Page 69 of Triplets for the Mafia Prince

And now here in New Jersey, I’m biding my time until… well, until Nic kills his father and sets me free. But until then, I’m sharing his bed. Cooking his meals. Keeping the house. During the first week here, it wasn’t so bad. Nic stayed here with me except for a few outings to get provisions.

But this second week, he’s been leaving for hours at a time, working to put his revenge plot in place. When he returns, we still banter. I still read to him on occasion. And of course, there’s the sex which has turned out to be filled with so many different nuances. Fast and furious. Slow and sweet. And like a dope,a part of me still hopes that when he completes his mission, he’ll want me to stay even though he keeps encouraging me to think about my future. College, travel, a life beyond the Mafia. It should excite me to have those possibilities, yet they don’t hold my interest as much as they had before.

With Nic spending more time out of the house, I’m left alone, and I’m running out of things to do. The old me probably would have snuck out by now, found some adventure despite the risks. But Nic's warnings echo in my head. About his father's reach, about the police searching for us, about the dangers lurking around every corner.

So I stay put, watching life unfold through the window. Children bundled up in warm clothes walk to school. Pet owners walk their dogs. Normal life continues while I'm frozen in place, waiting.

To pass the time, I pull out the travel magazines I asked Nic to pick up for me on one of his excursions. I spread them across the coffee table, losing myself in images of Paris cafes and Greek islands. I imagine myself backpacking through Europe, meeting new people, trying exotic foods. Maybe I'll study art history in Florence or literature in London.

Nic encourages these daydreams when he returns each evening. He tells me about scholarship programs for international students, suggests cities I might like. He even brought me college brochures yesterday.

"You could start fresh," he said. "Build the life you want."

I smile, but inside, my heart breaks every time he says this.

I curl up on the couch, clutching a pillow to my chest. What good is freedom if it means being alone?

I try to stay busy. I really do. I've alphabetized our canned goods twice, folded and refolded our clothes, even attempted to learn Italian from an old textbook I found in a drawer. Butthe walls keep closing in, and my mind wanders to my family, especially Ava.

Today, I’m straightening Nic's drawer when I find one of his burner phones. I start to close the drawer when I realize I could use it to call Ava. I know I shouldn’t. But what is the harm? It’s a burner phone, untraceable, right? And Ava isn’t a danger to me. She deserves to know I’m okay.

The phone rings three times before I hear her voice. "Hello?"

"Ava.”

"Bella? Oh, my God, are you okay? Where are you?" Her voice breaks with emotion.

"I'm safe," I assure her, sinking onto the bed. "I can't say where, but I'm okay. I just… I needed to hear your voice."

“What happened? They’re saying Dad tried to kill Niccolo Nardone and when he failed, Nardone kidnapped you.”

“That’s not true.” My defensiveness toward Nic rises. “Nic saved my life. Someone tried to kill him when he was bringing me to New York." Okay, so he did tie me up at one point, but in the end, he didn’t kidnap me.

"Kill him? Why?"

“He thinks it’s his father. You were right, Ava. His father is a terrible monster. Nic is protecting me from him.”

“Oh, Ava.” I hear the anguish in her voice. “Why didn’t you call before?”

That’s a long story I don’t want to get into. “I’m okay now.”

“Where are you? I know Elio will support Matteo coming to get you and bring you home.”

“I’m not going back home. Dad would just make another arrangement, and I don’t want that.”

“Come stay with me and Matteo. We have room.”

“I’m okay, I promise. Nic has a plan to handle things."

There’s a pause before she asks, "You trust him that much?"

"Yes." I trace the pattern on the bedspread as I contemplate telling her the truth. How I’ve fallen for him, given my body and heart to him, even if he doesn’t want to keep it. “I don’t want to talk about all this. How are Sofia and Gianna? And you, how is Rocco? My goodness, he must be getting so big. Christmas is coming. I bet he’s excited about that.”

We talk in hushed tones about nothing important. She tells me our sister Sofia aced her math test and how Gianna's taking dance lessons. Rocco wants a real dinosaur.

“I don’t know how we’ll manage that.” Ava laughs.

"I miss you so much," I say, wiping tears from my cheeks.

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