Then when I tried to call my contact, I got nothing but a voicemail. It was as if every member of the Golden Skulls had taken a fucking vacation and left their phones at home. Not even Gio was responding to my text messages.
That only left me with one feeling.
Dread.
That something had gone horribly wrong. The problem was, I had no idea what or if something terrible had happened. Like some simpering, mousey, unintelligent woman, I was left to wait for the menfolk to call and give me the news.
The problem with that was, I was not some shell of a woman who waited for a man. I never was and never would be. Taking a page out of Aunt Roxy’s book, I would have to get the information myself if I wanted to know something.
Sneaking across the hall to Gio’s room, I knew to wait until everyone had gone to bed. The house was a mausoleum at night, and shadows cast themselves along the walls and floor, giving the illusion that the place was haunted. But I grew up in the smokey mountains. This house had nothing on what I had seen and endured at home and while I was in captivity.
Nothing scared me anymore.
Carefully opening his bedroom door, I snuck inside, closing the door behind me, hearing a soft click as the door shut. Turning, I spotted a colossal master bed sitting against the far wall. There was a door to my right, and opening it, I saw a vast and very organized closet that was bigger than the apartment I lived in with Dylan in California. His room was massive compared to the room I was staying in. The bed alone took up one-third of the room. The large bank of windows illuminated the darkness of the night as I could clearly see the bright moon and stars above. The room itself was indicative of a single male. Dark walls, black velvet curtains, and even the floor's rugs were a deep crimson. His suits were all lined up perfectly, one right after the other from black to the lightest shade of grey.
Talk about some severe OCD.
Even his shoes were perfectly placed under each respective suit. In the middle of the closet sat a large island with a black marble top. Drawers lined each side, and opening one of them, I gasped, seeing several high-end watches displayed as if I were in a jewelry store. The man seriously had a watch fetish and, from the looks of them, a very pricey fetish at that.
Closing the drawer, I left the closet and walked across his room, opening another door that led to his bathroom. Shaking my head, I shut the door and looked about his room. There were several dressers and a lone desk.
Grinning, I walked over to the desk and smiled, seeing a closed laptop on it. Pulling out the chair, I sat and opened the laptop. As the computer booted up, I looked about the room shaking my head.
This man had everything, and yet there was nothing to tell me who he indeed was. There were no pictures, no books, not even a sock on the floor. In all reality, the room looked as if it was never lived in, and I would have believed that if I hadn’t seen his closet.
As the computer screen brightened, I moved my finger across the pad, only to discover it was password protected.
“Well shit,” I muttered as I started to think what the password could be. Drumming my fingers on his desk, I wondered what the most private man in Chicago would use as his password.
It wasn’t as if I really knew anything about him.
Just the specifics.
Giovanni Valentinetti was thirty-four years old. The oldest son of Valentino Valentinetti. Gio graduated with honors from the University of Chicago with a degree in History. He was not married. Had no illegitimate children. In fact, he barely dated. He either went alone or had his sister on his arm at every function he attended. He was never seen without his bodyguards and ran a multi-billion-dollar industry that spanned from the entertainment industry to home goods.
The man was an enigma.
The only thing anyone knew about him was what was printed in the papers or tabloids, and that wasn’t much.
Yet, he was the man I needed to learn about.
How in the hell was I going to do that if he wasn’t here?
Biting my nail, I stared at the computer screen, cursing myself that I had left the cell phone Gio had bought me in my bedroom. Knowing I would have to make another call, I got up and headed for the bedroom door. Turning the knob, I froze when the door wouldn’t open.
“No.” I gasped.
Wiggling the knob, trying my hardest to twist the knob, I quickly remembered the click.
“Oh fuck,” I cursed.
I was locked in!
14
Giovanni
I had just come out of the bathroom when I heard a knock at my door. Quickly opening the door, I was surprised to see Reaper, Ghost, and Reggie standing there along with my brother Sal and Antonio.