Chapter 2

Before I have time to escape, I’m thrust back into the plush leather seat, the force of the driver’s sudden acceleration making me grip on for dear life. Gravel from the side street kicks up behind us, filling the air with a gritty whirlwind as we scream away from the arena. Two strong, well-dressed men occupy the front seats of the Hummer. One man confidently takes the wheel while the other firmly grips a firearm, telling me my idea of escaping this moving vehicle is going to be impossible.

Dani reaches out for me, her fingers intertwining with mine, a silent gesture of unity. I take a closer look at her, her ripped cocktail dress splattered in what could only be blood. Her dark hair’s a tattered mess; the once perfectly sleek ponytail our hair stylist did for her has fallen out. She looks like she’s been through some serious upheaval tonight. I’m dying to ask her what on earth happened since I saw her last, but with Geovani across from us, I know there would be little point.

We used to be kind of close in the months I spent working with her at the diner, but I don’t think she’s my friend. I’m pretty sure she’s the one who drugged me. She was the one who handed me the champagne I drank right before I blacked out. It was just the two of us in the suite at the time, so unless someone drugged it before she poured the drink, that’s the only explanation that makes any sense. But even then, she would have passed out as well, and I remember her catching me as I went down. Nope, it had to have been her. It’s the only explanation. I pull out of her grip, distancing myself.

“What the fuck happened back there?” Marco growls menacingly, his eyes locked onto Geovani. I can feel the anger radiating through him, mixed with the adrenaline from having to save us from whatever was going down in that stadium.

Geovani’s lips curl into a slight grin, adding a hint of playfulness to his expression. He thinks this is somehow amusing, and I’m even more confused by the man I thought I knew. “My guess is Enzo.”

Marco moves forward, his deathly glare intensifying, sending shivers down my spine. I feel Dani flinch beside me, sensing his aggression. “Your fucking guess. You said you had this situation under control. Why the fuck would Enzo have turned up here tonight? Isn’t he supposed to be hosting a wedding?”

My foggy head can’t process what they’re talking about. Why is Marco talking about Enzo like he doesn’t know what’s going on? Doesn’t he work for Enzo? And why the fuck are we sitting just inches apart from Geovani, a man they all warned me was extremely dangerous?

“Maddox,” is all I can get out through panicked breaths. My head spins, and I find myself resting it in my hands, desperately trying to avoid losing consciousness. I can’t shake this odd feeling that has taken hold of me. My skin is cold and clammy at the same time. If something has happened to him… I can’t let my mind go there. I need to know he’s alright .

“He’ll be fine.” Geovani’s laughter fills the air, a chilling sound that sends a wave of unease through me. What the fuck was that? He sounds crazy. Maybe he’s high as a kite on painkillers or something after his fight, but I can’t make sense of his behavior, it’s nothing like the man I knew. This man looks like he’s putting on a performance for us.

I won’t be convinced that Maddox is alive and well until I witness it firsthand. But something tells me I’m not going to see Maddox any time soon. I run my eyes over the shirtless man sitting in front of me.

He tilts his head, his lips twitching up at the sides. “Been way too long, Red.”

My expression turns icy. He can fuck right off if he thinks this is going to be a pleasant reunion. I hate him for the way he lied to me. If anything, it’s his fault I’m in this mess in the first place. If he had been honest with me right from the beginning instead of hiding so much stuff from me things would be very different right now.

Dani’s arm wraps around me, pulling me into her warm embrace. “You’re okay, girl, I’ve got you.”

A tremble runs over me and the inside of the car spins, and I blink rapidly, trying to get myself together. When my focus returns, all I see are Geovani’s green eyes, locked onto mine with an intensity that takes my breath away and sends an icy shiver right down my spine at the same time. Not because his gaze is cold or mean, but because I know too much about him now. He’s not the man I thought he was. He’s also not a man I want anywhere near me, especially when I’m dressed in practically nothing and feeling weak and vulnerable. If I ever saw him again, I wanted to be ready for a fight. Ready to demand he tell me why he lied to me and tricked me. I certainly didn’t want to be stuck in a moving vehicle with my brother, my ex-bestie, and what looks like two oversized heavies .

The last time I spent any time with him, we had just slept together in his gym. I was confused and sad after thinking I had lost my entire family. He had me fooled into thinking he was my savior, Ian, an undercover detective. I was falling for him more and more every day we spent together, and I had thought maybe he felt the same way. But this shirtless man in front of me, covered in blood and sweat, isn’t the man I had grown to adore. I don’t recognize him at all.

As Dani strokes my hair softly, I sink into the plush leather seat, my muscles feeling like jelly. Marco’s gaze meets mine, his brow furrowed in a mix of confusion and rage, leaving me shaking my head in disbelief. Is this what he was sorry for? What did he do to land us in the same getaway car as Geovani?

Startled by the sudden weight on my lap, I quickly turn my attention to Geovani, who has inched closer. It’s his jacket that now covers my bare legs. “You’re freezing, Red, put it on.” There is a no-nonsense quality to his voice, demanding attention and respect.

It instantly makes my hackles rise. Why the fuck would I do anything he says? I glare at him, my expression telling him everything my mouth can’t. With a determined shake of my head, I make it clear that I won’t accept anything he has to offer. I don’t care how fucking cold I am.

Sensing the impending tension between us, Dani moves aside.

Geovani grabs the jacket and forcefully slides it onto my shoulders, disregarding my resistance, his rough touch igniting a flutter within me. A memory of the same gesture the night my papa was killed. But it’s not like that night. Looking back, I naively believed that I could trust him. Thought he was someone safe, but now I know he’s not. I nervously wring my hands in my lap, my eyes rising. “I will never forgive you,” I spit out through the gut-wrenching tension eating up this car ride, making sure to meet his gaze with all the hatred I’m feeling toward him right now. He’s just another male in my life who has let me down. Lied to me and tricked me.

He relaxes back, propping his boots up on the seat beside me as he slides his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. “I can live with your hate, Red,” he mutters, sounding exhausted.

What the fuck does that even mean? He doesn’t care if I hate him? He should. I care. How could he just relax back and have a little nap? There is so much adrenaline running through my veins, I don’t know what the fuck to do with myself.

I scan the massive interior of the car, searching for a way out. I want to reach for the door and throw myself out of the car. My chances against the road are probably better than surviving with him and wherever he and my brother are taking me. But I can’t get to the door without going over him. Or back past Marco. I’m trapped.

“Let me out of this fucking car,” I snap, my frustration hitting a new level.

“We’ll be home soon, girl, just relax and enjoy the ride.” Dani reaches for the mini bar, offering me a mini bottle of vodka.

I glare back at her. Is she kidding me? The last drink I took from her was laced with something. Seeing the intensity of my stink eye toward her, she slips the drink back where it came from.

“Marco, what are we doing in here? Where are we going?” I ask my brother desperately.

“Somewhere safe, Sis. Dani’s right, just relax. I know tonight has been traumatic, but you’re safe now. We got you out of there.” His eyes plead with me to understand, but how can I?

For the rest of the drive, I stare at my hands, too afraid to look at any of the other occupants. I have questions for them all, but something tells me I won’t get the truth. Nervously, I go to spin the engagement ring on my finger, but it’s not there. I stare down at my hand in disbelief. I thought that ring would be like a noose around my neck, there till the day I died. I wonder who removed it, and where Alessandro is right now. I can picture the rage on his face when he worked out I was gone and not walking down the aisle to join him. He would have been furious, the control he desperately craves slipping slowly away.

After some time, the Hummer comes to a stop. I hear the door to my side open and Marco leaving with Dani quietly. But I don’t move. I’m not sure I can. I want to shove open the door and run like the fucking wind. But not only is my body aching so much, but the thought of walking also seems impossible. I glance through the window, seeing a concrete parking garage, mostly empty except for a couple of luxury cars parked to our right. Next to them is an elevator. I have no idea what Geovani’s intentions are. Carlo could be here, wherever we are, and if that’s the case, I don’t want to know. I might not fear Geovani, but Carlo scares the life out of me.

“I thought you were my friend,” I whisper, knowing how pathetic it sounds now. But I really did. I thought I was someone special to him, something more than his friend, if I’m being completely honest. I didn’t think he would be capable of kidnapping me the night of my wedding. But here I am, stuck with him.

Out of my periphery, I see him scrub a hand over his face. “We can’t afford friends in this world, Red.” As our eyes lock, my heart races, pounding so hard I can almost hear it. The way his eyes narrow as he says the words makes me believe him. He’s no one’s friend, and I shouldn’t be either. Has Marco just had the same realization, and that’s why he’s here with Geovani?

He inches closer. “Don’t you fucking dare come anywhere near me.” I clammer away from him, sliding all the way over to the opposite side of the seat. He stops moving, glaring back at me as if somehow I have just wounded him. What does he want with me? Swallowing down my fear, I try to put on a brave face. “What I don’t understand is why become my friend? Why help me if I was only ever going to end up your prisoner anyway? You lied to me for six fucking months, Geovani. Why?” I force the words out of my mouth, not really expecting him to answer but needing to say them. I have thought about him a lot in my time with the Morettis, and I couldn’t make sense of anything they told me about him. I need answers.

“You’re not my prisoner, and I didn’t lie to you, just bent the truth a little to ensure your safety.”

My resting bitch face would say it all. Didn’t lie to me my ass. “Whatever you have to tell yourself so you can sleep at night. You fucking lied to me.”

“I won’t apologize for keeping you safe.”

“Ha!” I laugh bitterly. “Yeah, so safe.” I shake my head, thinking back to all the madness that has happened in my life over the last eight months. Not one moment of that time was I safe with him or not. “So, I can just leave now then, can I?” I push. Adrenaline surges through me. I stare back at him, not sure what to do. My heart tells me to run, but I have no idea where he’s brought me. All I see out the car window is concrete. I could be anywhere.

With a heavy sigh, he steps out of the car and leans on the open door frame. “Harley, my sweet girl. Your papa didn’t sign you over to me in that marriage contract like the Morettis thought. He traded you over to my pa, Carlo, for him to do with you whatever he wanted. Believe me when I say, it’s better not to know what he had planned for you,” he growls out, and I hear his pure rage. He’s not as calm about all this as he was acting. His tone is enough to imply he doesn’t have the same relationship with his pa that Alessandro does with his. There’s no trust between them or love. “They treated you like some fucking business transaction. There was no fucking way I was going to let Carlo lay a finger on you. Or let fucking Alex marry you.”

I blink back at him. He’s not saying he will let me leave, but maybe he really was trying to protect me, in his own way, I guess. Maybe he still is? That’s why he was helping me that night, that’s why he gave me the fake identity and got me to change my hair color. He mustn’t have realized at the time what the boys wanted with me, but he knew his pa thought he had some claim over me, and he wasn’t having it.

“But the boys said… my brother said…” I try to ask, but he cuts me off.

“Your brother only knew what he’d overheard until I set him straight. I have a copy of the contract. Carlo wanted your brother dead and you as his wife so he could take over all the Havardi holdings’ dealings. Your papa’s businesses would have made him a very wealthy man. It also would have given him something over Enzo, and the two of them have been fighting over territory and shit for as long as I can remember.”

“What you’re saying is if I married into the Morettis, they would get the businesses?” I ask, trying to make sense of exactly what they want with me.

“I’m not sure how much they knew about some of the businesses, but Alex has had an infatuation with you for years. He’s a smart man, Harley, he knew what it would mean for him having you by his side. If your family names were allied, he would gain a lot more respect of the people who happily followed your papa into whatever dealings he was interested in. He would also gain the territories your papa oversaw. It was all about money and power for him. He saw you as the key to his success. Since your papa died, Alex has spent a great deal of that time working with his men to earn their trust and keep your family’s businesses going as the devoted son-in-law to the man he ordered to be killed. What the fuck do you make of that?” He glares back at me. “I know you want someone to blame for all the fucked-up shit that’s happened to you. He’s your man, not me.”

This is why Geovani showed up at the rehearsal dinner. This is what he was trying to force out of Alessandro. He wanted me to know exactly what I was giving up by marrying him. I think back to Alessandro’s face that night. He was furious Geovani was causing trouble. But he was just trying to tell the truth. With my history with Alessandro, why couldn’t he have told me himself what my family name meant to him and what he stood to earn taking over what my papa built?

Pain radiates through my chest; I’m so hurt by all the lies and secrets. I was just a business transaction to all of them, just like I was my papa. An item to be traded. How degrading. “Why isn’t Marco running any family businesses? He’s not dead. He could run any family businesses for himself and then there would be no need for anyone to marry me over this. I could be free.”

Geovani drops his head and takes in a deep, labored breath, as if the world is resting on his shoulders alone. “The Morettis own your brother, Red. Your papa knew it from the day Marco swore in alongside Ricky and Maddox. He gave up all his rights; he serves Enzo for the greater good of the family name. Stephano had the contract drawn up in your name to get around that. In the event he died or when you turned twenty-one, you would be the legal owner of all his businesses. You are the sole heir to the Havardi fortune. That’s what Enzo was after. He didn’t know exactly what he would be getting his hands on, but he knew it was something Stephano was risking his life over.”

“Oh.” A wave of nausea washes over me, and I swallow it down. I turned twenty-one the month before he died, and my papa never once thought to mention any of this to me. He just let me go on about my life in Paris like nothing had changed.

I hate him so much for keeping all this from me. For not preparing me for this fucked-up life. He wasn’t trying to shelter his only daughter. That’s all bullshit and I know it. He dropped me right in the middle of this hell. I try not to completely fall apart in front of Geovani as my eyes blur, and I stare at the front of the car, angrier than I have ever been in my life. How dare they all treat me like property.

“Dani. How is she involved?” I sniff, not sure if I really want the answer. It’s going to hurt too much.

He tilts his head to the side, his piercing gaze fixed on me with intense curiosity. I can’t help but wonder what he’s searching for. Waiting for me to crack and lose it completely? I’m on the verge, he won’t have to wait much longer. “Most people will do what you want if you offer them the right price.”

My heart lurches out of my chest, a deep pain spreading through me. She drugged me and handed me over to these people, all for a little money. I feel sick. Really sick. The car spins, and I shove open the door beside me, hopping out in a rush, emptying the contents of my stomach on the cold concrete below. Nausea racks my body in waves until I’m dry-retching, placing my hands on my knees for support so I don’t fall to the dirty parking garage below. My head thumps, the low dull ache of a stress migraine on its way. I can’t trust anyone. I’m all alone in this fucked-up world.