my body warms up all over in response. Fuck, I’m getting soft. One look from any one of these guys and I turn into mush. I wonder how long it’ll last. Does true love really withstand the test of time? All those fairytales I refused to believe in might actually come in handy right about now.
“Just seeing what you’re up to tonight. Do you think I could steal you away for a couple of hours? I found something today and I want to show you.” He smirks at me, and I know whatever it is it’s gonna be perfect.
* * *
“Where are we?”I ask.
We’ve been walking down the beach for some time now and we’ve had to hike a bit into the forested area behind the manor. I can still see it, but it’s distant. Admittedly the hike has been easy and beautiful with the low setting sun behind us. It’s mostly dark now, yet it’s all easy going since we’re walking a manmade path. It was pretty apparent once I saw the hidden walkway, but it’s something you wouldn’t know was there unless you already knew it existed or found it by accident.
Surprisingly, the farther you get away from the estate, the more lanterns glow along the trail. They look like fancy solar paneled ones, which for whatever reason makes me super happy. I hope Ren was behind that, doing his part to keep things as ecofriendly as possible.
“It’s just up here Q, sorry I’m making you walk so far, but I swear it’s worth it. I brought all kinds of stuff for us to snack on too. I didn’t mean to pull you away before dinner, I just don’t want you to miss this before the sun fully sets.”
“It’s fine Red. I’m happy to spend time with you and the view on this walk has been too beautiful to complain about.” I smile softly, letting him know I’m truly enjoying my time.
“You know, I’m the one who found everything at your old house after you left it. I saw the flowers and the notes and the dress. I found some old documents basically stating your ownership to one Lorenzo DeLuca Jr., to be Underboss of Chicago. I can’t believe I was so stupid to overlook the fact that Matteo’s grandfather wasn’t Lorenzo Sr. I’d only ever heard of him, never met him and I just didn’t put two and two together. I’ve never known that kind of fear. Don’t get me wrong, I was furious as well, but when I got the call from Matteo saying you’d been taken, the fear that overcame me was practically paralyzing. It’s like my brain just shut down and all I could see, think or feel was your absence.” He drops his head, like he’s ashamed, but why? He couldn’t have predicted that we’d uncover all of Lorenzo’s shady secrets in an instant.
“For someone who’s always ten steps ahead, I sure fucked all that up. I sort of felt responsible that I hadn’t seen anything from those few days coming and I should have. The documents I found really tripped me up, and then you were just gone. I took everything from your old house and when I finally got everything laid out in front of me again, I started to finally piece it all together. The fact that I couldn’t find any records of a DeLucaJuniorwas really fucking with me, it didn’t make sense unless Matteo had a sibling, but I didn’t tell him because I wanted to verify everything first. I was working on getting sealed records unsealed and buried paperwork unburied when you tripped your alarm, so I dropped everything and ran, we all did, we just ran to you.
“The whole situation had screamed mob interference from the get go, I just had to dig a little deeper. I know I would’ve found you one way or the other, there wasn’t an option not to. I knew you’d been sold like property to the Gavino family thanks to Lauren’s secret stash of paperwork. It was only a matter of time before I found out Lorenzo Jr. and Ren Gavino are the same person and then I would’ve tracked him down and found you. Nothing could have stopped me.” The sincerity in his tone allows notes of residual sadness and anger to touch his words and it’s truly all my fault, I should’ve been honest with him - with all of them.
“Cohen… That’s not true. You can’t be expected to always know everything before it happens. You aren’t a mind reader for fuck’s sake. I’m the one who fucked everything up. I should’ve never left without talking to you guys first. I- fuck… I just- ugh, I just wanted to keep you all safe… I didn’t think with logic, I just reacted. You guys are really making me soft. It’s annoying.” I faux glare at him, trying to lighten the mood a bit because I can’t keep getting swept up in all these feelings. I think my brain is about to short-wire from all the girly emotional bullshit I’ve put it through these last several months.
“You? Soft? That’s debatable. I don’t think anyone that has their own harem of made men can be considered ‘soft’. Ha.” He turns a skeptical gaze on me.
“Oh my god, you really just said that out loud.” My eyes widening in mock shock.
“I did. But really Q, you’re not going soft just because you are finally allowing yourself to let go of the bullshit from your past and growing into the woman you were always meant to be. From day one, you’ve been a force to be reckoned with. Like, the most beautiful storm, only the lasting damage left behind was all internal. You were so closed off and forever fighting all your demons in the dark. Now you practically glow from within. Your fight hasn’t gone away, but you’re finally fighting for the right reasons. It’s pretty insane to be one of the people watching it all happen.” And I realize in this moment why it was so easy to fall in love with Cohen Beckett. No one has ever seen me the way he does. He’s the perfect calm to my chaos. He puts me at ease like no one else.
“For what it’s worth. I am sorry that everything happened the way it did. I never meant for you guys to get hurt. I can’t say I’m sorry that Ren is involved though. It feels so seamless to be involved with him. I just wish it had all happened in a better way.” I say but feel like I need to just tell him everything. It’s not enough to just apologize for what he knows. He deserves the truth - they all do.
“Hey Red, I need to tell-”
“Q, calm down. It all worked out the way it was meant to, it’s fine. All that shit is behind us. We’re almost there now, so let’s just enjoy our night together, yeah?”
“Yeah, okay…” I agree as we pull up to what looks like a twelve foot tall leafy curtain. It almost looks like ivy actually, it’s lovely. I guess I should wait to tell them all together anyway.
When Cohen pulls the leaves aside, I see what he was so excited to show me and it takes my breath away. The trees open up to let the skies show above, and the pink hue in the sky from the sunset, reflects and sparkles off of the small waterfall straight ahead of me. The waterfall flows directly into the largest of what looks like three separate pools of crystal clear water.
Surrounding the pools are large stones that look as though they’ve been carved out by the water to make perfectly circular swimming holes. The largest pool sits in the middle, slightly higher off the ground then the other two, which allows the water to flow over into them.
