Finding Beauty in the Darkness - Nikki Ash Page 0,87

spectrum there was no healing the damage he created. I can’t do that to Gio. I can’t come between him and his family. I love him with every ounce of my being but the cliché quote I’ve read so many times comes to mind: sometimes you have to love someone enough to let them go.

I have the money to move. I have the means to start over, no matter how bad it’ll hurt. I can walk away and not make Gio choose. I can put him first, the same way he’s put me first every day since the day he saved me from that basement, from that nightmare that would still be my reality if it weren’t for him. The same way he believed in me enough to make my dreams a reality.

I’ve only just made the decision and my heart already feels like it’s been ripped out of my chest, but I stand and take in a deep cleansing breath, set on returning to the hotel room, having one last night with Gio, then putting him first and walking away. I wipe the sand from the back of my thighs and start the trek back to the hotel room.

I don’t see it coming.

I don’t hear the footsteps.

But I feel the hand cover my mouth.

I feel the needle prick the side of my neck.

I smell the masculine cologne engulf my senses as my eyes, against my will, close.

Chapter Thirty-Two

GIOVANNI

“It’s time for you to go. If you’re making me choose between Aria and this organization then I’m choosing her.”

My dad gives me a stunned look for a brief second before anger takes over his features. “This is not the son I raised. Letting a piece of pussy dictate your future. If you choose that girl over your family, you will regret it. She will regret it.”

I shove my dad up against the wall, my hand wrapping around his throat in the same way I did to the senator. “You want to threaten me? Go for it! But don’t you ever fucking threaten Aria. You got me?” My dad’s breathing begins to go erratic, his face turning a slight shade of red before I let him go. He bends at the waist to catch his breath.

“You aren’t thinking straight. I’m going to give you twenty-four hours to come to your senses.” He grabs the front of my shirt and yanks it to the side, exposing my tattoo. “Dalla nascita. Per sangue. Famiglia. Ricorda da dove proviene prima che sia troppo tardi.” Remember where you come from before it’s too late. He walks down the hall and out the door, slamming it behind him.

“Aria!” I shout her name, needing her in my arms. When she doesn’t answer, I go into the room but she’s not here. The bathroom is still fogged up from her shower but the room is empty. I check the other room, the living room, the terrace. No Aria. I pull my cell phone out and hit her name under my recent history. Her phone buzzes on the nightstand. I pick it up and type in her passcode. No calls or texts. I dial Johnny and after the second ring, he answers. “Where are you?”

“I’m down at the bar. Your dad asked me to give you guys some time alone.”

“Is Aria with you?”

“No… she was with you up in the room.”

“She’s gone. Her fucking phone is still here and she’s gone.” My heart begins to go crazy—something is wrong. “She might have run away again. My dad and I were arguing over her. If she overheard it, it might have upset her.”

“I’m heading to the security room now to check the footage.”

Johnny and I hang up and I check the hotel room one more time before calling my dad.

“Son, have you already come to your senses?”

“If you did something to her, I’ll kill you.”

“To who? Aria? I haven’t touched her.” I can hear the truth in his words. He doesn’t have her.

“She’s gone. Fuck!” I bark, hanging up on my dad.

My phone rings and it’s Johnny. “Any news?”

“I pulled up the feed. She walked through the lobby about thirty minutes ago toward the back, leading to the beach.” I hear his fingers furiously typing on a keyboard. “The camera ends at the beach. She headed north along the water.”

I hang up and run out the door, taking the stairs to the lobby, and head out back. When I get to the beach, it’s dark, only the moon shining over the