Chapter Fourteen

Gigi closed her eyes. She wanted to deny the emotion coursing through her, to push it aside and forget it. She couldn't. Hearing Ludovico calling her dirty names and proclaiming her as his made every inch of her fiber vibrate. He wasn't wrong. Had they met in different circumstances she would have given in to him just the same. He was attractive, demanding, confident. Every inch of her vibrated when he was near. Speaking with him, she'd been able to see a side of him she believed he rarely showed. He was vulnerable. A man immersed in grief and putting up a strong front to survive. He never let go because if he did, he would lose himself. And now, she was involved with him. If only he wasn't a mobster, a murderer. The police were after him. Them. They must have found something.

"What do I tell the police?"

Ludovico wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"If they call again, you'll tell them we got into a fight, and you were running from me."

"They'll believe that?"

"Why wouldn't they? We're together now and we have the pictures."

"Of me." She swallowed. "Naked."

"Yes. Naked. Desperate for my cock. A boyfriend has a picture of his hot girlfriend. Nothing suspicious there." He shrugged.

"But they're recent. If they looked at the date."

Ludovico grasped her chin.

"You forget my business, Ragazza."

"Hacking."

Ludovico winked. "Indeed. Now, let's get something to eat other than pussy. I'm starving."

****

The police called her again early the next morning while they were having breakfast. Gigi glanced up at Ludovico, panicking. He shook his head, grasped her phone, and answered.

"Hello?" He nodded. "She's in the shower." His jaw clenched. "I am her boyfriend." He glanced at her, his piercing gaze daring her to say the opposite. "I will tell her."

He hung up.

"What did they say?" her voice trembled slightly.

"Same thing as last night. They want to speak to you."

She sunk her fingers in her hair and tugged.

"I can't lie," she whispered. "You told me so yourself."

"Relax, Ragazza. Remember who you're talking to."

"Mario Ludovico."

"Mario Upper Hand Ludovico." He grinned.

"Do you have a plan?"

He stretched, cracking his knuckles. Focusing his gaze on her, he winked.

"Always, Ragazza."

For almost three days she didn't think about the police. Her life revolved around Ludovico. Fucking him. Pleasing him. Trying to get his legal business sorted. There were moments in which she forgot she was his captive. Moments in which they laughed together or sat in comfortable silence working.

The peace was shattered when the police appeared in his office, without warning and demanded to see her. Ludovico's secretary had escorted them to a meeting room, where they were waiting for her.

"What do I do?" she cried. Her teeth chattered so badly the words came out choppy.

Ludovico grasped her shoulders.

"Look at me," he demanded. "Everything is going to be all right. You're going to tell them what we've rehearsed. You are my girlfriend. We got into a fight, and you ran off."

"What were we fighting about?"

Ludovico grinned.

"I wanted you to blow me off in the alley."

"I can't tell that to the police," she cried.

Ludovico chuckled.

"You can and you will. Remember what is at stake." He quirked an eyebrow.

She nodded. The answer was easy enough. Her family. Her reputation. Her freedom. But also, his. No matter how nonchalant he pretended to be, beneath the tough exterior was a passionate man. He'd die defending what was his. People depended on him. She couldn't let him down.

"All right."

"Harris wants to speak to you on your own, but I'll be two doors down if you need me."

She nodded.

Abruptly, Ludovico pulled her into his arms. He enveloped her in a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"It's going to be okay."

His warmth wrapped around her granting her the courage she needed. She made her way into the office where Officer Harris waited. He was dark haired with a deep-set brow and a mustache which twitched every few seconds.

"Ms. Evans." He extended his hand, which she weakly took.

"Officer Harris."

"I am finally able to speak to you. I have been trying to reach you for days."

"My boyfriend has told me. I've been meaning to call you but with work and all…" She finished meekly. "We've been busy."

Harris's mustache twitched. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Of course. Well, surely you're aware of why I'm here."

"Not at all." She sat down, hoping he wouldn't notice how badly her knees shook.

"There was a murder on 67th Avenue, near your old job. We know you were running down that street on the same day the murder occurred, Ms. Evans."

"A murder?" She swallowed, remembering the man's pale face as Ludovico crushed his windpipe. This was her chance. She could tell the police everything and be free of him.

"Yes. Someone suffocated a man."

"Why would anyone do anything like that?" The question came out naturally.

"For the same reason they slashed your tires, to gain the upper hand."

Gigi sucked in her bottom lip. Harris was clearly giving her hints as to how much information the police had. It bothered her, though, that he wasn't direct about it.

"How do you know about that?"

"We have our contacts." The nonchalant response irked her.

"Where are you getting at, Officer Harris?"

He leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him. His voice dropped to a whisper.

"We know who Ludovico is. We know you are afraid. He is the mob, after all, but you don't need to be. We'll protect you."

"From what? My boyfriend?"

Harris nodded. "You can drop the act, Ms. Evans. We checked your records, spoke to your old boss. You've been a model employee and neighbor until now. Suddenly, you quit your job, don't appear in your house for days, and show up here in Ludovico's office dressed like a hooker."

"Excuse me?"

Anger slammed into her, adrenaline surging through her.

"We asked around. You dressed conservatively. The kind of person who kept to herself. People don't change from one day to the next. You don't get a relationship in a few days, drop your job, your life, unless you're being coerced."

"Sometimes they do." She splayed her hands on the desk, fighting the urge to tell off the policeman.

Harris let out a long sigh. He steepled his fingers in front of him and gave her a direct gaze.

"Ms. Evans, please tell us what happened. We can protect you. This is what I'm here for."

Gigi returned his stare with as much confidence as she could muster.

"There's nothing to protect me from. I got into an argument with my boyfriend, which happens to be Mr. Ludovico, and I was so pissed I ran off."

"I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice."

Harris pulled out his phone and clicked into it. He turned it around. A video played of the street near her job. She recognized the brawl from the previous day. Suddenly, she appeared on the screen looking disheveled. She ran up the street, glancing back every few seconds. "You looked like a woman who had been spooked."

"My boyfriend had just suggested I suck his dick in the middle of the street, wouldn't you be disturbed too if you weren't into voyeurism?"

Harris's jaw dropped. He shut off his phone and stuffed it into his pocket.

"I suppose," he finally said, clearing his throat. "But we've also been trying to contact you for days, but you never seem to have your phone."

"I'm a busy woman."

"We know who Mario Ludovico is," the officer interrupted her. "You don't need to fear him."

"I don't."

The man sneered.

"Would you like to see our sex tapes?" she blurted. "Would you like him to come here and feel me up so you may believe what I'm telling you? And let me ask you something, Officer Harris, why weren't the police protecting the man who was murdered? Why do the police allow that area to run rampant with thugs? If indeed you thought I was running down a street, scared, why didn't you contact me sooner?"

The officer lifted his hands in an appeasing gesture.

"Now, Ms. Evans, I'm not saying—"

"Ludovico is my boyfriend. We fuck. We fight. It's not an easy relationship because of who he is. But underneath it all, he is a good man. We love each other. I love him."

She paused. Her heart tripled its rate, crushing her chest and leaving her breathless. She loved him. The words had come out of her mouth unexpectedly, but as she said them, she realized they were true.