Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

I know we didn’t have lunch plans today, but I need something from him. Even if it’s just a quick hello before I go work through lunch. I blame it on Alistair really. I mean, how can he expect me not to become addicted to his lady Viagra?

It’d be an impossible feat for anyone. Let alone me. It’s not like I’ve had a fulfilling sex life before him. I thought I did. I thought what Hunter and I had was great. I thought wrong.

Huh…

It suddenly occurs to me that I haven’t thought of Hunter much at all over these last few weeks. I guess, in a way, Alistair is curing me of my obsession with my ex. I’m no longer stalking his socials or hyperfocused on the details of his day-to-day. I’m really just waiting for his picture-perfect life to blow up in his face. I wanted him to be as miserable as I was when he left me on our wedding day. I wanted him to hurt.

Now, not so much. I still hate him. But I don’t need the vengeance I thought I did. It might be time for me to go home for a weekend to see my parents. Maybe I can convince Alistair to come with me…

Are we at the meet the parents stage yet? I’m not sure.

Opening his office door, I freeze on the spot. Well, that answers that question. The fact that he currently has a woman on her knees in front of him, her hands on his belt, tells me we are most certainly not at the meet the parents stage. We aren’t at any stage.

“Ah, sorry… I thought… I’ll come back when you’re not so… busy,” I mumble before slamming the door harder than I intended.

Shit, shit, shit. What do I do?

I need to get out of here. I should have known this would happen. I walk back to my desk, collect my bag, and head right into Xavier’s office, shutting the door behind me. He looks up from his computer when he hears the audible click.

“Dani, you okay?” he asks me.

“Yes, fine,” I lie. “I just came to say thank you for the opportunity, but I’m resigning. I’ll email you my formal resignation, but I wanted to tell you in person.”

“Whatever the fuck Alistair did, don’t quit your job over it. I’ll make him fix it,” he says.

“It’s not because of him. I just… I have to go. I’m sorry.” I rush out the door and over to the elevators. I don’t look in the direction of Alistair’s office.

I can’t.

I’m doing my best not to break out into tears in front of everyone. That’s the last thing I need. Another public humiliation. As soon as I’m out of the building, I slip around the first corner and call Eloise.

“Hey, babycakes,” she answers.

“El, can you come and get me? Please,” I ask her.

“Of course I can. Where are you and what’s wrong?” I can hear the concern in her voice, followed by shuffling and the jingling of keys.

“I’ve just left work. I’ll be in the café across the street. I need to get out of here,” I tell her before hanging up and making my way inside the little coffee shop.

I find a spot in the back and wait for Eloise. It doesn’t take her long. She’s walking through the door in ten minutes. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asks when she reaches the table.

“Nothing. Come on, I need to get out of here,” I repeat.

Once we’re in her car and she’s weaving in and out of the city traffic, she turns to me. “Want me to take you to your place?”

“No, he’ll show up there.” I shake my head. After the million phone calls and messages I’ve had from Alistair, I’m guessing he’s looking for me. Probably to try to convince me that what I saw wasn’t what it looked like.

But it was. What else could it have been?

“Who? Alistair?”

“Just… can we go to your place?” I plead.

“Always.” She turns a corner and takes the freeway, heading out of the city. “I… ah… I moved in with Gio,” she says after a moment of silence.

“You what? When?” I don’t hide the shock in my tone. Eloise has never lived with a boyfriend before. Ever.

“Three weeks ago.” She looks at me out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh, okay.” I have no idea what to say to that. She kept this boyfriend of hers to herself. She kept the fact that she moved in with him to herself. “Did I do something wrong?” I ask her.

“No, why would you think that?”

“Because you’re not telling me stuff. Important stuff like: Oh, hey, Dani, you know my boyfriend? Well, he asked me to move in with him. That kind of important stuff,” I say.

“It’s not because of you. I wanted to make sure it stuck. That’s all,” she says, as though that explains everything.

Twenty-five minutes later, we pull into an estate and she punches a code into the gates. “This is where you’re living? Shit, El, I would have moved in here too,” I say, looking up at the house. No, it’s not a house. It’s a bloody mansion on top of a mansion.

“It’s just a house.” She shrugs. “Come on. And don’t stare. Just pretend everyone you see doesn’t exist. Ignore them,” she says before getting out of the car.

It’s not until we’re walking through the front door and down a corridor that it dawns on me what she meant. There are a lot of people in this house. They all smile politely at Eloise and stare at me like I’m an intruder, someone who definitely shouldn’t be here. Eloise stops at the entry to a room and opens the door.

“Miss, I need to check your friend before you bring her into the house,” a man in a black suit says, approaching me.

“No, you don’t,” Eloise counters with her arms folded over her chest.

“I do. Boss’s orders.” The man shrugs.

“Boss’s orders? Really?” Eloise takes my hand and marches us down a hallway.

“Ah, boss is busy,” another equally large man in a suit says, while holding up a palm to stop Eloise outside a closed door.

“Well, he’s about to get busier.” Eloise shoves the guy out of the way and pushes the door open. “Gio De Bellis, I swear to god, if my friends have to be searched to visit me, I’m moving out,” Eloise yells into the room.

Five men turn and stare at her. The one behind the desk appears shocked as his eyes travel from Eloise to me. It’s the same man from the other day, when I left work to meet her for lunch. “El, you know the rules are in place to keep us all safe,” he says before standing and buttoning his suit jacket as he does.

“Really, Gio? You’re scared of her? Dani? My best friend since forever? Little Dani? You know what? It’s fine. Come on, Dani, I still have my apartment anyway. I’ll grab some of my things and get the rest later,” Eloise huffs and pivots on her heel.

“I’ll search her. I’ll even make it fun,” one of the occupants says. I glance at him and tilt my head. He’s good looking, extremely good looking.

“Touch her and I’ll cut your dick off. I know how fond of it you are, Gabe,” Eloise scolds him. To which, the large man just laughs.

“Enough. Eloise, a word,” Gio interjects, walking up to her.

“I’m not leaving Dani here with the ferals,” she argues.

“Any of you touch her, I’ll cut your fingers off myself,” Gio turns and says to them over his shoulder. “Happy?” he asks Eloise.

“No. Not even close,” she says in an oddly sweet voice. A voice I know means that she’s anything but happy. Eloise looks at me. “I’ll be two minutes. These goons are Gio’s brothers. They’re mostly safe. Don’t leave,” she says to me.

And I can’t help but sit here and wonder where she thinks I’m going. I don’t have anywhere else to go.

“Okay, who killed your cat?” another one of Gio’s brothers asks me as soon as the door shuts.

“Excuse me?” I turn to face him.

“You look like someone killed your cat. Either that or your boyfriend fucked up,” he says with a slight shrug. “Judging by your reaction just now, I’m guessing it’s option number two. Whoever he is, he’s a fucking idiot. You’re a fucking ten. Men shouldn’t be throwing away tens.”

“Ah… thanks,” I reply hesitantly.

“I’m Santo. This is Gabrielle, Marcello, and Vincenzo.” He points to each of the other men in the room.

“Hi, I’m Dani,” I introduce myself.

“We know. We make it a habit of knowing who our sister has in her inner circle,” Vincenzo says.

“Sister?” I ask, my brows furrowed. For the love of god, if Eloise went and got hitched without me, I’ll kill her myself.

“Well, she’s not yet, but she will be,” Marcello replies.

The door opens and Eloise walks back in with a smile on her face. Gio’s close behind her with a scowl on his. “Come on, we’re having a girls’ night in. Claire and Daisy are on their way over.” Eloise takes my hand and drags me out of the office.

“El, who the hell are you and what have you done with my friend?” I ask her once we’re out of earshot of the De Bellis brothers.

“Shut up. I’ve just learnt to be a little more assertive around that lot. If you let them, they’ll walk all over you. But they’re harmless… mostly,” she says.

“Well, that’s reassuring,” I mumble, looking around as she drags me back to the room we stopped outside before she rushed into that office. No one glances our way this time as we walk into what I can now see is a living room. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here? I don’t want to cause any trouble,” I tell her. And, to be honest, I’m not one hundred percent comfortable being in a known mobster’s house.

What the hell was I thinking?

“It’s fine. This is my home now, Dani. We have to get used to it,” she says. “Now, tell me why you, of all people, left work in the middle of the day.”

“I quit my job,” I tell her.

“You what?” This doesn’t come from Eloise. It comes from both Claire and Daisy, who are currently walking into the room, escorted by one of Gio’s brothers.

“Thanks, Marcello. And, before you suggest anything, the answer is no,” Eloise says.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.” Marcello pouts.

“Still a no,” she insists.

“You kill all my fun, El. Seriously, what’s the point of having a sister if I can’t fuck her hot friends,” he says with a panty-melting grin.

“Well, I wouldn’t go as far as saying you can’t…” Daisy smirks.

“Daisy, no,” Eloise scolds her.

“Okay, no-go zone. Got it.” Daisy laughs while holding up her hands in surrender.

“Right, well, I’ll be around if you change your mind, beautiful,” Marcello says to her before walking out of the room.

“Really, El, can’t I just play with him a little bit?” Daisy pouts, her eyes glued on Marcello’s retreating form.

“Nope. Don’t go there. Now, why the hell would you quit your job?” Eloise turns to me with her no-nonsense glare.

“I walked in on Alistair today. He was about to be on the receiving end of a blow job, from a woman who I’m pretty sure was a client.” I keep my voice neutral, like it’s no big deal.

“He what?” Eloise screams. “I’m going to kill him. Actually, I’ll have Gio put a hit out on him,” she says with a finger pressed to her lips in thought.

I laugh and then stop when her expression tells me she’s not joking. “Holy shit, you’re serious, aren’t you?” I ask her.

“What’s the point of dating Gio De Bellis if I can’t ask him to make someone disappear?” She shrugs.

“No. I don’t want him to disappear. I want the visual to disappear,” I say, tears stinging my eyes. I finally let them fall, surrounded by the girls who will always be here to support me through the shitty times in life. “I just… I really thought…” I hiccup through my sobs.

“I know,” Claire says, tugging me to her chest. “Maybe we can tear off his balls?”

“Maybe.” I smile, even though it’s the last thing I feel like doing right now.

“I mean, there are plenty of available hot-as-fuck men walking around this place. Revenge sex is good sex,” Daisy tells me.

“Daisy, control your libido,” Eloise scolds her.

“What? Why? And, seriously, how have you not invited us here before now? I mean, come on, El, this house? These men? You’ve been holding out.”

“I was scared you girls would stop talking to me,” Eloise admits.

I lift my head and wipe at my wet cheeks. “Never,” I tell her. “Nothing would make me stop talking to you. Ever.”