Page 96 of Sins and Secrets

And just like that, he’s reverted to the ruthless man who puts mafia before family.

Before me.

I should have seen this coming. I should have known better.

I push myself away from the wall and head back down the hall. I can’t listen to any more of this.

I need to get to Savannah and try to clear my head. Hopefully once I’m there, I can think through our situation rationally.

Our relationship may not be strong enough to survive this.

32

ALESSIO

“What the fuck did you do to Billie?” Christian asks, the sounds of punches coming from his end of the call. “I’m used to the woman who spends time busting my balls but right now she is punching the shit out of a bag like there is no tomorrow.”

I sigh and lean back in my chair, staring up at the ceiling. “I didn’t do anything.”

“I have a hard time believing that. I thought she was going to snap the real estate agent’s head off the other day when he looked at her the wrong way.”

Guilt starts to eat at me. I didn’t go to talk to her the other night after I spoke to Arturo, and I should have. I knew she was outside the room and listening to us. I saw her peek around the corner and look at me. I thought it would be a good way to teach her a lesson.

I’ve been feeling sick since she left. It’s impossible to focus on the casino and the mafia knowing that she is mad at me.

She should have told me the truth about everything.

“Look, we got into a fight before she left. There is some shit that she didn’t tell me, and I’ll be honest, I acted like an asshole about it. Did something I knew would hurt her. I should have talked to her before she left, but I was too busy licking my wounds.”

Even as the words leave my lips, the guilt still tears at me. I’m not this man. I’m not my father. I love Billie and I’m never going to let anything happen to her. She’s safe with me, but I made her think that she wasn’t.

Sometimes all I see when I look at myself is my father.

The shit I pulled is something he did to my mother a thousand times. I always thought I would be better than him, but in the end, I’m the same monster.

“You better wear a jockstrap when you apologize to her. And I would suggest getting on a plane and doing it now. Set your ego aside and be the bigger person. You fucked up. It happens, but you’re fucking up more by not working this out.”

I get up and grab my keys from my desk drawer. “I’m on my way to the airport now.”

“Don’t forget your jockstrap.” Christian laughs as there is a heavy thud in the background. “Actually, you might want body armor.”

Great, I think as I hang up and head for the parking garage. I’m going to apologize to her and I might get the shit kicked out of me.

Christian meets me outside when I get to the hotel, his mouth set in a hard line. He has men flanking him on either side and a gun on either hip, just barely concealed by his leather jacket.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, crossing my arms and looking at the men who are supposed to be watching over Billie. “Where is Billie? Did something happen to her?”

“She went for a run,” Christian says as he jerks his chin in the direction of where my car is parked. “She hasn’t come back yet. I got a message from an unknown number with a picture of her tied to a chair.”

My phone starts vibrating in my pocket. As I pull it out, my heart is already sinking to my feet. I know what I’m going to see when I open the messages and it’s going to tear me apart.

This is my fault. I should have gone with her. I would have been able to protect her from this shit.

Would I, though? Billie took Christian and a couple of his men. She knew that they would keep her as safe as they could. She did everything she was capable of to make sure that I would be comfortable with her traveling.

And Paolo was still able to get her.

I open my messages and see a picture of Billie on the screen. She’s tied to a chair, but her glare is fierce. She looks like she’s going to get out of the chair and kill him if she has the chance. Even as my heart swells with pride, terror seems to freeze the rest of my body. I know that she is going to do what it takes to keep herself alive, but I need to get to her before that.

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