Page 42 of Heart's Temptation

Sandro moved in front of us and peeked out the crack in the door. “Sergei is dead,” he announced, pushing the door all the way open. “Bad guys are gone.”

“Fuck!” I stomped back up the tunnel. With any luck, Simo had dragged the information we needed from Hetty. But it turned out we didn’t need her. Romeo called to say they knew where Niki was. Best fucking news I’d heard all day.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Nicolette

I was locked in my old bedroom from before I left for New York. My father had been dead for several years, but the place was still the same. Someone had paid the rent all this time and kept the place spotless. Not a speck of dust anywhere. I doubted very much that it had been Liam, who seemed hellbent on ruining me. Keeping my childhood alive didn’t seem like his style.

It had to be Gio. Who else would keep the place exactly the same as it had always been? It was still a run-down dump, but keeping it so clean and with fresh flowers in a vase on the table, which my mother had done when I was a child, was very much an act of love, so who else but Gio and Marko?

I’d been right—although it brought me no joy—about Liam and the threat. I was exactly where I should be based on a stupid desire to be free for an hour. What I wouldn’t give to turn back the hands of time and have a redo. And not just on the more recent the decision to follow Hetty, but the one on the day I’d left.

Marko and Gio had been right. I should have told them about Liam. Deep down, I’d never felt good enough to receive all their love and attention. I’d always felt that they’d taken a downgrade when they chose me instead of making an alliance with a mafia family that could add to their standing and provide back-up.

Sure, the average mafia family may have an issue with their offspring becoming a threesome, but I was sure Gio wasn’t the only mafia prince who desired to keep things tight. Marko may not have been his family by blood, but he was definitely his family by choice.

Gio had been lucky to have had the parents he did. Luciano was the most intimidating man I’d ever laid eyes on, and he’d passed that quality on to his sons. All of them were so self-possessed and in control. They’d never make stupid mistakes like the ones I had made. Even after all that time within the family fold and observing them through the good times and the bad, I apparently hadn’t learned the same lessons as the guys.

Every stupid, nasty thought I’d ever entertained about myself came to the surface, spilling into the most self-indulgent negative self-talk. But I couldn’t help that. Amergio had been killed right in front of my eyes. He’d been so young, and beautiful and alive and because of me he was dead.

You don’t deserve to live, Niki, you’ve always been trash. How could you be so stupid Niki?

Hadn’t my father said those very words to me every chance he got?

What do they see in white trash like you? If only your mother had lived, then you could have been her problem.

And on it went until I wanted to shove knives in my ears to block out the voices.

When I was young, I’d always sat on the windowsill in my bedroom, watching the outside world, and dreaming of when I’d be able to get out of this trash heap. And what did I do the moment the opportunity came?

I fell in love with Gio Vitale, and his best friend. I still fit in the confined space and found myself there, despite the thick paper covering the window, holding a picture of the three of us that had been on my bulletin board by my closet. Of course, I’d already tried opening the window by making a hole to access the lock, but it was sealed shut. Through the paper-thin walls, I heard raised voices in heated discussion and caught the occasional word uttered in English.

The conversation switched to Russian, and I recognized a few words. I heard heavy booted steps coming toward my haven. A key unlocked the door, and it swung open.

“Time to go.” Liam Kelly speared me with a dark look. “But before we do…” He stalked toward me, and my entire body tensed. It was like watching my father come toward me just before… And there it was, a slap so hard my ears rang, and blood gushed from my lip, dripping all over the white frame of the window.

“Sorry lass, but I want those fuckers so angry that they’ll slip up.” He grabbed me by my upper arm and tugged me off the sill. “The bait is set.” I was dragged from my childhood apartment and was almost sorry to see it disappear behind us as we drove away, leaving me wondering what fresh hell we were headed to.

Half an hour later, we were on the edge of town at the docks, a place I was very familiar with. I used to tag along with Gio when his father would bring him here to inspect their wine shipments. This was Fausto’s territory and inevitably the two brothers would end up in an endless learning session with their papa while I sat nearby smirking at their discomfort.

The docks were huge, and the Vitales were far from being the only ones with warehouses. They were, however, the only ones who owned the shipping routes, I ‘d learned when I had my visit with Vittoria and Gaby. They’d filled me in on what they could from more recent history, but there were still many years unaccounted for that Marko, Gio and I hadn’t gotten around to sharing yet.

I’d dreamed many times about us having a reunion, where we drank rich Vitale wine and talked deep into the night. That hadn’t happened yet, and if Liam Kelly had his way, it never would.

When Vittoria shared her own story, I’d laughed imagining Romeo in disguise as Mikey, catching her in midair when she’d tried to escape out her bedroom window the day of her wedding. It was so utterly romantic. Gaby's story about being called into Gaetano’s office was super hot and I couldn’t help feeling a little envious.

They’d asked how I’d met Gio and Marko, so I’d told them about my father, and being transferred from East Side High to West Ridge High, meeting the guys the same day.

Vittoira and Gabriella’s jaws dropped when I repeated the conversation with Gio and Marko from that day. Suddenly I wasn’t jealous anymore of ladies unconventional first meetings with their now husbands. What I’d had with my men that day had been special, and if I got another chance, I swore I’d never fuck it up again. But how often in life does one get three chances?

I was left in the vehicle while the men gathered around Liam. By the way he waved his arms this way and that, I assumed he was telling them where to station themselves. This made no sense to me, why would they bring me to such an obvious location?

Then Liam got back in the car and off we went. Now it made sense, the docks were the decoy. He aimed to take out as many as he could before they figured out I wasn’t where they thought.

Hail Mary, full of grace. What have I done?

For the first time in over a decade I prayed in earnest, hoping that the Vitale men and their crew would make it through this safe and sound.