BONJOUR! Oh, wrong book. CIAO!!!!!!
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Disclaimer: There is very brief violence in this chapter that may be triggering.
I submitted my online exam and clicked off, my thumb anxiously moving Lucius' ring back and forth along the chain around my throat.
The weekend was here. College was out of the way for now, and the night I'd dreaded all week was finally here. If my encounter with Lucius had done anything good, it'd successfully distracted me for some time, but what was about to happen was inevitable.
I looked back at the cocktail dress in a dry cleaner back hanging from my closet door of my shoulder. The dress I would be wearing tonight. I unwrapped two more puntini fruitti assortiti candies, aka my pr- and post-exam special treat, and stuffed them into my mouth to suck on, before arranging everything perfectly organized on my desk.
There was a knock on my door.
"One second." I shuffled to the door and unlocked it, to find Gemma standing with a mug in her hand. "Hey. What's up?"
"Done with your exam?"
"Yep, just finished." I held the door open wider and let her in, chewing on my lip.
"I made you some hot cocoa. They had those little Christmas marshmallows you like."
Gemma folded her arms over her chest. "How was the test?"
"I think I did okay, it was crazy hard though." The highest grade I'd gotten was probably a C, which was devastating to think about. I was an A student, and my last two quizzes hadn't been up to par with that.
Gemma hung around like she wanted to say something more, and I realized she had come in here for another reason other than bringing me hot cocoa. "Is something the matter with Mia?"
"What? Oh, no, Mia's doing great. She's close friends now with Lucius' niece, Alice. They play on her Nintendo switch all the time." She waggled a finger. "But only after all her schoolwork is done."
I laughed. "Aw, I'm glad. They're like twins..." I immediately had a trail of negative thoughts, how once this was all over Mia probably wouldn't have her new best friend anymore. And how I didn't have as strong as a relationship with my sister as I used to.
Gemma sat down on my bed, looking around my room like she didn't know what to say, before turning back to me. "Are you okay?"'
I sat up a little. "Yeah, why?"
"I noticed you've been very quiet this week. I figured I'd ask."
"No, I'm totally good." I plopped down on my bed, squeezing my stuffed duck to my chest. "I've just been really stressed, and you know with all this studying. I can't stop thinking ahead with the two classes I'm taking during winter break..."
Gemma nodded as I spoke, but I could tell her mind was elsewhere. "Your father mentioned your mom called?"
I tried to act as nonchalant as possible, but she'd caught me off guard. "She wants to be involved in the wedding. Dad said something about her coming back to America."
By Gemma's shocked expression, my father hadn't mentioned any of that to her. "Is she...coming here? To the house?"
"At this point, I have no idea," I told her. "I don't even know why my father still takes her calls. Doesn't he see that she's manipulative and trying to have the best of both worlds? It's going to hurt Mia."
"Being divorced and sharing children is complicated, Korinna, that's for sure." Gemma inhaled a deep breath, putting on her usual warm smile as she pat my ankle "I can't even imagine what you're going through with all of this. The events that occurred over a year ago, the marriage, and now your mother. It's a lot to be resting on your shoulders all by yourself. It's okay to put yourself first."
Looking down at my lap, playing with the candy wrapper between my fingertips. The problem was that I wasn't so sure that I had been putting my family first. At least not two years ago.
"You know, you and Mia have absolutely my changed my life," Gemma continued, making me pick my head back up. "You're both so wonderful. I worry about what this life will do to you, what it already has. If I've done enough to help you and at what point, I would be crossing a line with your father." She reached out and held my hand, her eyes gleaming ever so slightly. "I wanted you to know I'm on your side. I know that might be hard to believe, since your father employs me. But I am. You and Mia...I think of you as my own daughters. You know that, don't you?"
What Gemma said meant so much to me, and I realized I'd been so distracted by other things that I hadn't stopped to remember how grateful I was for the people in my life like Gemma. I managed a nod as I tried to hold back my tears and pulled her into a tight hug.
I wished I could tell her the truth. But this only served as a reminder that I had too much to lose if I didn't face my demons on my own.
***
I had to get clever with sneaking out that night. Despite the guilt that I felt, I had one of my father's drivers drop me off at my college an hour away, so I could "meet with some classmates" on campus on a final group project. One of my father's new employees, who had driven me here, hovered around the campus library like a body guard.
I thought I would never get time to myself, when he seemed to receive a phone call and left the building. It was enough of a distraction for me to make a break for it.
I hiked up across campus to the commuter parking lot and texted Marcos. My heart pounded as a normal looking jeep came around the parking lot to pick me up. The man driving didn't speak a word to me, but I vaguely recognized him as one of the Cafaro's employees.
He took me to a place I hadn't been in years. A bar right by my college, where Marcos told me he loved me.
I looked down the sleek wood of the empty bar, my eyes connecting with his. Marcos Cafaro looked the same as the last time I'd saw him, but his brown hair was shaved down to a military style. He wore a long sleeve t-shirt and jeans, and for some reason, the casualness of his clothes seemed to unarm me a little bit.
My stomach didn't do that same fluttery sensation it used to around him, but I still had eyes, and he was just as beautiful as I remembered. Outward looks really could be deceiving.
"Korinna Romano." Marcos stood up to move his seat to the the stool beside me and kissed the back of my hand. "As I live and breathe. You look good. Real good."
"My eyes are up here."
Marcos flicked his gaze back up to my face, that smile still on his mouth. "I missed that sass." He took a sip his drink, leaning his forearms on the bar. "You stopped replying to my calls and my emails, so I figured you blocked me. Did you think I would just forget about our...understanding?"
His finger brushed a strand of my hair, but I flinched away.
"Our understanding ended when your men invaded my home and traumatized my sister," I said.
"It seems your sister wasn't the only person I traumatized that night." Marcos' eyes lingered on my face. "You know I didn't want things to go down the way they did, baby."
"You had your men flood our goddamn house," I hissed. "They tore up and destroyed almost everything we owned!"
"Well, things changed," Marcos said. "Your father had my father's cargo blown up. If we didn't show retaliation, we would have looked weak I didn't know you were in the house. If I had known, you know I would have said something. My feelings for you were always real. I still love you, Korinna."
Looking into his eyes as he said it made me feel so wrongly conflicted. Marcos was my first love. He'd sneak me out of my college to see me, and I couldn't help but remember all the good times we had together. I was younger and naïve then. And how quickly had things spiraled out of control.
I looked down at the bar, my foot kicking on the stool. "What about the video? What's your excuse for that?"
Marcos laughed. "Now we both know that video was your idea..."
"I didn't think you'd send it around," I snapped.
"I didn't send it to nobody, baby."
Hearing him call me baby made me cringe inwardly. I couldn't believe it'd ever made me melt at the knees. "You implied something by sending me that."
"There is nothing implied. I just wanted to remind you of what we had."
"Well, I remember, and I want it deleted."
Marcos tapped his fingers on the bar. "Jesus, Korinna, you're acting like I'm this horrible person. I'm would never send it to anyone. That video is a memory I don't want either of us to ever forget." His smirk was a little sideways. "We made love for hours that night, poured each other's hearts out. Why would I want to delete something like that?"
I felt sick to my stomach. He didn't plan on deleting the video. "Why? Why now? Why reach out to me now?"
Marcos his hand over his buzzed hair in an anxious way. I could tell from the moment I saw him he was high on something stronger than weed. "My hands are fucking tied, Korinna. The La Notte's are power grabbing bastards and they're putting pressure on our buyers."
"Marcos, you know me. I am not involved in these things––'
"But your fiancé is," Marcos spat. "When I heard you're getting married, you have no idea the betrayal I felt. Hearing it through the grape vine hurt even more. I'll assume my invitation was lost in the mail?"
I just looked at him, having no idea what I could get away with saying without setting him off.
Marcos shook his head at something he was thinking, a smile playing on his lips. "La Mano del Devialo," he whispered. "I thought to myself, what the fuck would my sweet Korinna see in a monster like that? It is so unlike you. Then it dawned on me that maybe everything isn't what it seems." He waggled his finger at me. "I did some digging last night, and I know it's an arranged marriage now."
I listened to his words, my heart pounding in my chest.
"I knew my sweet Korinna would never actually have feelings for that motherf*cker." He placed his hand on mine, the derangement in his eyes making me fear for my life. "Right?"
I glanced over at my purse on the bar, where Lucius' ring was tucked into that zipper compartment.
"I can take you away from him," Marcos continued, running his hand anxiously over his short hair again. "You know I can, and I would in a heartbeat. I still love you, Korinna."
My heart dropped into a pit in my stomach. "Marcos, I appreciate the sentiment, but I..."
I don't have feelings for you anymore, you psychopath. All I could picture were the repercussions of telling him anything less than he wanted to hear. And I felt backed into a terrifying corner. I had to make something up on the spot, but my brain was running a thousand miles a minute. I could barely think, and it all just slipped out in a panic.
"Between you and me," I said finally, "I don't see the arrangement lasting long with Lucius."
Marcos cocked his head. "What do you mean?"
"Lucius and I...we have a deal, of sorts. He gets what he wants, and I get a sum of money. None of it is real."
"What do you mean, he gets what he wants?" Marcos' slow perusal over my body made me a little sick inside. "You're screwing him?"
"No, no. He needs me to pretend that I'm with him. Like a fake girlfriend."
"What?" Marcos' eyes went cold with that crazy edge for a moment, and I my hands were getting sweaty on the wooden bar. "You expect me to believe that La Mano de Devialo is paying you to be with him? Like some fucking Hallmark movie? Do you think I'm fucking stupid?"
He was losing his temper fast and my instinct was to scramble to get him calm. "Marcos, listen to me. I'm telling you the truth."
Marcos ran his hand slowly over his beard, and I froze, following the mannerism like a bomb ticking down to zero. I remembered how that beard had felt against my face, my body, and I remembered what it always meant when he wiped his hand over his jaw. It always happened right before he––
Marcos swiped out his hand and cracked it across my face. He'd hit me so hard that my ankles twisted in my heels as I lost my balance, my whole body turned over before I hit the floor. I barely caught myself on my hands before I hit my chin on the hardwood floor and cried out.
Pain burned with the tears that hotly leaked from my eyes. When I clutched at my cheek, my hand was trembling so bad that I had to clutch my wrist to keep it still.
"Get up," Marcos said.
My face throbbed. He was losing his temper fast, and I was frozen fear. But I thought if I didn't get up now, I might never get back up again. I gathered every ounce of courage I had and stood shakily on my heels, tears still streaming down my face that I couldn't control.
Marcos's jaw tightened as I just in front of him. "Are you fucking him, or not? Has he touched you? I want the truth."
My throat felt tight with emotion. I was so afraid if I opened my mouth, all of the emotion building inside of me would burst, but I managed to keep it together. "No, he hasn't touched me."
"And will he?"
"No," I said, putting every fragment of my focus into sounding convincing. "I still love you, Marcos. Only you." I swallowed the damning words down, force feeding poison down my throat.
I waited with bated breath for him to be convinced by my words. Marcos cold expression softened ever so slightly, and he smiled. "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that." He crossed the distance between us and kissed me. I went rigid against his mouth and thought he would notice, but when he pulled back, his eyes were sweeter, and his hands cradled my face affectionately. His hand felt freezing cold beneath the throbbing part of my lower jaw and cheek.
"I'm sorry I hit you, amore," Marcos said. "I didn't mean to do that. I just don't want you to make stupid decisions." He picked my chin up so I looked into his brown eyes. "Which is why I need to know how much he's paying you, and when you'll have the money. What the La Notte's bastard cost my father, I must pay back. If I don't, there will be hell to pay, and the Cafaro's will retaliate again. You don't want that again, do you, Rina? Not when things are just starting to get more normal for you..."
I couldn't believe how insane Marcos had become, to say he loved me and then threaten me in the same breath. "I'll let you know when he pays me and how much it is," I said in a quiet voice. "You'll get every cent."
"You're such a good girl." Marcos stroked my hair to console me, I thought better than to just be the same vulnerable Korinna that I used to be. My hand slid down my dress to the holster strapped to my thigh, when I locked eyes with the Cafaro security over his shoulder, and I stopped myself from doing something even stupider than I already had.
"Do whatever it takes to empty that La Notte's wallet by this weekend," Marcos whispered in my ear. "I want him to know who got his money, right before I'll shoot that motherfucker between the eyes for trying to coerce my girl into marriage."
***
It felt like I got away with a little bit more than my life that night. But the Cafaro's clearly weren't out to get me, as their driver took me back to campus safe and sound. They dropped me off at the commuter parking lot again, and by then it was dark outside, and so bitter cold that my breath caught in the air with each exhale.
I felt strangely numb to everything, even my own emotions, but at least I was aware that wasn't a very good sign.
Walking through the commuter lot to get back to the library, I leafed through my purse and turned on my phone to text my driver that I had last second gone off campus with a friend. Suddenly I was bombarded with text messages. My heart pounded in my throat as I saw multiple missed calls and texts from Gemma.
Realizing I was screwed and had to make something up fast, I tried to click one of the contacts with a shaking hand, when a parked car's headlights turned on and illuminated a blinding light right into my eyes.
I shielded my eyes until they adjusted. It was an all-black muscular SUV with tinted windows. The man who got out of the passenger side slammed the door behind him and sauntered across a divider of grass to stand in front of the headlights. Shadows cast over the entire front of his body, but I could tell by his familiar stance and broad silhouette I was in deep trouble.
"Get in the fucking car," Lucius said.
***
WEWWWWWWW. SCREAM "KORINNA LA NOTTE" IF YOU'RE FREAKING OUT RN!!!!!!!!!!
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