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“Well, he won’t trust what you’re saying if I am not there to vouch for you,” I argued, walking into the dressing room and pulling out the gorgeous, tailored orange pantsuit and black corset top to wear underneath the blazer. I had picked it out last night because it showed that I was clearly looked after and treated like a queen, not a hostage.
“Once I have said my piece, Stefano will bring you in. He will then be able to hear your side which will back up my own. And you can speak with Giovanni yourself. If you want me to leave you alone with him, I will,” he said.
I shook my head as he stepped forward and helped me into the blazer, lifting it over my shoulders.
“No, I have nothing to hide from you or him. We are a team remember,” I smiled as he held my gaze. Some strange emotion passed over his face that made me uneasy. It was so fleeting; I could have sworn I imagined it.
“Elle. There are some things I have to tell you. Things that are difficult and I just found out last night…” he paused as his face crippled with sadness and pain. I reached my hand up to one of his cheeks, forcing him to look at me.
“What?”
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, “Merda. Fabi is out front waiting. I have to go. You made me late! We will talk when we get back. Don’t take too long, Stefano is waiting for you downstairs. You’ll follow behind us and wait outside until I give him the heads up.”
“Okay,” I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck. I brushed my nose against his as I fought the sudden onslaught of nerves that surfaced.
“What if he says no? What if he makes me choose between you and my family?” I voiced my biggest fear out loud as he stared into my eyes with determination.
“I won’t let that happen. I will make this work, remember?”
I nodded slowly and inhaled. He leaned down and placed the softest and sweetest kiss on my lips that left them tingling from the affection and pure perfection of him.
“Ciao Princess.”
Then he stepped back and walked away.
I made my way downstairs and out to the front of the estate where two black SUVs were waiting for me. Stefano nodded his head curtly and opened the back door for me to climb into the first car. I looked out the back window at the second car as three of Alessio’s soldiers entered it and turned on the engine. It seems Alessio was right. In Italy, he had just as much protection as any other mafia man.
“Don Barbieri has just arrived at the meeting. We will make our way there now and wait outside until he lets us know you can enter,” Stefano said in a stern voice. He reminded me so much of Marco as I smiled at him in the rear-view mirror. So serious and stern, but deep down, you could see he had a heart.
Suddenly, my brain registered what he said, “Don Barbieri? You mean Diego Barbieri is coming to the meeting too?”
Stefano’s dark eyes locked with mine in the mirror and I saw his confusion before he quickly moved his gaze back to the road. “Uh, no. I mean Don Alessio Barbieri.”
My eyebrows furrowed as I stared hard at his reflection, but he was avoiding my gaze. “Don Alessio? You mean… Diego’s dead?”
“Signorina, I shouldn’t have said anything. It wasn’t my place. I apologise. I thought you would have known,” he groaned, clear concern on his face that he had messed up.
My eyes widened as I realised what this meant. Alessio was now the Boss of Southern Italy. I didn’t know what to think or how to react to this news. Surely that would make everything easier now? Yet, somehow, after what he had said in that Greek cave, I knew it didn’t. Why hadn’t he told me? His papi had just died and he didn’t think to mention it?
“When did he die, Stefano?” I asked quickly.
“Signorina, I shouldn’t-” he started to shake his head.
“Was it last night?” Alessio’s words from earlier entered my mind. He had been about to tell me that something had happened last night. Was it that?
Stefano’s dark eyes suddenly flicked up into the mirror again, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at the SUV behind which was flashing its lights at us. I turned around to get a better look and realised they were trying to signal for us to pull over. Stefano tried to call them I presumed, but it went straight to voicemail. He swore under his breath as he pulled over at the side of the quiet road.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, panicking as the trailing SUV pulled over behind us.
“I am sure it is nothing. I am just going to speak to our men and I will be right back, signorina,” he opened the door and climbed out. I turned in my seat to watch him stride down the road towards the SUV as the soldier on the passenger side climbed out too.
A passing car zoomed by and into the distance, distracting me for a split second before I glanced back and saw the soldier whip out his gun at the speed of light and fire it. My hand slammed over my mouth as Stefano froze in the middle of the road. I stared wide-eyed, my heart thundering, but all I could see was his back. Did he just get shot? He wasn’t moving. Just standing there. His arm slowly moved behind to his own gun at the back of his trousers as his body swayed slightly. Another shot was fired and this time there was no refuting it. The soldier was shooting Stefano. I screamed, ducking lower behind the seats just as the SUV roared to life and sped forward, smashing into Stefano’s body. His bulky frame tumbled over the bonnet before falling lifelessly to the road as the car screeched to a halt next to me. My fight or flight instincts kicked in and I dived for the car door to get away, but the soldier who had shot Stefano was already there. He grabbed me by the waist as I fought against him before he threw me into the trunk of their car. The door slammed and the engine came to life again. I kicked with all my might at the metal trunk. Screaming and making as much noise as I possibly could was the only thing that was keeping me sane. These were Alessio’s men! What the fuck were they doing? Why did they just kill Stefano?
It felt like eternity before the vibrations of the car stopped and I laid still, breathing hard with a mix of fear and anger raging through me. The trunk opened and I was ready. With one of my heels in my hand as a weapon, I dove forward, stabbing the man straight in the cheek with its pointed end as he stepped back, grumbling and swearing. I raced barefooted in any direction, but a large body collided with mine, knocking me to the ground. I scrambled and struggled below the man as he bound my hands and feet together, yanking me up and over his shoulder.
“Get the fuck off me! Alessio will fucking kill you! What are you doing?” I roared as I looked around to see we were entering some kind of empty warehouse. They ignored me completely, dropping my body down onto a metal chair and wrapping rope around my body tightly to tie me to it.
“You will fucking die for this! Wait until Alessio finds out what you have done!” I spat in one man’s face as he stepped back with a smug grin.
