Page 46 of Their Reckless Thief
Another pang of guilt hit me. That’s exactly where they would’ve had to go. And if they had, they wouldn’t have made it out alive. Not against Vincenzo, Luca, and Dorian.
“I was in The Below the entire time. Things… got complicated.” I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “I got into some trouble.” That was an understatement, but there was no way I could explain what really happened without dragging them deeper into this mess. “The heist went wrong, and… Vincenzo Moretti caught me.”
Will’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Wait,Vincenzo Moretti? As in the Night Lord? Themafialord?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, avoiding his eyes. “That one.”
Vivian turned to Will. “Sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You knew?” Will looked somewhere between betrayed and angry. “Celeste willingly broke into Vincenzo’s mansion without Roberto’s knowledge. In case you idiots didn’t know, that’s called a suicide mission. That was a fucking reckless decision on both your parts. I thoughtIwas the idiot of our group.”
“I know,” I said. “I should have listened to Vivian. She told me it was too dangerous. I was trying to pull off a job without Roberto knowing because I wanted to set us up for a while, so we wouldn’t have to depend on him. I was confident I could do it. I’d had a vision that the mansion would be empty. It wasn’t.”
Will shook his head in disbelief. “And you got caught. What did he do to you?”
I swallowed hard, memories of the past few days flashing through my mind—Vincenzo beheading a man in front of me, Dorian feeding me grilled cheese, and Luca’s shadows searching every inch of me. My skin tingled at the thought, and I pushed it away. “It’s a long story, but he didn’t kill me. Obviously.”
Vivian’s mouth twisted in frustration, and tears welled in her eyes. “Celeste, this is… this is insane. You can’t keep doing this to yourself, to us. You can’t make unilateral decisions like that anymore. It’s my fault for going along with it, but I tried to talk you out of it. Those men are ruthless. I was scared to death. Will and I can’t lose you.”
“I know.” Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I blinked them away. “I know, Viv. I’m so sorry. I’m okay. Lesson learned.” I held my hands up in defense. “Never again. I’m here now.”
But for how long? When would Vincenzo decide he needed me in The Below? Would I always have to look over my shoulder, wondering if each shifting shadow was Vincenzo or one of his men, waiting to strike, to drag me back to a prison cell?
Vivian sighed and dragged a hand over her face. “You’re going to have to tell Roberto something. He’s been breathing down our necks, constantly asking where you are. I covered for you as best I could. Told him you were super sick. That you couldn’t even lift your head off the pillow.”
Right. Roberto.
I reached for my phone and suddenly remembered Vincenzo had broken it in two with his bare fucking hands.
Shit.
“Viv, can I borrow your phone?”
She nodded and handed it to me. Dread coiled in my gut as I dialed Roberto’s number. It rang once, then twice, and finally, Roberto’s oily voice answered.
“Vivian?” Roberto answered.
“It’s Celeste.”
“Celeste,” he drawled. “Finally decided to resurface, have we?”
I forced a light tone. “Hey, Roberto. Sorry I’ve been MIA. I was really sick.”
Silence. Then, “Sick?”
“Yeah.” I coughed for effect. “Food poisoning or some flu-like virus. It knocked me on my ass. I’m still recovering.”
There was a pause, and I could almost feel him weighing the lie in his mind and reading my aura through the phone. “Interesting timing,” he said slowly. “Because I have alotof jobs lined up for you, doll. I can’t afford for you to go MIA again.”
I suppressed a groan. “I just need a couple more days to get back on my feet. I’ll be ready.”
He hummed in approval, though it sounded more like suspicion. “You better be. And Celeste?”
“Yeah?”
“Rest up. I need you good as new by Monday, are we clear?”
I clenched my jaw. “Loud and clear.”
