“She’s....” Luis let out an exasperated breath. “This shit is messed up, Marchetti. Fascini is acting like he didn’t...” I heard him swallow the words.
“Did he—”
“No, no. He’s said a few things and sat there with that fucking smug smirk on his face. But for the most part, he’s been like a well-behaved dog.”
“Where is she now?”
“He ran into some friends. They’re all at the bar talking.”
“You can still see them?”
“I won’t let them out of my sight.... You know it would be so easy.” Silence fell over the line. “So fucking easy to put a bullet between his eyes. I could do it, I could—”
“No.” The words cracked my chest open. “We need to know exactly what we’re dealing with first.” If Scott and his father were somehow related to the Ricci, we needed to know. Ending Scott—no matter how much I wanted that—had to wait. We had to see this thing through.
“How are you holding up?”
Luis’ question caught me off guard. I ran a hand down my face, feeling my days old stubble beneath my fingers.
“This isn’t about me,” I ground out, unable to disguise the quiver in my voice. “It’s about Arianne.”
So long as she was okay, I would be okay.
“That girl must have balls of steel to do what she’s done tonight. But I gotta say, Marchetti, I don’t trust him. Even if Roberto has managed to negotiate a celibacy agreement, he’s a monster. I see it every time he looks at her. He’s playing by the rules now but I’m not sure how long he’ll be able to curb his hunger.”
I bristled, my eyes shuttering at his words. “Just stay on her. I need you to stay on her every fucking second.”
“I will. I’ll check in when we’re back at the apartment.”
“Thank you.”
Luis hung up but I was still staring at the screen long after he was gone. I couldn’t see past the red mist descending in my vision. Nothing about this felt right.
Not one single fucking thing.
Chapter 6
Arianne
“I want to leave,” I said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile so that Scott’s friends didn’t think I was rude.
I didn’t care what they thought but I also didn’t want to draw any attention to myself.
“Come on, baby,” Scott crooned. “Just a little while—”
“You can either take me home, or I’ll have Luis call for a car.” He was bound to have a car nearby, just in case.
Scott laughed nervously, his gaze flicking to the couple we had spent the last hour chatting with at the bar. “Don’t make a scene, Ari. Dale and Kayla are good friends. Just one more drink and then we’ll go.”
“You enjoy that drink.” I slid off the stool, gently nudging him out of the way. “I’m leaving.”
I couldn’t breathe. Between the constant fake smiles and forced laughter, the rubber band around my chest had grown tighter and tighter. If I didn’t get some fresh air soon, I was either going to faint, or say or do something I might live to regret.
“Is everything okay?” Dale asked.
Peering around Scott’s shoulder I mustered a weak smile. “Actually, I’m not feeling so good. I think we’re going to call it a night.” I slipped my purse underneath my arm and tucked a stray curl behind my ear.
“Already? The night is still young. Scott was just getting to the good part.”
I had to force myself not to roll my eyes. Scott hadn’t stopped talking. As the evening went on, it became more and more apparent he loved the sound of his own voice. Dale had asked him about his injuries, and Scott had jumped at the chance to tell them about the night he had defended my honor against the infamous Niccolò Marchetti, who almost killed him and my cousin.
And I’d sat there silent, pretending that reliving that night wasn’t like a thousand tiny blades cutting away at my skin.
“Darling, if Arianna says she needs to go, leave them be.”
“It’s Arianne.” I almost bared my teeth at Kayla. She wasn’t trying to help me out. She was trying to belittle me, the way she had the entire night. But jealousy was a powerful motivator, and I hadn’t missed the way she’d made moon eyes at Scott ever since we joined them at the bar.
She obviously didn’t see the monster beneath the expensive clothes and wolfish grin.
“Oh, silly me.” She splayed a perfectly manicured hand on Dale’s stomach, her eyes half-lidded with lust as she let