20.

M ATTEO

I walked directly into my suite, not even taking time to acknowledge the guards that had been stationed in the hallway - two more than usual because of the heightened security Rico had suggested. I was too focused on getting to Bella in what I was almost sure would be one of the last conversations we’d have as a couple - coming just hours after we had officially decided to move in together and make a permanent life with each other.

I opened the door in time to hear Bella say, “If you’re not gonna grow some balls and tell him, then I will! And if he doesn’t react the way a good man should, then I’ll take his balls off with a dull knife and deliver them to you in a bag so we can do some sort of ritual sacrifice and doom his soul to eternal hell.”

I stopped at the edge of the wall that opened into the kitchen and listened, not as surprised by her words as I was by the venom in her voice. This was a side of Bella I had never encountered before, and it gave me a glimmer of hope that what was happening downstairs right now might not be the end of us.

“I say we gather up the posse, go find his ass, and explain that even though this was not what you planned, it’s a good thing,” I heard another voice say. I had to admit that whatever their conversation was about, this woman sounded much more reasonable than Bella. That belief lasted a few seconds until she said, “And if he doesn’t react in a way that makes you hopeful for the future, we gut him like a fish and then drop him off at the nearest hog farm and tell God he ran away.”

I could hear the tears in another woman’s voice when she said, “He’s probably got a hundred girls lined up waiting for a chance with him. I don’t want him to settle for me just because . . .”

“If any of the hundred . . . which, by the way, I sincerely doubt there are that many waiting in the wings . . . give you shit about the situation, I say we do the world a favor and get rid of their asses too.”

It was Bella’s turn to comment, and she said, “I’m not sure where our badass, full of piss and vinegar, take-the-world-by-the-horns-and-bend-it-to-her-will friend has gone, but you need to dry your tears and find that bitch. I don’t know if it’s the hormones or what, but this isn’t you, sweetheart. Suck it up, figure out what you’re gonna say, and if he doesn’t react well, we’ll plan his slow and painful death and then scatter pieces of him around the country.”

“You’re such a good girl tribe to be a part of,” the woman who had been crying earlier wailed through a fresh round of tears.

“I know for a fact that I’ll see him before you do, and I can talk to him if you want,” Bella offered. “I’ll even be nice and give him a day or two to process before I have Matteo throw him down an elevator shaft and dump his body in the river.”

“I like the elevator shaft idea, but I’m not sure if that idea would work like it does in the movies. Surely there are safety measures in place so just anyone can’t pry the doors open and then fall to their . . .”

“Or get pushed,” another woman interrupted.

“ . . . death in an elevator shaft. This isn’t Die Hard. ”

“ Die Hard! I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that now that I’ll be living in New York,” Bella said cheerfully. “I wonder if there’s a tour I could take that would show me all the places that were in the movie. Maybe when y’all come to visit, we can put that together. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

The crying woman gave a watery laugh and agreed, “That would be so much fun!”

“That’s something to look forward to, right?”

“I should have known that talking to y’all would make me feel better,” the tearful woman said before she sniffed a few times and then added, “You’re my Queens.”

“And we’ll make some excellent aunties,” another woman said cheerfully.

“You know, you could just move up here to New York with me,” Bella offered. “Think of how much fun we’d have.”

“I can’t run away,” the woman argued.

Bella must have sensed me nearby because she turned and looked at me with a big smile on her face before it fell and she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I already told you!”

“No! Not you. I was talking to Matteo.”

“Oh, if he’s back, we’ll let you go,” a woman said helpfully. “Talk to you tomorrow, Bella.”

“Of course!” Bella said before she waved at the screen and blew a kiss. “Love y’all!”

There was a chorus of “I love you!” and “Love you too!” and then Bella pushed the button to end the video call.

She turned to me and asked again, “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a situation downstairs, and it was suggested that I bring you in on it.”

“A situation?”

“You know that being with me necessitates you having guards.”

“Yes.”

“And that your safety is the most important thing to me.”

“You’ve mentioned that, Matteo, but I’m not a simpering weakling who can’t take care of herself.”

“I know you’re not, but there are other things at play . . . things we didn’t know about . . . and I’m afraid they’re going to change your mind about our . . . situation?”

“Situation? You’re asking if what we are is a situation?”

“No.”

“Is that the Italian word for relationship? I’m going to pretend that it is because if I consider that you might be calling what I thought that we have between us a situation, I’m going to start breaking shit and trying to figure out how to pry the elevator doors open when the car is stopped in the basement.”

I burst out laughing as I walked toward her and asked, “Are we about to have our first big argument?”

“If you don’t explain what the fuck is going on and backtrack on that situation kerfuffle, then yes, we are.”

“I love you more than words can ever express, Twang.”

Bella was quiet for a second before she asked, “Can we start this conversation over again because I’m not sure exactly what is going on right now.”

I tossed the printout that I was holding onto the bar in front of her and waited a second for her to process the image before I said, “That’s what’s going on right now.”

“Where did you get this picture?” Bella asked as she picked it up. “I think that was the last meeting I attended for the . . . No, that was after we had lunch at Gamma’s to discuss the plans for the new playground the committee is raising funds for.” Bella looked up at me and asked, “Who took this?”

“One of the Russian men who just happens to be sitting in the holding room waiting for us to decide what to do with him.”

“Why would he . . . Someone was following me when I was home in Rojo? Before I even moved here? Are you fucking kidding me?” When I nodded, she asked, “Did they threaten to harm my family?”

“We can’t get them to talk.”

“Try harder.”

“Bex suggested that we let you and the other ladies know that there has been someone taking pictures of all of you, and it’s not just the usual paparazzi we have around here. We don’t know for sure what they intend to do, but we’re assuming it’s not good.”

“Are you having a tiff with some Russian mobsters or what?”

“We’re not aware of one, but obviously, if they’re tracking the women we love, then they’ve got some issues we need to figure out.”

“And they’re not talking?” When I shook my head, she narrowed her eyes and said, “That’s my mom and my sister in the picture, Matteo. They didn’t sign up for this shit.”

“I know.”

“So fucking fix it!”

“Bex suggested that I bring you down along with Tabby and Brett so that you could be . . . I’m not sure what she’s thinking you can do, but I know it’s important that I not hide things like this from you.”

“When it comes to the safety of my family, you’re damn right you shouldn’t hide shit from me!”

“Exactly. That’s why I came up here to talk to you. I wanted to see if there’s something specific you want us to ask them, other than the obvious questions about your family’s safety.”

“Are you going to offer them a glass of iced tea and a plate of cookies before your little chat or do I need to find some cheese and crackers?” Bella asked as she hopped off the stool and snatched her phone off the bar. “Get them to tell you who they’re working for and anything they know about why they followed me around in Texas and then make them go away.”

“Away? How do you want us to do that?”

“Call them a goddamn taxi, Matteo! What the fuck do you think I mean? They know where my family lives and what they look like. And just so there’s no confusion, when I say go away, I mean on the cellular level. Do you get what I mean, or do I need to call some of my extended family to give you a demonstration?”

“Are you suggesting I kill them?”

Bella took a deep breath and reached up to run her hand through her hair before she swept it back and then used a pen laying on the bar to twist it up and hold it there. Finally, she looked back over at me and said, “I understand that the majority of what I know about your . . . for lack of a better word, let's just call it a lifestyle, is from pop culture and not real-life experience.” I nodded and she took another deep breath and blew it out before she said, “But if you don’t know how to make those men talk, then I’ll do it, and when I’m finished, we’ll come upstairs and make some popcorn before we sit down to watch Goodfellas and The Sopranos. ”

“Just those two?” I asked with feigned innocence.

“They’ll work for starters, but I’ve got some documentaries you should study up on,” Bella muttered. She glared at me for a second before she begged, “Please tell me you’re fucking with me right now, New York.”

“I’m sorry, Twang,” I said as I pulled her into my arms. “I knew that my life would touch you the second you became part of it, but I never imagined it would start out like this.”

“We need to find out if they’re planning to hurt my family so that I can put some security in place to make sure nothing happens to them.”

“If it turns out to be necessary, I will take care of that.”

“I’m not sure . . . It might be better if I do it.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“I do, but you’re not exactly living up to the big bad mafioso expectations I imagined, so I . . .”

I shook my head, and her voice trailed off. I said, “Bella, after we get the information we need, I’m going to kill all four of those men because they overstepped an invisible but very obvious line by targeting not just your family, but my mother and sister as well as my nieces and the other women in my family. I’m going to kill them and then send pieces of their body to the powers that be on the Russian side of the fence to make sure they understand that what they’ve done won’t be tolerated.”

“No. They don’t deserve the body because then they might do something respectful like lay them to rest with whatever religious ceremony they have.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?”

“Find out what you want to know before you cut out their eyeballs, and then deliver them - alive and not quite well - to their bosses with a handwritten note that says something to the effect of this is what happens when anyone looks in the direction of the women we care about and they should imagine what will happen to their family if one of their people makes the fatal mistake of laying a finger on one of them.”

“I guess I was wrong,” I mumbled before I squeezed Bella tight and then let her go. I took her hand and then dragged her behind me as I walked back toward the front door. “It’s not going to freak you out at all if I take you down and let you in on what’s happening.”

“At some point, we’re going to have to discuss your notion that I’m an innocent little sweetheart who needs to be protected from what goes on in the world around me.”

“I think we just did.”

“Wait!” Bella said before she yanked her hand out of mine and went running toward the spare room where I’d had the staff put the boxes she’d labeled ‘HOTEL.’ The others were in our storage area in the parking garage waiting for her move to Bernadette’s house which was never going to happen because I was never going to let this woman get too far away from me again. “I need to grab a few things.”

“Like what?”

“If I tell you, I’m pretty sure you’ll never look at me the same again.”

“Now I’m really curious,” I said as I followed her into the guest room.

“Let me just . . .” Bella grunted as she lifted one of the boxes and set it on the bed. I jumped to help her move another, but she dropped down onto her knees beside the box labeled “KITCHEN” and pulled the tape away. It didn’t take long for her to find what she was looking for, and I was shocked when she set a toolbox on the carpet beside her. She unlatched it and flipped the top open and grabbed a few things before she reached back into the box and got a plastic freezer bag full of thick surgical gloves. I didn’t even have time to ask what she was doing before I realized her plan and felt my mouth drop open in shock. It didn’t take her long at all, which told me this wasn’t the first time she’d done this chore. Before I could even form a coherent sentence, she dropped the hammer into the baggie and then slid it into the pocket of my hoodie that she had found after I left her sleeping in bed. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“You’re taking a hammer?”

“Well, after you and my brother had that very enlightening conversation earlier I’m not even going to try and take a handgun. Jeez,” Bella said in exasperation.

“Have I told you how much I love you?” I asked.

“I’ll need you to tell me again after you’ve had some time to process what I’m about to do.”

“And what is that?”

“You remember meeting Gamma?”

“Yes. She seems to be everyone’s grandmother.”

“Technically, she’s not related to me, but she’s still mine.”

“She even insisted that I call her Gamma.”

Bella nodded before she said, “She has a saying that makes sense in lots of situations but especially ones like this.”

“What’s that?”

“Some people just need killin’.”