Page 42 of Mafia Mistress

“The sea, definitely.”

We swam for a long time, jumping off the back of the boat into the water, splashing and floating, while music blared from the speakers. Giulio was a lot of fun and it turned out we had similar taste in music, preferring old school hip hop to anything new.

Finally we flopped onto the deck chairs and asked the staff to make us fancy tropical drinks. I rubbed suntan lotion all over while Giulio checked messages on his phone. It seemed like he had a lot of them, but I didn’t pry.

When we were sipping mai tais, Giulio asked, “Did my father ever return your things?”

“Yes.” My satchel had been waiting on my bed when I returned from the dungeon fiasco. “Though he still won’t let me have a phone.”

Giulio chuckled. “I am not surprised. He’s probably worried you will call the Guardia and report us.”

I frowned, disappointed I hadn’t considered it. I only thought about calling my sisters. For someone so eager to escape the clutches of the Ravazzani men, I wasn’t trying too hard. Instead I was lying on a megayacht, sipping cocktails on the Mediterranean.

Real rebellious, Frankie.

“I just want to talk to my sisters,” I told Giulio. “I’m not used to being out of touch with them for this long.” Has it only been a week? It seemed like forever. But I was used to talking to my sisters every day.

Giulio reached over, grabbed his phone, and handed it out to me. “There. Make any call you like.”

I stared in amazement. “Are you serious?”

“Of course.”

I snatched the phone quickly, before he could change his mind. My eagerness only caused him to laugh. Then he surprised me again by standing up. “I’ll give you some privacy. I have to speak to the crew about our return anyway.”

“You are leaving me alone with your phone?”

“Why not? You already know all my worst secrets, Frankie. And my father pays the Guardia enough to ignore any hysterical phone calls from Canadian tourists.” He winked, then strolled away and left me with his phone.

Oh, my God.

I started dialing Emma before I could blink. I called her because Gia often misplaced her phone and didn’t answer. My sister answered after the first ring. “Hello?”

“Emma, it’s me.”

“Oh, my God. Frankie! Tell me you’re okay.”

My entire body sagged in relief, so happy that tears sprang to my eyes. “I’m okay. I’m in Italy.”

“Daddy told us what happened. We’ve been worried sick. Are you really marrying that man’s son?”

“No. It’s complicated.” I didn’t want to say anything more than that, just to be on the safe side. “How are you? How’s Gia?”

“We’re fine. I’m trying to get ahead in my advanced chemistry class this summer, so I’ve been a mess.”

I smiled. Emma took school very seriously. She was the smartest person I knew. “That’s good, but don’t forget to enjoy your break, too.”

“I will, but this is more important. I want to get into a good—” She bit off the word but it hung there between us, unsaid.

I swallowed hard. Once I had also wanted to get into a good school. “You will, Em. You will. Is Gia around?”

“Yes.” I could hear her moving, probably walking to Gia’s room. “But before I let you go, tell me. Are you hurt? Are they mistreating you? Because I will tell Papà and he will come and get you.”

I pressed the tips of my fingers to my mouth, trying hard not to cry. Papà couldn’t fix this. He couldn’t stand up to Ravazzani, not even with all the Toronto muscle behind him. Ravazzani was too powerful.

Despite my misery, I couldn’t worry Emma. “I’m fine. No one is hurting me. In fact, I’m on a yacht in the middle of the Ionian Sea right now and drinking a mai tai.”

“No way!”

---