care of, Pippa.”
“How long had he been watching me?”
Arlo’s eyes shift to the side, then move back to me. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Did he watch Rosana?” I ask.
He watches me, not speaking and my heart slams against my chest so hard that I expect it to fly out of my chest and land on his desk.
“No, just you, Pippa.”
Lifting my hand to my chest, I feel it move up and down as I attempt to catch my breath. “Thank God,” I rasp. “Thank God.”
“You’re okay?” Arlo asks, looking extremely uncomfortable.
Nodding, I continue to breathe evenly to calm myself, then I close my eyes for a moment before reopening them. “I’m okay,” I whisper. “I’ll be okay.”
“Got a guard on your house for a couple weeks. He’s gone, so there shouldn’t be any issues. But I want you to feel safe anyway. Massimo would want it too.”
“Would he?” I ask.
Arlo smirks, his gaze focused on me and nowhere else. “He’s the one who called the hit, cara. Knew he was a problem, thought having him roughed up a little would solve it, obviously it didn’t.”
“I want to talk to him,” I demand.
Arlo shakes his head. “He’ll be out in just a few months, talk to him then, when you’re both able to actually fucking talk. Not in that place.”
Nodding my head, I stand. “I need the day off. I need to process.”
Arlo lifts his hand, giving me a wave. “Go and meet with Lenora, take her to lunch? She works too hard. Put it on my card, yeah?”
I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and nod my head. I reach into my purse and check to make sure that I have Arlo’s company credit card, not the one for the casino, but the one for his legitimate businesses with Gavino.
When Arlo agreed to have me work for him, I thought that I would be in the casino just filing the paperwork here, but apparently his legitimate business office with Gavino was a train wreck too.
So, my assumption that this would be a little part-time thing for extra money to dump into savings has actually turned into a full-time position and one that I have fallen in love with.
I can’t imagine myself not working for him, not only do I get to see a little of the inner workings of the famiglia’s businesses, but I also get to spend time with the men and women that I’ve felt extremely distanced from since Massimo went away.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning, first thing.”
“Take the week off if you want, Pippa. It would be okay with me.”
“And do what? Sit around in my house wondering who else watches me and jacks their dick? No fucking thank you. I need to be here first thing in the morning, Arlo,” I snap.
Arlo’s brows lift before he lets out a snort. “Just go. I’ll see you in the morning,” he grumbles. “I’ll have a car come and get you.”
Turning away from him, I lift my hand and wave before I turn and walk out of the room. My phone rings in my hand and I notice that it’s a blocked number. My initial reaction is to let it go to voicemail. I don’t. Instead, I answer it just as I step outside of the building.
The recorded voice that I’ve become familiar with asks me if I would like to accept the collect call. I think about telling it to go to hell. Almost a year. I haven’t heard or seen my husband in almost a year and now he calls me?
Agreeing to the call, I inhale a deep breath while it connects us. “What?” I shout.
“Dolcezza,” he hums.
“Fuck your dolcezza. What the fuck do you want?”
“You’re angry.”
“No goddamn shit,” I snap.
There’s a moment of silence and I think that he’s going to hang up on me, but he doesn’t. I hear him clear his throat, then I hear him hum softly before he speaks.
“I’ll be home soon. I know you’re angry. I just want to make sure you’re okay. Arlo probably told you what happened.”
I snort. “Yeah, Arlo told me what happened. I’m okay, grossed out, but okay.”
“Pippa, I just…”
“You’re sorry?” I ask when he doesn’t finish his thoughts, his words. “Sorry that you were a giant fucking asshole and ignored me for years. Not days, Massimo, years,” I hiss.
I hear him sigh, then he inhales before he lets it out in a long exhale. “I deserve that, Pippa. I deserve a hell of a lot, and I have