Page 47 of The Forbidden Husband

I trusted him.

And I trusted he would do everything to get my sisters out of there.

I hopped from the counter and headed for my room. I reached beneath the mattress and grabbed the burner phone my father had given me, flipped it open and gasped at the text that sat there.

An image stood on the screen—one of Evelina’s straight, scared face on a computer screen. Beneath her face, I read the caption that had me holding my breath to keep tears at bay.

Auction Countdown: 2 weeks, 1 day, 13 hours, 49 minutes.

Starting bid: 500,000 USD

Then, I read the message directly beneath the photo.

I have the sniper. You provide the location and the target. You have 2 weeks.

Chapter Sixteen

Aria Bianchi

“I know it might be a foolish idea since there was just an assassination attempt on you a few days ago, so if you turn it down, that’s okay. I can always do something else…”

Was I rambling?

Giovanni leaned back in his office chair, resting his chin on a closed fist. “Please get to the request.”

I bit my bottom lip and balled my fists at my sides.

“I want to throw a birthday party for Enzo. He’s turning thirty, and that’s such a big one. Jaimie told me he would usually go out to dinner with Mauro and Lia. If we don’t do anything, I think he’ll feel the loss more.”

The words made my stomach churn as I considered the reason I had even called a meeting with Giovanni on such short notice. He had invited me to his home, and after going through rigorous security checks, I was invited up to his home office, where he sat wearing a pair of bifocals that made him look ten years older than he was.

Giovanni immediately looked up and took off the glasses. He had welcomed me with a warm smile that had my gut churning with anxiety and immediate regret.

Maybe Enzo would find a way to get to my father before the birthday party…

“He’s never been fond of large gatherings given his profession,” Giovanni stated. “Unless necessary, we try to avoid anything of the magnitude.”

“I wasn’t thinking of a huge party. More of an intimate setting with close family and friends. It could be wherever you feel is safest, but I was thinking we could have it at his house where he would be comfortable.”

His house with large bay windows in two different directions.

Evelina needed me to follow through with this. She didn’t deserve to have her body and soul manipulated because I made the wrong choice.

Giovanni nodded in agreement. “His house is secure enough,” Giovanni said with a nod. “But there is the issue of the Bianchis orchestrating something else with so many of us gathered together.”

I put my head down and nodded twice quickly. “You’re right. I just don’t want him to be alone. I’m afraid that anything less than a get-together would leave room for the memories of the years before.”

This would be his first birthday without his family, and Giovanni knew that. His eyes softened, and he sighed. I needed to convince him of this or something else. I supposed something with just Giovanni and Enzo would be effective. But if it was toosmall, the odds of the shot hitting the mark were substantially higher.

I wanted to do my part for the sake of Evelina. But I didn’t want to make it easy on the sniper.

I didn’t want him to kill Giovanni.

I was playing a game too large and with too many stakes. I wasn’t made for this.

“You’re right. Enzo does a lot for all of us, and he deserves to be celebrated. We can make it happen.”

I faked excitement as I grinned. “What can I do to make it happen?”

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