To exact revenge for yourself or your friends
is not only a right, it’s an absolute duty.
—Stieg Larsson
BASTIANO ROMANO
Giving myself time to fester on how close Ariana’s words had hit home would have made me hate her, so I didn’t. She’d hit the truth. I was angry and bitter. Not just because I rarely saw Tessie but also because I never saw Everett.
No number of private investigators or bribery had given me success in unlocking a secret I could blackmail Elsa with. I’d exhausted all options, but I refused to come to terms with the idea that Everett would never live with me.
“Oh, this is gorgeous.” The mafia bunny slung her arm around my shoulder, dipping her head back and fawning over every little detail of Asher and Lucy’s wedding.
I’d forgotten her name as soon as she’d told me.
Not that it mattered.
Gio had set this “date” up, and I wasn’t going to make a scene during Asher and Lucy’s wedding. I had my limits. I wasn’t that bad. I’d give them their special day without interfering. I had a spine, but today it happened to be as tough as a limp dick. And they said romance was dead.
“When we get married, can we do it here?”
She batted those 99-Cents Store lashes at me and gripped my shoulder with those stick-on nails. She was missing one. The middle finger. It fell off on the car ride because I’d insisted on taking the motorcycle despite her protests.
This woman was delusional. Every mafia bunny knew about Gio and Ma’s arranged marriage and figured they’d be next. Fat chance in hell I’d ever get married unless it was a farce to somehow help me get Everett back.
“Have you seen the flowers? Oh, they smell so good.”
She plucked one from a table and shoved it under my nose. I plucked it from her finger and shoved it under her nose, not-so-accidentally smearing her lipstick in the process.
“Oh, Bastian. You smudged my lipstick, silly!” She reached into her clutch for her lipstick and pulled the plastic tube out. “Excuse me while I fix this in the restroom.”
I loosened my shirt collar when she left and slid my suit jacket off. If I had to sit through another mind-numbing second of that, I’d probably get arrested for murder, and I wasn’t in the mood to pay anyone else off right now.
Freddy, Asher’s new assistant, who’d replaced the batshit insane Monica, made eye contact with me as he strode my way. I stood and met him halfway, hoping the mafia bunny would forget about me when she returned to the spot I was at and didn’t see me.
Freddy cut straight to the point when he reached me. “The front desk security at your penthouse has been trying to get ahold of you. I just got off the phone with them since Mr. Black is your emergency contact.”
“My phone ran out of batteries earlier.” I’d been on it all day, hoping the bunny would take a hint and disappear. They never did. “What did they want?”
“A woman is there, and she refuses to leave before she sees you. They’ve asked if you’d like them to call the police.” His crisp tone never wavered, the consummate professional, a huge step up from Asher’s last batshit insane executive assistant.
“Who is the woman?”
“I believe they called her Elsa.”
I forced the breath to escape. “Did they mention what she wanted?”
“Just that she insisted on seeing you and is making a fuss at the front desk. They’ve taken her into the security room for holding.”
“Thank you. Let Asher know I’ve left and will talk to him when he comes back from his honeymoon. Don’t tell him what happened.” At Freddy’s reluctance, I added, “He just got married. He doesn’t need to worry about my problems on his honeymoon. I’ll tell him everything when he gets back.”
Freddy nodded once and left after that, all business, moving on to his next task as I made my way to the exit. I was one of the few who’d actually arrived at the church. Everyone else took the tunnels, but since I’d arrived with the mafia bunny from Hell, I’d wanted the quickest route to the venue.
I passed Vincent on my way out.
Vincent latched onto my arm as he examined my face. “Going somewhere? They haven’t cut the cake yet.”
I bit back a cringe and pulled my motorcycle keys from my pocket. “Elsa is in town. My penthouse security has her in holding.”
His eyes scanned my face, looking for something I hoped he didn’t find. He looked exhausted. Hopefully not from me. “Do you need anything from me?”
“No,” I answered, a little distracted. If Elsa was here, where the fuck was Everett? “Just enjoy Asher’s wedding.” My lips quirked up as I forced myself to look more lighthearted than I felt. “Hopefully it’ll only happen once.”
He barked out a laugh and patted my upper back, the natural gesture reminding me of how easy our relationship was and how much I valued it. “You need something, you call me, okay?”
“Okay,” I promised, not sure if it was a lie or the truth.
I moved to leave, but he latched onto my arm again and stared into my eyes as one hand cupped my cheek like he used to do when I was a kid. “It won’t always be like this. This version of Elsa will be a distant memory, and you’ll have Everett with you. You’ll see your son again.”
I took a step closer and furrowed my brows. I needed to get to the penthouse, but that look on Vince’s face… He knew something, and it unnerved me.
“You know something I don’t, Uncle Vince?”
“I know plenty you don’t, but you trust me.” He took a step back and patted my arm as if he could brush away his cryptic words. “You should go see that girl. Love you, son.”
I nodded, shaking away the odd conversation because he was right—I did need to tend to Elsa. I brushed past the bunny on her way from the restroom, ignoring her calls as the security guards opened the double doors to the exit for me. Slipping the helmet on, I slid onto the motorcycle, turned on the engine, did a few revs, and took off.
By the time I got to the penthouse, I’d run through a million doomsday scenarios in my head. The Andretti family had discovered Everett. He’d been kidnapped. A ransom had been demanded. Those tiny fingers had been sent to Elsa in a box. Each thought more fucked up than the last.
The night guard led me to the security room where a frazzled Elsa yelled at one of the guards on shift. She wore a long-sleeved mini dress and an obnoxious row of bangles, which made clattering noises as she waved her arm and continued to berate the guard. She looked like a Southern Belle like I looked like the face of a Born-Again Christian pamphlet.
“Do you know who I am?! I used to live here! This is not how you should treat me! Give me the respect I deserve!”
I leaned against the doorway and crossed my arms. “Respect is earned, and the only thing you’ve earned in your entire life is the A you got after sucking Professor Ronson’s dick.”
Yeah, there had been rumors. I hadn’t believed them at the time, but now I wasn’t too sure.
“I didn’t—” Her green eyes cut to the guard she’d been yelling at after he snickered. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled and turned back to me, swiping a hand at her cardinal-colored hair. “Can we speak in private?”
“Can you behave with some semblance of dignity? You’re embarrassing your gender.”
She met my eyes with a glare, both of us hating one another so much for two people who used to be in love. I didn’t know why she hated me. She was the one who’d fucked me over. Everything I’d done to her since had been in response to that.
Her shoulder brushed my chest as she walked past me and into the hallway. I led her to the stairwell.
She turned to me with a pout on her face. “We’re not going to the penthouse?”
“No.”
“But—”
“No.” I shut the door behind us, ignoring the bang as she flinched. “The penthouse is for people who matter. You don’t. Speak or leave. Those are your only choices.”
She spoke after a reluctant second. “I need money.”
“Where is he?”
“Huh?”
“My son. If you’re here, where’s Everett?”
“He’s with the nanny in Alabama.”
“You left my son in another state while you flew off to New York?”
“Easy for you to judge! You don’t even see him!”
“I don’t see him because his toxic, coldhearted bitch of a mother keeps him away from his own father. Do you even know his nanny’s name?”
Her eyes darted to the side, and she licked some gloss off her lips. “Of course, I do! What kind of question is that?”
“The kind of question I ask a woman who abandons him to go on overnight dates with strange men.”
Her eyes met mine, and she cocked a brow, confidence returning to her. She pulled her shoulders back, took a step closer, and licked her lips. “Are you jealous?”
Was she Snoop-Dogg high at the moment? She looked like she could be in one of his rap videos. Extra #2. The girl who sucked his dick and winked at the screen. Classy.
I stuck a finger to her forehead and pushed her back. “The only jealousy I feel is toward men who have never had the displeasure of meeting you.”
Her arms crossed, and she kicked at the floor. “You don’t have to be so mean.”
“Is there a point to your visit?”
“I need money.”
“I wired you three-hundred-thousand dollars yesterday.”
“Yeah, but I need more.”
“What could you possibly need more money for? There’s only so much plastic you can get implanted into your body.” When her eyes darted around the stairwell, I hardened my voice even more. “Whatever lie you’re conjuring in that fucked up head of yours, I’ll see past it. The truth. Now.”
Her sigh drew out of her like the creak of a bed, slow and reluctant to carry weight. “I borrowed some money from someone, and now he’s asking for some back.”
I made a mental note to direct my investigators to her spending habits. They’d found nothing in the past, but perhaps this could be a new lead, one that would lead Everett back home to me.
“How much?”
“Not much. Just a hundred thousand.”
“And the rest of the money I’ve given you?”
“I spent it. I have bills to pay.”
I grabbed her arms and tore the sleeves of her dress off.
“Hey!” she shouted and tried to push my hands away.
I ignored her protests as I scanned her arms for track marks. There were none. She wasn’t on drugs. That didn’t explain her spending. How much damned money could this woman spend? I could feed a hundred orphanages with the money I gave her each month, all because she continued to hold Everett over my head, and I’d rather send her money than risk her not feeding our child.
“Are you gonna give me the money or what, Bastian?” The Southern accent thickened with her impatience.
“You flew all the way here to ask me for money. It must be important.”
Wariness lined her eyes in an instant. “No. I just need it now.”
“I’ll give it to you.”
“Okay—”
“After I see Everett.”
I watched the decision war in her eyes. She knew I couldn’t go to Alabama. She also knew if she took him to any other territory, including mine, I’d rip Everett away from her and find some hole to bury her in. That was how deep my fury for her ran, and I didn’t bother to hide it.
I didn’t know why it shocked me when she took a step back and said, “Never mind. I don’t need the money. I’ll figure something out.”
My eyes narrowed on her. “Figuring something out better not entail starving or neglecting my son.”
“You’re less of a father to him than your own father is to you,” she seethed. She’d always been jealous of my relationship with him.
“You harm one hair on his head, and Social Services will be on your doorstep so quickly.”
“They’ll take him away. You’ll never get him back.”
“There is no shortage of people I can buy off, Elsa. Surely you, of all people, know this.”
The real threat wasn’t Social Services. It was the Andretti family. As soon as they discovered Everett existed, his life was at risk, and maybe I wouldn’t get to him in time to save him. I couldn’t risk that.
But I didn’t tell Elsa that as she huffed out a breath and stormed away with her ripped pink sleeves flapping in the wind like her loose pussy lips.
And I swore, if I had to die trying, I’d get Everett back from that lunatic.