hit, maybe he turned to the Fascini to strengthen his position. Fascini and Associates are well connected. Together, Mike and your father would be a force to be reckoned with.”
“So what’s his endgame? If Mike Fascini is really who you say he is, then where is all this leading?”
It was the one thing I still hadn’t figured out. There were other ways to get revenge. Anyone with enough money could pay for someone to disappear or be taken out. They could make it look like an accident, a tragedy no one would question.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty,” I said.
“Or maybe he has some bigger plan we still don’t know about.” Arianne let out a weary sigh.
“Hey.” I kissed the corner of her mouth. “This doesn’t change anything. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I’m engaged to Scott, Nicco. They want me to marry him.”
Every muscle in my body tensed. “You will never be his,” I ground out.
Arianne was mine.
“This,” I pressed my hand against her breastbone, right where her heart lay. “Is mine. One day, when all this is over, I’ll make you mine, Bambolina. You’ll be my wife. My queen. Do you understand that?”
Her bottom lip quivered as she gazed up at me with tear-stained eyes. “Tell me you understand that,” I said, desperation clinging to every word.
“I’m scared, Nicco.” Silent tears streaked down her cheeks, and my heart broke for the girl who had already faced so much. “When I was at the restaurant with him... he went out of his way to make me uncomfortable, to let me know that he’s the one in control.”
“Did he… touch you?” My voice shook with anger. Luis had told me everything was fine, that Scott had kept his hands to himself. But I sensed it wasn’t the full story.
“Not like that, no. But something happened...”
Red mist began to descend over me, my grip on Arianne’s waist tightening. “I need you to move, Bambolina.”
“Nicco, don’t—”
“I’m okay,” I said, “but I need space. Please...” My voice cracked.
Arianne crawled off my lap, pressing herself against the headboard and folding in on herself while I stood up, pacing the room like a caged animal.
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” she whispered.
“What did he do?”
“It wasn’t anything really.” Her eyes drifted past me as if admitting this to me was a burden too big to bear. “I wanted to leave. He wanted to stay. But I told him I was leaving. We got outside to the car and he told Luis he could drive. He got in my space and brushed my waist, that’s all. But it felt so possessive, so intimate. Everything came rushing back to me. It was like this giant wave just hit me.” She finally lifted her eyes to mine again. “Luis thinks I had a panic attack. I passed out.”
“Fuck.” My fist shot out, crashing against the solid wall. Pain ricocheted through my knuckles and down my wrist, burning like a motherfucker.
“Nicco!” Arianne clambered off the bed and rushed to my side.
“Wait.” I held up my other hand to stop her. A dark angry storm was raging through me. I wanted to hit something, to hurt and bleed.
I needed it.
Dark rivulets of blood seeped over my hand, but I barely felt it. I was too wired. Too hungry for the kill.
“Let me take a look at it.” Arianne stepped forward and I jerked back, like a caged animal being riled.
“Nicco, it’s me. It’s only me.” She had me cornered with no way out. My body trembled violently as I desperately tried to hold on to my frayed rope of control.
“Nicco...” Arianne brushed the hair from my face. My head hung low, my shoulders hunched and tight. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to hunt him down and kill him with my bare hands.
“Come back to me.” She gently lifted my busted hand and inspected the damage. “It needs cleaning. Let me see what there is.” Arianne left me and went into the bathroom. When she came back, she had a small first aid kit. “I found it in the cabinet. Sit.” Her gaze went to the bed, but I remained rigid.
“I need to stand.”
“Okay. Hold still.” She worked in silence, cleaning me up and bandaging my hand. My pulse began to slow, the tightness in my chest easing.
It was her.
Her touch, her calmness.
“I’m sorry,” I choked out.
Arianne took my face in her hands and looked right at me. God, I wanted to