stood up.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“Hey,” I said back.
“Funny, huh?” She gave me a half-smile and I frowned.
“What’s funny about this situation?”
“This time you really are my knight in shining armor. This time it’s real.”
“I’d say it was more ironic than funny.”
“I’d say it’s fate’s way of letting me know that I don’t deserve peace.” She sighed.
“You really hate me, don’t you, Anabel?” The pain coursed through me once again as I stared at her, her beautiful face, the way her face displayed every emotion she was feeling. And when her eyes settled on me and she offered me a whisper of a smile, I could feel my heart thawing. That was the power she had over me. She could make time stand still.
“Luca,” she said.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry about the past. I know this is your world and I should have walked away without turning you in. I didn’t want anything to happen to you, I hope you know that. I just felt so guilty. I had to go and make atonement.”
“There was nothing for you to feel guilty about, Anabel.”
“You killed a man because of me, Luca. I had everything to feel guilty about.”
“We can’t talk about this now, Anabel.” I looked toward the door. “We’ve got about three minutes left. Now, I need you to be honest with me, okay? I need you to be honest with me about everything. I know you hate me and I know you don’t trust me, but trust me when I say this. Enzo is a worse man than I am. Enzo will kill both of us. I know he’s most probably asked you for something. You need to tell me exactly what it is he wants you to do and what he wants from me because he’s playing games here and I have a feeling that he doesn’t really expect either one of us to leave this house alive tonight, do you understand what I’m saying?”
“What?” She looked nervous. “But he said we can leave if we tell him where Fabiano is buried.”
“Anabel, we’re the mafia. We don’t play fair. Just because he said we can leave, doesn’t mean we can leave. He wants information and once he gets that information, we’re done. You hear me? He will kill us both. And I know you don’t have reason to trust me, especially seeing as you know I was going to kidnap you too, but you need to believe in me. So I’m going to ask you again—what did he want from me?”
“He wanted to know where Fabiano’s body was buried,” she said softly. “He wanted you to tell me where the body is buried. He said if I get that information from you he won’t harm Charlotte and Emily, and I’m nervous. You have to tell him.”
“Anabel, I can’t tell him where Fabiano’s body is buried.”
“But Luca, why not? Why do you care if he knows?”
“Anabel, there’s a lot more to this story than you know.”
“What is it? Tell me what it is.”
“I can’t tell you right now.” I shook my head as I looked at her. “I wish I could tell you everything right now and I wish you would just let it go, but there’s a lot more to this story than you know. And I just, I just can’t tell you right now.”
“But, Luca, please? What about my friends?”
“He’s not going to harm Emily. He’s not going to harm Charlotte. Trust me on that.”
“But how do you know?”
“You forget Emily is Matteo’s. Mateo is my cousin. He’s a lot darker and deeper than you know. He will protect them.”
“But he doesn’t—”
“I called him on my way here.” I looked around the room to see if I could see any listening devices and I lowered my voice and leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “I called Matteo when I was on the way just in case. I know the way Enzo thinks. I’m two steps ahead of him, Anabel. He’s going to pick up Emily and Charlotte and take them to a location on the Upper East Side. They’re going to be okay. No one will touch them, okay? I promise you that. They’re safe.”
“Are you sure?” She looked at me, her eyes hopeful.
“I’m positive.”
“So then what do we do? If you think he’s not going to let us out of here until he knows where Fabiano is buried, what do we do?”
“I have to think. I might have to do and say some things that you’re not going to