I have to win before it gets to Nina. It’s the only way to keep her from the truth. It’s the only way to protect her.
She’s mine. Not his. I will do whatever it takes to make that true.
Part II
Dirty Obsession
10
Nina
Seven years is a long time to live in fear. It’s an even longer time to exist without really being alive.
But it’s what I’ve been doing for most of the seven years since I fled Italy and the Carini family. I’ve been running, afraid. Never staying in one place too long.
Today is the day I stop running.
Today, I start living for the first time in seven years.
Knock, knock, knock.
I grin as I get up from the balcony chair of my hotel room that overlooks the ocean and walk toward the door. I’ve been waiting to hear that knock for the last half hour. When I get to the door, I don’t unlock it right away. Instead, I look through the peephole to verify that my best friend, Eden, is on the other side and hasn’t been followed by anyone.
She’s alone.
I take a deep breath and slide the chain over on the top of the door. Then, I slowly undo the deadbolt. It’s a habit I’ve developed these last few years. My door is always locked, and I always check who is behind the door before I unlock it.
I open the door, and my face lights up as Eden steps into my hotel room. We automatically hug each other.
She raises an eyebrow when she pulls away. “What is going on? I get a cryptic text message after over a year of not hearing from you, and a plane ticket suddenly appears at my office.”
I cringe. “Do you want a drink first?”
“Do you even have to ask?” she says as she rolls her suitcase into the hotel suite.
“Margarita okay? Or do you want something else?”
“If it has alcohol in it, then it’s a yes,” she says, still eyeing me as I walk to the kitchenette to get the premade margarita mix out of the mini fridge.
Eden’s dressed in a suit. Dark navy pants paired with a light-blue jacket. Her hair is up in a perfect bun. She looks like a lawyer. Not at all like the Eden I used to know.
She must think I’m a slob who doesn’t even have a job from the way I’m dressed. I glance down at my gray sweatpants that have a hole in the right knee. I’m wearing a black tank top, and my hair is up in a messy bun.
She must think I’m in danger. That I’m desperate, and she’s going to have to give me money to bail me out of my troubles.
I wish my life were that simple. I wish that money were all it would take to fix all my problems.
I pour each of us a margarita into the two glasses.
Eden watches every movement I make. Judging me, trying to figure out what is going on. I hand her one of the glasses.
“Want to sit out on the balcony with me?”
She chuckles. “No, I want to know what the hell I’m doing here, Nina. But, if you want to sit out on the balcony, then I will go out there with you.”
“I’m getting married. Today.”
As the last word leaves my mouth, Eden’s eyes widen, and she drops her glass.