“She’ll get over it,” Luca said dismissively.
“Do you hear yourself? You make me sick. Lily won’t ever get over what she saw today. She’ll probably have fucking nightmares for years, only because of you.”
Luca smiled coldly. “If you want to blame someone, blame yourself, because I have a feeling she was only down here because she followed you.”
“Luca,” Matteo said in warning. “It wasn’t Gianna’s fault.”
It was my fault, at least partly, but I would never admit it in front of them. If it weren’t for their sick business, nothing of this would have happened. I decided to switch to attack-mode. “I wonder what Aria will say when she finds out what happened.”
Luca narrowed his eyes. “You won’t tell her.”
“Oh, I won’t?” I asked. I had absolutely no intention of telling her. She didn’t need the extra baggage, but Luca didn’t need to know that. Matteo stepped between his brother and me, and touched my arms. I jerked back as if he’d burnt me. “Don’t touch me ever again.”
“I really don’t get what you see in her,” Luca said.
“Luca, stop provoking her,” Matteo hissed, then he turned his dark eyes on me. “You can’t tell Aria. It won’t serve any purpose, only make her miserable.”
“Maybe she’ll decide to leave him.” I nodded toward Luca.
“Aria won’t ever leave me,” Luca said quietly. “She took a fucking bullet for me today. I almost lost her. I won’t ever lose her again. And I won’t let you ruin things between us.”
The worst thing was that I knew he was right when he said Aria wouldn’t leave him, not even when I told her what I’d seen today. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what kind of man Luca was and what kind of things his men did on his orders. He’d killed and tortured for her before, and she still loved him. Somehow she could forget the monster and only see the man when she was with Luca. I was pretty sure I couldn’t do it. I could hardly meet Matteo’s gaze.
“I won’t tell her,” I said eventually. “But not for you. I’m doing it for her. I want to see her happy.” And for some fucked up reason Luca was making her happy, happier than I’d ever seen her. For her sake, I would pretend.
Luca turned to Matteo. “Take her to her room and make sure she stays there until Scuderi comes to pick them up. I don’t want her to make another scene.”
I bit back a snarky comment. “I want to see Aria. She needs me.”
I could tell that Luca wanted to tell me ‘no’ but he surprised me when he said, “You can stay with her when I’m not around.”
“It’s not like I’m eager to be in a room with you.”
“Come on, Gianna,” Matteo gripped my arm and didn’t even release me when I protested. He led me up the basement stairs, then along the long hallway and up the stairs. We didn’t speak until we reached my room and I jerked free of his grip.
My eyes darted to his pink hands and blood-covered shirt. Matteo followed my gaze, grimacing. “I’ll go change.”
“Don’t bother. I won’t ever forget what I saw.”
Matteo walked up to me and I stood my ground, despite my body’s desire to flee. “You are clever Gianna. Don’t tell me you didn’t know what we were doing behind closed doors. Believe me, the Outfit doesn’t handle enemies with kid gloves either.”
“I know. That’s why I despise everything about the fucking mob. And you are right, I wasn’t surprised about what I saw today. It only confirmed what I’d known all along.”
“And what is that?”
“That you’re a sick fuck and that I’d rather die than marry you.”
Matteo pulled me against him, his dark eyes practically scorching me with their intensity. “Maybe you think you could live in the normal world, maybe you think you could date a normal guy, but you’d get bored Gianna. Maybe you don’t want to admit it, but it excites you to be with someone like me. If a normal guy tells you he’d kill and torture to protect you, they’ll be lying, exaggerating at best, but I’m making a promise I can keep.”
“Let me go,” I gritted out.
He did, then gave me his fucking shark-smile and headed for the door. “I’ll lock the door. Luca will unlock it when he takes you to Aria.”
“So you’re going back to torturing that guy?”
Matteo’s gaze flickered with an emotion I couldn’t place. “Maybe. I’m a sick fuck, remember?” He slipped out. “But maybe I’ll let Luca have some fun with the Russians first.” His gaze lingered on me for another moment before he closed the door and locked it. I reached for a vase on the sideboard and flung it at the door where it shattered and tumbled to the floor.
I squeezed my eyes shut, making a promise I was determined to keep. I would escape before my wedding to Matteo. I would leave this life behind and never return. I would try to live a decent, an honest, an ordinary life.
Afterward I felt calmer, even if I knew it would be close to impossible to escape from the mob. It would take a plan and help, but I still had ten months until my wedding. Plenty of time.
Later when Luca picked me up and took me to Aria, I didn’t even provoke him. I ignored him, even when he warned me again not to tell Aria about the basement. He didn’t have to worry. I couldn’t burden Aria with the truth, not when she still had to live in this world and with Luca.