Page 98 of Twisted Obsession

‘The weather?’ I questioned, gripping the phone in my hand tighter as my guts began to turn over with apprehension. Looking down I watched as the tracker in Giovanna’s ring signalled that Ariti’s boat had also corrected their route and were also heading to Sicily.

‘There is a report of gunfire onboard the Ariti boat.’

I stretched out my hand and reached for the phone. ‘Fabio’

‘Boss.’

‘Can you see what’s happening?’

‘No. But we saw and heard gunfire.’

‘How far away are you?’

‘Half a mile.’

‘Follow them in. Do not… I repeat, do not open fire on the boat, until you receive further instructions.’

‘Boss.’

‘They have Giovanna Giordano onboard, our Don’s sister… and whatever else you do, she must be kept safe.’

I disconnected the call and dropped my phone back on top of my open bag.

‘Report!’ Salvatore shouted in my ear, reminding me he was still there.

‘Ricco and Ariti are heading for Syracuse. It can only mean that they know we’re on to them.’

‘Change your flight plan to Syracuse. I will contact Don Ricolleti and advise him of our imminent arrival. We will make sure Ricco and Valentina receive a welcome like no one else has ever received.’

‘Don Ricolleti,’ I voiced, knowing how much had gone down before between our families.

‘It will be his pleasure to host us all—after all, I will be returning his under boss’s lost son and the man who dared to steal him.’

The mobile in my hand died, just as the world outside darkened, and the fork lightening dancing around us lit up the sky.

‘We land at Syracuse,’ I instructed Marco, who immediately jumped up to sort out our new flight plan.

Then I turned to watch the small pulse on my laptop, that I hoped showed me the woman I would gladly die for, was still alive.

Chapter Twenty-One

Giovanna

Imade my way as fast as I could along the corridor. Instinct had me placing both of my palms on the walls to either side of me. The boat was moving oddly under my feet, making my stomach feel queasy. For a few seconds, it would be still, then suddenly it felt as though it was being hit from the side, and the impact would leave us rocking and rolling for a few minutes until the boat’s stabilisers managed to do their job.

Finally, I made it to the end, and after grabbing at the handrails tightly, I climbed the steps and brought myself up and into the saloon. Looking forward through the solid glass wall of doors, I could see my stepfather talking animatedly to the captain. Hurriedly, I removed my engagement ring, before taking a quick look around me to check I was still alone. I turned over the gold between my fingers, and looked underneath the gemstone setting, where I’d felt the rougher edge as I’d pushed the ring on my finger. In the centre of the gold mount beneath the stone I could see a small circular object. And try as I might with the nail on my little finger, I couldn’t remove the disc to get a better look. As I twisted the ring around in the light, three initials caught my attention.

‘HDS,’ I murmured as I realised exactly what it was I was looking at. ‘A tracker.’

‘Why would you want to track me?’ I thought back to mine and Dante’s confrontation, because of him telling whoever he was talking to on the phone about how he’d found that I wasn’t a virgin. With the argument that followed and the way he’d been so shut off, he had effectively forced my hand to leave. It was all so completely different to the way he’d been as we’d made love, having obviously noticed I wasn’t a virgin and it clearly not mattering. I pushed the ring back home and standing in the middle of the saloon as I tried hard to keep my balance on the boat, I held onto my upper arms and could still feel the way he’d held me afterwards.

The only thing that had been the same in both situations, was the way Dante’s eyes had always shown his emotions. His love, his acceptance and dare I say it, his truth.

‘You forced me away, but want to know where I am?’ None of it made sense, ‘Unless you deliberately made me go? Could you have thought I was safer on here… than back there?’ I shook my head. ‘If that’s the case, I hope you’re following close by, Dante, because you couldn’t have been more wrong.’

‘Chef says that with the storm coming in, Miss Giovanna, he can only make you up a cold plate. Would that be okay?’ The sound of the steward’s voice made me jump, and as I dissected his words, I understood that although I was certain I could have eaten almost anything ten minutes or so ago, my stomach was telling me it wasn’t the case now. But knowing I needed an excuse to be here and not with my mama, I resigned myself to picking through yet another plate of food.

‘That will be fine, thank you.’ I threw a quick smile over my shoulder at him, and in doing so saw how it appeared to be night once again outside the windows. ‘Is bad weather forecast?’ I turned to face him to receive his reply.

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