No Boundaries(93)

I felt sick to my stomach. What would he do to me? What had I gotten myself into?

“Now, I think I'll just keep you. I like leverage at these meetings. Maybe we can even get Roberto there and solve all of our problems. Get rid of the Gioti’s for good.”

I tried not to panic.

“You,” he said, pointing to one of his guards. “Call Roberto and tell him we have his niece. I want him at this meeting for back up. And you,” he said, turning toward me. “You stay here until we get further instructions. This just made the meet with your boyfriend a lot more interesting.”

I reached for my cell phone, but he snatched it out of my back pocket. “Do you have anything else on you? A weapon, maybe?”

I shook my head. “No. Just my phone.”

He smiled at me again, and this time, it almost seemed genuine. “Wonderful. Drink! It is going to be a long night ahead of us.”

I tried to inspect the drink before I threw it down the hatch, but I hardly had a chance. He was watching me too closely.

I had ended things with Luka on such an uncertain level. What if he didn't come for me? What if this meet went bad? What if this had been for nothing?





25





Luka





I made a call to make sure Roberto was taken care of.

“She said that she never wants to see him again. Make sure of it.”

Marco nodded at me before shoving Roberto in the back seat of his car.

“She also made me promise not to kill him. See that that doesn't happen.”

“Got it. So where is she?”

I shook my head. “I don't know.”

“I can't believe you found Vienna. After all this time.” He looked at my closely. I could tell he was annoyed I had lied to him.

“Marco you know I never stopped caring about her. I had to make her mine.” But now as quickly as I had found her, I had lost her. And that was on me and my secrets.

“What about her father? I can’t imagine she feels too great about all that.”

“She doesn't. It's why she's not here right now. Why I’m praying that she comes back. I won’t force her to make a decision. It's all up to her now. As much as I want to, I can't force her into this. But there’s something else man.”

“What?”

“She’s having my baby.”

“Uh dude. You sure know how to pick ‘em. Congrats though.”

“Thanks. Women, man, they’re tough.”

Marco nodded. “That is the purpose of having women in your life, man, to make things difficult.”

“I know.” I stifled a chuckle.

I watched as he drove away, Roberto in the back seat practically slumped over. I hoped that I would never see that asshole again. It took everything I had to not kill him. I told Vienna I wouldn’t, though, so I didn't. I may have landed a couple more sucker punches to his stomach while I waited for Marco to pick him up, but I kept my knife away from his flesh. And that took some serious restraint.

I waited for her to come home that night. But she never showed. I called her cell phone again and again, trying to explain to her my side of the story. About how I had to keep her safe, and doing what I did was the only way to make sure of it. After trying to reach her for several hours, her phone started to go directly to voicemail. Everything had fallen apart.

I'd always been a broken man; it was just the life that I had. Vienna made me feel whole. And without her, darkness clouded every inch of my life. The next morning, I looked in the closet, touching the clothes that she had worn only a couple days ago. I wondered if she would come back for them. If she would ever come back at all.

Finally, that afternoon, I had to go to the office to prepare for the meet with the Armani. I called her again, but it went right to voicemail. I would try one last time before we left for the restaurant. If she did not answer, as much as I hated to do it, I would give her the space that she wanted and leave her alone.

When I arrived at the office, I found Marco sitting in the strip club. I walked up behind him. “Is it done?”

He looked up at me. “It's done. I dropped him off at a hotel and called the Agnellis. I waited until someone arrived for him. But they’re staying another night. He’s not in any type of shape to travel. Good on you, by the way.”

“Thanks. He deserved every hit.”

He nodded. “His family was pretty happy to have him back. They said he went off the deep end about a year ago. He was harassing Vienna. Setting her up to kill you. Did you know that?”

“I had my suspicions, plus some recent information shed some light on that.”

He shrugged. “I guess he convinced her to come after you.”

I walked away from him. No one would be able to see the emotion on my face in the dark light of the club. About how I really felt. Betrayed and lost. And now she chose to run away? Why?