27. Gia

When I wake up,there's a note from Liam on the kitchen table.

Went to grab some bubbly to celebrate. Back soon. X

Next time I see him, I'm going to ask him if he knows how to sign his name or if he just leaves the "X" like a pirate.

The thought should bring me more joy but… it doesn't.

I agreed to marry him.

It was the only way.

I'm just sitting at the kitchen table. My hands are flat in front of me. It's so quiet around me that I'm pretty sure I can hear my hair growing.

I'm pretty sure that I can feel my body feeding the baby inside me. Which is definitely a weird sensation.

"Well," I murmur to it. "At least you'll have some kind of a dad."

Kids don't care who their parents are. They're kind of programmed to love them no matter what. I just never really saw myself as a mom. I mean in theory I wanted to have children, but that was a very big theory.

I always knew that I couldn't.

Sighing, I sit back and massage my temples. The nausea is okay this morning, just a light simmer instead of an outright boil. That's a nice respite from the torture that's been plaguing my body.

Liam better not come back with champagne.

I have no idea how to tell him that I can't drink it.

I wish I could look up if having just like a sip is okay in your first trimester. Caterina's been pregnant… I search my memories, trying to think if I've ever seen her drink anything while she's been pregnant with the twins.

I haven't.

But I also don't remember. I mean women find out they're pregnant late and then have drinks while pregnant all the time.

Right?

Fuck. I'm not willing to risk it. I have to make good decisions now, ones that protect this little person.

That's a lot of pressure.

It makes me ache for my own parents. They weren't perfect by any means, and God knows I had plenty of altercations with the both of them over the years.

At the end of the day, though, they loved me. They supported me. They wanted the best for me.

And sometimes you just really want to hug the people who raised you.

Instead, I hug my belly. "I guess that I can hug you, huh kid?"

Predictably, it doesn't say anything back.

"Well," I murmur. "At least I was right about the fact that I needed to be able to pivot and make alliances, and that I couldn't be with Sal to do that."

Ugh.

Maybe I manifested this for myself. Some dark god somewhere is having a hell of a laugh at my expense. Literally, this is the reason that I told Sal he and I couldn't be in a relationship.

I had to be able to preserve my relationship status for strategy.

To get what I wanted from this world that we live in.

"But I didn't get that either, did I?" I murmur to the chillingly quiet cabin.

The lack of noise echoes around me, pressing against my eardrums.

The silence on this godforsaken stretch of land is so pervasive that I can literally hear people in the village a half mile away. I can't make out their words, of course, but the tone and the cadence are familiar.

So when there's an unfamiliar voice in the mix, it's really, really clear.

Mostly because everyone is making excited noises. Or nervous ones. Either way, the tone of the little village has changed.

Nervously, I wander outside.

From the porch, I can see the road that comes from the village. There's a couple of people walking up it. I see a flash of platinum-blonde hair that seems familiar.

And a shape that makes my heart clench.

No.

I sit down on the kitchen chair that I left on the porch last night.

I blink.

That man has to be Sal.

There's no way it's not. I can practically sense the way he walks. He prowls like a jungle cat, and he's got his eyes locked on one thing.

Me.

The blonde comes to me now. There's only one person I know who has a shock of hair like that and is that tall.

Stassi.

My heart sinks. If Sal brought Stassi in to find me, then this is about to be really, really bad.

The Russians don't know that Sal and I are alive. In order to bring Stassi in to find me, Sal would have had to get permission from her father.

And if her father knows…

My eyes widen. Of course her father knows. Liam told me that he reached out to Elio. Which means that Elio knows.

Which means that Sal had to bring in anything he could, because Elio is about to freak the fuck out.

And if Elio freaks out…

My heart feels like it's going to explode. If Elio freaks out, this is going to hell in a handbasket so fast, because he's going to start a war.

Which means that everyone is at risk.

Elio. Caterina. Luna. Dino. Marco.

Sal.

Elio would take care of them, I know. But even though he's good at what he does, that doesn't guarantee anyone's safety.

If he goes to war, it's going to be a fucking blood bath.

I have to tell them to go back. Before Liam comes back. I gather myself and I start marching down the road.

I make it about ten feet before the gunshots ring out.

Sal and Stassi drop down, and I can't help but cry out. I'm reasonably sure that whoever's shooting won't be shooting at me.

Reasonably.

So, I sprint down the road, waving my arms.

"Hey!" I shout. "Leave them alone!"

I don't even know where the shooter is. He could be a sniper positioned somewhere behind me, on the rocky cliffs that appear to be holding back an entire world of ice. He could be in the town.

The gunshots ring out again, and this time I drop. I swear that I heard one whizz by my head.

Why the fuck are they shooting at me?

"Gia!" I hear Stassi yell. She's still probably a quarter mile away so the words are faint. "Are you okay?"

I don't respond. Instead, I look up. I kind of half crawl, half scramble, keeping low.

There's another shot. The dirt road in front of me explodes. Then, there's a shout, and the gunshots stop.

Thank God.

Tumbling forward, I'm half walking, half rolling to where Stassi and Sal are lying in the road. I'm covered in dirt and I'm praying with everything I have that I don't find just the bodies there.

That they're alive as well.

It's the longest quarter mile that I've ever moved. It takes me forever.

When I get there, I kneel down. "Stassi," I say, breathing heavily. "Are you okay?"

She smiles. "Oh my God. Gia. That was crazy."

Stassi. God, I love her. "Stay down," I murmur.

I can't look at Sal yet.

Stassi nods. Then, she frowns. "Have you lost weight? I mean this in the nicest way, but you look like, really terrible."

"I know," I say. "I…"

I don't finish that sentence because two things happen.

First, Sal turns over and stares at me. I feel like he's looking into my soul, and it freezes me.

I've missed him so much that I think I might throw up if I keep looking at him.

Second, I hear the sound of a small-caliber pistol being chambered.

"Get up," Liam's voice says.

Slowly, we rise.

I turn to look at him, my hands on my head.

Any trace of the somewhat passive, gentle man who talked to me yesterday is gone. In its place, there's someone else entirely.

Now, I understand completely why Liam wants to run the Irish mob.

He's a fucking killer.

Every edge of his body seems to have sharpened. His tattooed forearms are cut like marble, and he's holding the Glock like he could shoot us full of holes in his sleep.

Holy shit.

This is worse than Kieran. Kieran at least was crazy out front.

I think that I've completely underestimated Liam.

And, given that Sal and Stassi are sitting right in front of me, that's a very, very bad thing. An hour ago, I would have said that Liam could be reasoned with, and that my chances of talking Sal and Stassi off of this… wherever we are were good.

I do not think that anymore.

"So. Which one of you fuckin' found out where I was hiding her," Liam snarls.

"Um. I did," Stassi says in a soft voice.

My eyes snap to her.

Anastasia Novikov, princess of the Russian Bratva, has a mom who is a big-time entertainment lawyer. She grew up in Beverly Hills, and thus, everything about her screams ‘California Girl.' The accent, the hair, the boobs, the legs… she's basically a Beach Boy's wet dream.

But she's fucking smart as hell.

And she doesn't let a lot of people know that.

So if she let Sal in and showed him how smart she really is…

That's kind of a big deal.

For a second, a little wave of insecurity passes over me. Stassi literally is a model. She's hot and she's smart and if she and Sal had to be together to get here…

Then, Sal looks at me, and all of my doubts fly from my mind.

I have no doubt that he's still mine.

He was never yours.

"How?" Liam snarls, pulling my attention back to the moment.

Stassi smirks. "Whoever is in charge of coding the RFID for your cargo smuggling sucks," she says with a little smack of her lips.

Good. She's trying to disarm him by being sexy.

I taught her that.

Slowly, I try to look around, determining the angle of where everyone is standing. If I can just move so that I'm in between Liam and Stassi and Sal…

"You freeze too, Gia," I hear Rowan's voice.

Damn.

"You're expectin' me to believe that you found my boat. You decoded the tag on the RFID for the cargo. And you figured out it was going to Greenland?"

That's where I am? Fucking Greenland? I turn to Liam. "Greenland? Seriously?"

He shrugs. "Rowan has a connection."

Of course he does.

Stassi makes a little noise. "What, like it's hard?"

Liam blinks at her. "Aye. I'd say it is, as no one else has ever found it before."

"Well obviously that's because I didn't try," she says. "Duh."

If I wasn't so nervous, I'd laugh.

"So, you had nothin' to do with this?" Liam growls, pointing the gun at me.

Oh shit.

If Sal thinks that I'm being threatened…

"She didn't know," Sal barks.

His voice is rough. Gravely. Like he's been holding it in for a long, long time.

Or like he's been upset.

Shit.

"She didn't know. Elio sent us because you told him that you wanted to marry his sister."

"And how do you know she wasn't willing to marry me too?"

Sal snorts. "Everyone knows Gia doesn't want to get married."

Ouch.

"Plus, I was there when you took her, you fucking asshole."

Ah. Okay. There's the anger I've been looking for.

Liam swings the Glock at him. "Call me an asshole again and I'll pump you so full of lead you'll make the water toxic when I dispose of your body."

"That's like, a very specific threat, but I kind of appreciate it."

Everyone looks at Stassi, who is staring at Liam with genuine amusement.

Fuck.

I forgot that she's kind of weird too.

"Maybe Gia didn't want to marry someone else because she hadn't met me yet," Liam snarls.

Sal shakes his head. "She would never marry you voluntarily."

Liam looks at me.

Sal looks at me.

Stassi looks at me.

I can't see Rowan, but I'm sure he's looking at me too.

I have to say it. Everything depends on me saying it. I have to look Sal in the eye and I have to absolutely fucking sell this.

His eyes flick down to my stomach.

Ice skates up my spine. Does he know?

No. That's just paranoia.

I have to sell this. I drop my hands from my head and saunter over to Liam's side. I wrap my arms around him, and his scent overwhelms me.

He smells nice.

But I prefer cedar to leather.

"Liam makes a very persuasive argument," I say in my lowest, huskiest voice.

I can't look at Sal.

If I look at him, I'm going to fucking lose it, and everything is going to hell.

Underneath my hands, Liam tenses. I can tell that he's surprised by my actions.

Good.

I gently lower his weapon, then slide my hand into his free one. "I guess that you didn't send Elio the good news yet, babe," I smirk.

Liam shakes his head. "No, love. I haven't shared a thing."

I can practically feel Sal's anger. I can't pay attention to that.

Instead, I focus on Liam.

"You know, with news like this, I think it's probably better to deliver a message in person, right? More convincing than an email. More authentic. And I think that Elio did us a nice favor. He gave us the perfect two people to send back to him."

I can't look at Sal. I can't.

"What are you thinking, Gia darling?" Liam rumbles.

I smile. I lean in and plant a kiss on his cheek. Stassi sucks in a huge breath, and I know that if I glance at Sal, I'm going to collapse.

"I'm thinking that we send them back, hale and hearty to share the good news."

"And what good news is that?"

I shut my eyes.

I smile.

"Liam and I are getting married," I say.

Inside of me, something breaks.

I'm never going to be the same.

Nothing is ever going to be the same.

All because of one stupid sentence.