Page 63 of Ruthless Touch
That’s a lie, and if either Marcello and Franco think about how I got away, they’ll realize that. I need to keep talking and make them think of something else.
“But I know that his guards are heavily armed. That I know for sure. I saw their weapons on more than one occasion,” I say, trying my hardest to be as convincing as possible.
Marcello nods and then leans forward to pat me on the knee. “You sound like their guns scared you. Did you tell Gideon you didn’t like seeing weapons around?”
I shake my head as tears well in my eyes at his mention of Gideon. I know what this man is trying to do. He wants me to give him something that will make it easer to attack the Rules. I don’t want to hurt Gideon or his family, so I won’t tell him anything, even if I knew what he wants to find out.
“Okay, Aria. That’s enough for now.”
He stands and waves Franco toward him as he begins to walk into the other room. I hope I didn’t say anything that inadvertently will help him to hurt Gideon. I’d die if I thought I was the cause of anything bad happening to him.
I love him. God, please save me from these men and let me return to Gideon so I can tell him how I feel. Please don’t let me die here before I can tell him I love him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Gideon
My body sags against the stone façade of one of the boutiques near the hotel after five hours looking for Aria. Raphael and two other security guards stand waiting for me to give them new orders on where to look for her, but there’s no point.
Somebody grabbed her. I know it. I can feel it in my gut.
“Mr. Rule, where to next?” Raphael asks.
I shake my head as I run my hand through my hair in frustration. “Nowhere. We’ve searched up and down this coast for her. If we can’t find her, that means someone got her.”
What I don’t say out loud is I know what I have to do now. I have to call Marcello Angeloni and negotiate for her release. So much for having the upper hand for a few fucking days.
I don’t care about that now, though. All I care about is having Aria back safe and sound. God help Marcello or anyone else if she doesn’t come back to me as perfect as she left.
Without another word, I turn to walk back to the hotel as I silently play out in my head what to do next. Angeloni is going to take full advantage of my weakness in this situation. I would if I were him.
I just don’t know what he’s going to want in exchange for her. He’s got power. He’s got money. What else could he want?
I’m going to find out.
Sasha runs up to me as I walk through the front doors of the hotel and head for my office, her expression full of concern. She peppers me with questions I can’t answer on my way there, her voice full of worry for Aria.
“Where could she be, Gideon? Where would she go? You have to have some idea.”
I let out a sigh and shake my head. “I don’t know. She told me her family isn’t from here. She’s from upstate New York, and that’s where they still live.”
As she closes my office door behind her, she whispers, almost as if she can’t bring herself to say the words out loud, “You don’t think she’d go back to that ex-boyfriend of hers, do you?”
“No,” I answer, relatively sure she wouldn’t go back to Franco. “At least I don’t think so.”
“Well, what are you going to do now? You can’t just stop looking. She’s out there by herself at night. God only knows what could happen to her!”
“I know. You don’t have to remind me. Christ, Sasha. I’m worried about her too, but you need to calm down. Getting frantic isn’t going to bring her back any sooner.”
My assistant hangs her head in an uncharacteristic sign of remorse. “I just feel bad. I think I’m part of the reason she ran away. Gideon, you have to find her. If someone takes her off the street, I don’t even want to think about what may happen. She’s not tough like me. Aria’s gentle, and I’m not sure she could fight back if someone tried to hurt her.”
Memories of that night at Lucius Angeloni’s house when Franco abused her in front of me and everyone else there flash through my brain, making me clench my hands into tight fists. If he got a hold of her and hurt her, I’m going to relish ripping him limb from limb.
When I pick up the phone, Sasha looks at me strangely. “Who are you calling? I don’t think now is really the time to be chatting people up.”
“I’m calling Marcello Angeloni. I have no choice. I need to get her back, and after the other day with him, he’s bound to want something. I’m willing to trade anything to have Aria back with me.”
Nothing I say alleviates the expression of worry that’s settled into Sasha’s face. I’ve never seen her so upset about anything in all the time I’ve known her. I want to ask if there’s something she’s not telling me, but I’ve got too much to deal with right now.