Page 72 of Scarred Hearts

17

QUEEN OF NEW YORK

GIOVANNA

When we arrived at the airport, I expected to board Ian’s private plane. However, to my surprise, it was my father’s plane that was waiting for us. His former pilot and two bodyguards, Flash and Frost, were standing at the bottom of the exterior steps. They greeted me with a bit more formality than before, perhaps out of respect for my recent loss. I was still grieving in my own way.

Settling into a seat across from Luke, I placed my hands neatly on my lap. He had his elbow resting on the arm of the seat, with his hand covering his mouth as he stared out the window in silence.

“Why won’t you tell me why you guys were being weird at the warehouse?” I asked him, breaking the silence.

“I told you to please stop asking,” he replied, still maintaining his focus outside of the plane.

“And why couldn’t Ian and Ty come?” I pressed further.

Lowering his arm, he tilted his head at me. “They’re coming tonight.”

“Tonight?” I darted my eyes back and forth. “Um, we’re staying overnight?”

He nodded once, then returned his attention outside.

Leaning forward over the table between us, I hissed, “Luke, I know you’re my boss and everything, but please. For fuck’s sake, what’s going on?”

Jaw clenched, he bent toward me with wide eyes. “Gia, please. It isn’t my place to talk to you about it.”

I leaned back and tapped my fingernails impatiently on the table before giving up. He wasn’t budging, and my frustration was rising. Finally, he relaxed his posture and looked at me again. With hope in my eyes, I waited for him to elaborate on the sudden trip with the men who used to protect my father until they couldn’t.

Squinting, I glanced over my shoulder at them before standing and moving to sit next to Luke. “Can I ask a question?” I whispered.

“What’s up?”

“Where were my dad’s security the night he was killed?”

“They were outside the club, waiting for him in the car.”

“Oh.” I nervously chewed on my bottom lip and turned toward him, bringing my knee up onto the cream-colored leather seat. “Are you upset with me?”

His face twisted. “What? No.”

“Then something happened, and you don’t want to tell me.”

“To be honest,” he finally admitted, “I’m not entirely sure what we’re walking into. All I know is that they,” he motioned to the front of the plane, “showed up in Boston demanding that you come to New York with them. Ian stood his ground until they told him what was going on, and then he agreed to let you leave as long as I came with you. Tyler, Declan, and him are coming tonight because, with everything happening, we want to make sure you stay safe. Especially now.”

“What do you mean by, especially now?”

“Do you have any concealer with you?” His forehead creased ever so slightly.

“Yeah, why?”

“I suggest covering up those marks your boyfriend left on your neck before we arrive.”

I ran my fingertips over the hickeys.

An hour and twenty minutes passed before we landed in New York City. Flash and Frost remained quiet for the most part as we made our way to my childhood house in Old Brookville. But house was really an inadequate term for what it truly was: a grand masterpiece. My grandfather had a love for Versailles, so he hired a specialized contractor to construct a limestone mansion in the style of French Baroque architecture. The enormous estate spanned over twenty-two thousand square feet and sat on eight acres of lush land. It was surrounded by a towering twenty-foot brick wall equipped with security cameras and patrolling armed guards. At the front entrance, there was even a guard house with a thorough check-in process.

Growing up, sleepovers and birthday parties were a challenge for my brothers and me. Our father was very protective of our family’s privacy and didn’t like it when other parents snooped around. But despite that, I have fond memories of swimming in the pool and racing around on go-karts with my brothers on our property.

As our car approached the gate, one of the guards, who had known me since I was eight, stepped out of the small guardhouse and waved us through. The windows were tinted too dark for him to see inside, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was watching us intently as we passed by.

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