Page 71 of Depths of Obsession
I breathe a sigh of relief. He can get it done quickly. Singing in the rain means pay me the same way as last time. If his answer mentioned a yellow submarine, it would mean there was trouble, and we would have to figure out something different.
I stare at myself in the mirror again. The emeralds catch my eye. Are they even mine? Maybe, but I’m not sure I can keep them. I don’t want to be a thing that he saved to feel better about what happened in the past. I take off the necklace and earrings and leave them on my wedding dress. Instead, I put on my own smaller diamond earrings that my mother gave me when I graduated from law school.
I always knew it would come to this. No matter how much I tried to ignore the jeopardy I was always in, I’ve been aware of the inevitable. I kidded myself into thinking I could make a life here in Milano; that I could just be Pippa, free from my family’s baggage. But here, I will always be Pippa Dominici, daughter of Danillo Dominici, connected to the Valdici family mafia. The name carries weight and oh, so much baggage. I’ve grown tired of carrying the weight. If I leave, I can shed that skin. I can be anyone I want to be—a fresh start, a new life, a chance to be just me. No baggage. No shadows of a family I never chose. No wife of a man, a vampire, who married me to save me.
I square my shoulders, taking a deep breath, giving myself one last look. Then I turn on my heel and head out into the living area. “I’m ready,” I say, my voice firmer than I feel as I approach Nico.
“Good,” he mutters, without bothering to look up. He’s staring at his phone screen.
“What are you watching” I ask. I glance at the screens, catching sight of something familiar. “Is that the entrance to the Galleria?”
“Yes.” He nods, still staring at the screens. “Calaba is holding the auction there.”
“In the Galleria?” I can’t keep the surprise from my voice. “Seriously? How the hell did he manage to get permission to do that?” The Galleria is the oldest shopping mall in Milan. It’s not like the shopping malls in the US. It’s an astoundingly beautiful piece of architectural history. The fact that it was built in the eighteen-seventies and it’s still as gorgeous as ever and still a shopping venue is incredibly impressive.
“Not that hard for a guy like him. They hold functions there all the time when the mall is closed.” Nico scoffs, finally looking up. He runs his gaze down over me and his eyebrows go up. “You look…amazing.”
“Thanks,” I offer him a small smile to try and think of something to say. “I assume all the stores will be closed then?”
Nico shrugs as he stares at his screen once again, a hint of annoyance in his expression. “Probably, but he might open one or two, let the guests pick out some swag. This isn’t just Calaba’s auction, Pippa. It’s a grand event—a fundraiser for some so-calledworthycause. Guests are expected to donate major money. You need an invitation to get into the main event at the Galleria, and another, much harder-to-get invitation to the actual auction for the necklace.”
A new Prada or Louis Vuitton bag wouldn’t be amiss. This might be the last time I have an opportunity to get one for a long time. My father bought me a Louis last Christmas after we had a huge fight, and he slapped me. I’ve never used it. I would like to get one that doesn’t have a horrible memory attached. I lean forward, squinting at one of the screens. “Is that… is that George and Amal Clooney?” I ask, genuinely surprised.
“No idea.” Nico’s growl is impatient, and it’s clear my questions are starting to irritate him.
“Sorry,” I say, “I don’t mean to annoy you.”
Nico glances up again a bit of pink coloring his cheeks. “No, I’m sorry. It’s not you. We’re trying to get some surveillance set up for the auction and it’s not working.” He turns his head and points to the ear bud in his ear. “I’m on with Rocco.”
“Oh, okay.” There’s a weight lifted off my shoulders. I couldn’t take a whole night of Nico snapping at me for no reason. My bandwidth for bullshit is extremely narrow at the moment. “Well then, I assume we have invitations to both?” I ask, trying to keep my voice light.
“Yes,” he replies, “Ria came through and got us in.” He glances at his watch. “And we need to get moving.” Nico stands up, grabs his tuxedo jacket from the back of the chair, and we head out of the hotel room. We get into another Porsche, and Nico speeds through the streets of Milano towards the Galleria. He’s not as crazy as Luca but it’s still exhilarating, and fun. When was the last time I had fun? I can’t even remember. Not since Mia, Luna, and I moved back from the States. Life since then has been one tense moment after another, one crisis immediately preceding the next.
We make the last turn before reaching the Galleria and come to a screeching halt. Cars are piled up in every direction, a chaotic mess of headlights and horns.
“Shit,” Nico curses under his breath, pulling out his phone. He speaks rapid-fire Italian, too fast for me to fully understand. I should know what he’s saying, but my Italian isn’t great. My nanny spoke Croatian, my parents spoke Italian to me but I spent most of my life in the States without them, so my Italian is limited to household chatter. The odd word makes sense, but his accent is unfamiliar, his voice clipped.
He hangs up, and I take a chance. “That was Italian, but I didn’t recognize the dialect. It’s not northern Italian.”
Nico gives me a small shrug. “I know a lot of dialects. I’ve been speaking Italian for almost four hundred years. The language, like everything else, changes but there are still a few of us around that speak the old dialects.” He falls silent again, and we inch forward in traffic.
“Time to go,” Nico says suddenly.
I blink at him, confused. “But… we’re still in traffic. The Galleria is just up ahead, but we’re stuck.”
Just then, a man approaches Nico’s door. Nico gets out of the car and signals for me to do the same. The man, a short, wiry guy with slicked-back hair, nods at me as he slides into the driver’s seat. I follow Nico out, the cold air biting against my exposed skin. He comes around, taking my elbow, his touch firm.
“What’s going on?” I ask, bewildered.
“Alfonso is going to park the car. We don’t have time to wait in this mess.”
I blink, stunned. Is there anything the Valdici men can’t do? Pulling a guy out of thin air just to park the car? It’s insane… and somehow so fucking sexy. I flash back to Luca protecting me outside my building, the way he made sure I was safe after he dragged me out of that hotel. The Valdici men are quite special. I feel a warm glow when I think about Luca and how he takes care of me.
“Please walk faster,” Nico urges, snapping me out of my thoughts. He’s hustling down the sidewalk, his hand still gripping my elbow.
And just like that, the bubble bursts. So much for being taken care of. “You try speed-walking in five-inch heels,” I snap back.
Nico glances at me and grins, his arm moving around my waist to guide me forward.
