Finding Beauty in the Darkness - Nikki Ash Page 0,33
hold on.” Aria presses the mute button and turns to me. “Would it be possible for me to visit Amber? Like at a coffee shop near the university? I don’t want to invite her here because… well…” I raise my eyebrows at her, and she huffs out, “I’m not going to run. You’ll have someone with me. Please,” her big green-blue eyes plead, and I give in.
“Fine, I can have Johnny drive you and stay with you.”
“Okay, thanks!” Aria gives me a huge smile and my heart tightens. A thought pops into my head and it scares the fuck out of me. I don’t want to see this woman sad. Her smile does something to me that I can’t afford for it to do. I need to figure out what Weston is hiding so I can fuck him over and destroy him for fucking me over. Then once I do that, I can let Aria go, and we can both move forward with our lives.
“Is Saturday okay?”
“It should be fine, and it gives you a few more days to continue to heal.”
“Saturday is good, Amber…I’ll see you then. Bye.”
She hangs up, frowning. “Amber said when I disappeared, she told Antonio they should report me missing, but he said I wasn’t missing, that I told him I needed to take off to clear my head. She said my entire dorm was cleaned out and a few weeks later, Antonio disappeared. We’re going to talk more on Saturday. It just doesn’t make sense. I need to find Antonio.”
“Do you know his last name?”
“Torino.” Why does that name sound familiar?
“I’ll have Johnny see if he can find anything out. We’ll get this all figured out.” I give her a small smile mentally vowing to myself to make sure this woman is safe if it’s the last thing I do.
“Thank you…for getting me out of that hellhole and for making sure I got treated. I hate that you’re keeping me here, but it’s a thousand times better than what Weston was putting me through. I guess in a way I owe you.” She shrugs.
“You don’t owe me anything, Aria. This is business,” I say, hoping to convince her and me of that fact. “Now what do you say you lie down for a nap and afterward I can show you the theater so you can watch a movie down there.”
She beams excitedly. “I say, hell yes!”
After she gets comfortable in bed, I turn off the bedroom light and close the door so she can get some rest. Rome is standing outside my door. “Are we really holding her captive, Giovanni?”
“It’s business,” I say, just like I said to Aria. But as I say the words, I know there is no convincing anyone of this lie. I’m holding her here to ensure her safety, not to hurt her. As much as I should use her to fuck Weston over, I know I won’t do that to her. The problem is, I can’t admit any of this out loud. The woman is already running all over me. If I tell her she’s not being held here against her will… Fuck! She’ll trample right over me.
As I leave Rome to keep watch over Aria, I look for Johnny but don’t see him, so I give him a call. “Johnny, where are you?”
“Helping Cici move some furniture downstairs. What’s up?”
“Why is she moving shit around? Never mind, I’ll be right down.” I get downstairs and sure enough, Cecilia is having Johnny and Caesar move the couches around in the sitting room. “What are you doing?”
“Oh! Giovanni.” Cecilia walks around the couches and leans in to kiss me. She knows better than to do this shit down here.
“Stop.”
She gives me a small pout then looks around. “Where’s your guest?”
“She’s taking a nap. We aren’t going to have a problem, are we? Aria is going to be staying here indefinitely. You telling her you’re my girlfriend is unacceptable.” I say it loud enough for the guys to hear, knowing it will embarrass her. She needs to be put in her place.
Cecilia’s eyes widen and her cheeks turn pink, but she ignores my statement. “Will she be working here?”
The thought of Aria working here makes my blood boil. The idea of her fucking some stranger has my fists clenching, wanting to kill the fucker. Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me when it comes to this woman?
“No.” I glance around the room, now agitated. “Put all the damn furniture