The Holy Ghost - M.E. Clayton Page 0,39

that wasn’t weird enough, Luca and Ciro had taken off like the Hounds of Hell had been nipping at their feet, to which Phoenix explained that the three of them are never in the same place for very long. It’d be too easy to take them all out if they were out in public together a lot.

Once the priest had taken his leave, Phoenix and I had spent some time with Massimo until exhaustion took over, and we left him to get some rest. We had made our way home where Phoenix had spent most of the evening making love to me. Not fucking me, but actually taking his sweet time about everything.

It had been both magical and frustrating.

Then the bastard had climbed out of bed and told me he had some business to handle. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I knew better than to get in between Phoenix and Benetti business. Maybe once Luca took over, I’d feel braver, but as long as Giovanni Benetti still ruled, I wasn’t about to do anything that might get Phoenix killed. So, I let him leave our bed on our wedding night and accepted this was my life now. I had to get used to Phoenix disappearing from time to time and I had to make sure not to turn into a raving shrew about it.

It wasn’t until about an hour later that my phone dinged with an incoming message.

Robbie: I need help

My stomach dropped. Robbie texting me at night couldn’t be good. This was not a text asking me to help her pick out a dress or to loan her money. When we spoke yesterday, I had given her an update, and she knew I was marrying Phoenix today. She wouldn’t be disturbing my wedding night unless she was in real trouble.

Me: Where r u? R u okay?

Robbie: No. Can u come get me?

My stomach flipflopped at her response. Roberta Regal wasn’t a delicate wallflower. She was tough and independent. And, yeah, her taste in men sucked, but she wasn’t a sissy-la-la by any means. If she was reaching out to me for help, she had to be in a real bind.

Me: Where r u?

Robbie: Home. And come alone. I don’t want 2 borrow trouble.

I knew she was talking about bringing Phoenix along. Just because she accepted the fact that I was married to Phoenix, it didn’t necessarily mean she wanted the Mob taking tea in her living room.

Me: On my way.

Robbie: Hurry. Pls!

I jumped out of bed and hurriedly got dressed. I threw on some jeans, a t-shirt, a hoodie, and my socks and shoes. I knew Luca or Phoenix or whoever got this ball rolling had brought my car when they had delivered the stuff from my apartment. One of the guards who had been assigned to move my stuff had dropped off my keys when they had brought in my boxes. Granted, I hadn’t driven it anywhere since I’ve been back, but that was mostly due to being escorted everywhere I went, which admittedly, was only to see Massimo.

Since I had no idea where Phoenix had gone off to, I shot him a quick text telling him I went to see Robbie. I made sure to downplay the urgency and texted simply that she just needed help with something. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but I knew Phoenix wouldn’t see it that way. Suddenly, I was on the other side of that fateful night six years ago in that warehouse.

Funny how a person can justify hypocrisy when they needed to.

I grabbed my purse, searched for my keys, and then tossed my phone inside. The second I opened the front door, I was surprised to see no guards on duty outside the door. I thanked God for that little concession and made my way to the elevator. The ride was only seven floors down, but anxiety made it feel like I was descending a twenty-floor building.

The moment the doors slid open, I realized why there were no guards at Phoenix’s door. They were stationed by the elevators. When I saw the guards posted in front of Luca’s front door, I had assumed they were there for him. But, thinking back, they hadn’t been there when he had walked down to Ciro’s apartment. That means they must have been there for Leo and Sal’s visit.

Luca wasn’t much of a trusting soul.

I wasn’t invisible, but I pretended to be as I started walking casually towards my car.