As soon as the police arrived, they’d asked me questions, but I said nothing about where my father had gone or what he was doing. All they know is that he’s away on business. My mother hasn’t been answering her phone, and I’m stuck here with my brother, who I hate.
Secrets and lies are something that run rampant in my family. With my father gone, my mother off the grid, and only me and Andrea here, I have to help him run the club.
My father didn’t want me in this life, but since I turned eighteen, Daddy allowed me to work at Gin Bar. It was a gift to my brother from our father. With each hour that passes today, I have a strange feeling that I’ll soon be under the care of Andrea, and that fills me with dread.
If something really has happened to Dad, I know what his Will and Testament would read, and that makes me want to cry. I thought I’d be able to escape this life. To run away from my brother withhim.But I don’t see how that can happen. Lucio and my father’s disappearance have involuntarily dragged me into it.
Lucio’s phone has been off since yesterday. After he left, he sent me one last text message and when I tried calling back, the phone rang directly to his voice mail. I’ve read it a few hundred times, trying to make sense of it, and as much as I’ve tried to decode it, I can’t.
Life has a funny way of fucking with you when you least expect it. I wanted a different life, but with Andrea controlling everything, I’ll merely be a prisoner. I thought my dark prince would take me away with him. He promised.
I pull my hair from the elastic band and breathe a long sigh of relief. My body aches from the treadmill, but my heart pains for another reason. For the one thing I’ll never have—my freedom.
My best friend flops onto the chair in my new bedroom and regards me. I met Adria at school. We were in our first year of high school when we found kinship with each other. She was fiery, more so than I ever could be. Even though she pushes me to speak up, to speak out, I am not like her. She’s been my only salvation while living under the constant surveillance of Dad and the men I know he has following me around.
She watches me for a long while, and I know she wants to talk about what happened. About the new home I have. Andrea put down a deposit on a furnished apartment close to town and told me to stay put. Unless I’m at work or the gym, I’m not to go anywhere.
The man my brother decided to be my shadow has been glued to my ass for the past eight hours and it’s frustrating. I’ve never had to deal with this side of the life, but now that it’s been thrust onto me, I decide I don’t like it one bit.
“I can’t believe the entire house is gone.” Adria’s words make me sad. They remind me of all the memories I’ve lost. Except one thing. The only thing I have are the photos of Lucio. Those I stole from Daddy’s office when I was rummaging around in his paperwork.
“I guess my father must have royally pissed someone off,” I tell her.
Adria doesn’t know everything about our lineage. She knows we’re Italian, but our connection to the mafia has never come up and if she doesn’t ask, I don’t offer. We’ve only known each other for a couple of years, but I’ve always kept secrets. Like I said, the Lombardi name is well known for its hidden truths and wicked sins.
She bought the story that my father’s clients are politicians, well-known people with connections. I told a lie. A little one, but it was something I had to come up with, so she wouldn’t suspect me of being part of a crime family. Also, she’s never met my boyfriend. At least, that’s what I think of him as. I don’t know what he is to me officially, but I could never tell her I’m with Lucio Russo.
When I turn to face her, my best friend stares at me in disbelief, but I shrug, attempting to calm the agony that’s gripped my heart since the flames stole everything.
“I’m so sorry, Rai.” She pouts. Adria is incredibly beautiful. Her long dark hair is shiny and sleek, her eyes are almost feline, the color of honey, and her lips—full and always bright red.
She never talks about her family, but I know she hides secrets just like me. Like everyone in my life does, including Lucio. Her father is notorious in Los Angeles for violence and I’ve heard about the people he’s hurt who double-crossed him. Something tells me he’ll not think twice about killing a man.
If only my dark prince would save me from this life, I’d take Adria with me and we’d be free. My sour thoughts disappear when my best friend shakes me from the dreams that will now be nothing but a young girl’s wishes.
“I just have to start fresh.” I attempt a cheerful response as I stalk into the kitchen, allowing her to follow me. She walks over to the countertop to pour boiling water into the mug I set out earlier. My favorite. Tea. It always seems to calm me down. “I mean… Andrea is looking for the culprits, and the police will arrest them, and it will be fine.” I shrug, making sure my fabrication is as believable as I can make it out to be because deep down I know the law will never be involved.
“If you want me to stay with you,”—she drags the words out on a sigh—“I can keep you company, cheer you up, until you find some hottie to do that for you.” She waggles her brows dramatically.
I know she’s trying to help, but it’s not. Thoughts of Lucio and the last time we were together burn in my mind.
“I better get ready for work. I can’t afford to get on my brother’s bad side this early on my shift,” I inform Adri.
She grabs her purse and heads for the door but stops to turn to me. “I’ll be around later. Maybe we can eat ice cream and drink cheap wine.” Adria smiles. I know she’s trying to make me feel better, and I smile, attempting to look normal with everything that’s happened.
“Sounds good. Thanks, Adri.”
She leaves, and I head into my bedroom and flop onto the bed. I need a long shower. Hopefully, it will calm my muscles and my tumbling thoughts. Pulling my phone from my purse, I glance at the time and note that I’ve got an hour to get ready.
Living in Los Angeles had its perks. There are the beautiful beaches, Napa Valley just up the road, but there is a dark side that nobody knows about. The side where I spend every day earning a living. The Gin Bar was every bit as elite as its competition. Decked in black and silver, it had been in my family for many years, from my grandfather to my father, and then on to my brother. He’s the owner, and he never allows me to forget it.
I try my father’s phone again, but it goes directly to voicemail. Leaving a message for him to call me urgently, I know he won’t get it. Right down to my soul, I know my father is no longer living. There isn’t any proof, no body to mourn over, but I have a feeling that even when we find him, he’ll not be able to give me that smile that would always set my nightmares to sleep.
I head in the bathroom and turn on the shower. Stripping down, I step inside and allow my mind to flit to Lucio. To the moment we first met, to the time he walked out of my bedroom only twenty-four hours ago.
He gave me all I needed in a partner. No promises of forever—at least, none that he voiced—just good sex. He preferred it rough. And as a brutal man in business, he was a fierce man in bed. My body hungered for what he gave.
With those thoughts weighing heavily on my mind, I lather up, massaging my tired thighs and calves. Working in the bar takes strain on my feet and legs, on top of the ten miles I ran today, and all I’ll want after my shift will be my bed. Unfortunately, my brother is as strict with me as if I were any employee in his bar and if he feels like having a late one with friends, I’ll have to work.