Page 3 of Don't Break My Heart
“What, Orlando, you will choke me again? Fuck you,” I spit back angrily, finding my voice. In this car I know I’m safe to say what I need to. It’s out there I’m worried about.
His glare intensifies to icy as fuck, his fingers tightening around my wrist. “Do you remember the very first day you came to stay with me and I told you the monsters out there are worse than the beast in here?” His eyes shift to his papa getting out of his car.
I follow his line of sight, watching Emilio chatting with his guards. One of them looks directly at the car, his stare cold and dead, like there is nothing inside of him at all. It sends a shiver down my spine. I return my attention to Orlando, remembering our first dinner together and his rules. “Yes.”
“It will do you good to keep that at the front of your mind. I won’t hurt you, not really.” His grip loosens then tightens again as if he’s testing out his strength. His eyes lock with mine, a seriousness flashing in them. “But they will. And if I don’t have you under control, it will be dangerous for both of us.”
A breath heaves from my chest, the tension in this car too much for me to take, with all of them here, hearing this fucked-up conversation. I know Onyx and Reef both have an opinion on this topic as well, but they’re tight-lipped. They have been since Emilio’s stupid boat rocked up at the island. “You have already hurt me more than any man can. The lies, the secrets, the fucking control. Let him kill me; it would hurt less,” I gasp out, hating the raw emotion in my voice. How did I let this man get under my skin so badly?
Romeo’s hand moves to my knee, stroking gently up my leg. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, doll face.” His eyes close briefly, and I see the pain he’s in. “Please, just play the part.” His eyes open again to find mine in a way that makes my heart constrict. “Please.” The way he begs me sends chills down my spine because I know he’s trying to protect me.
I glance toward Reef and Onyx in the front of the car, and their stoic expressions plead with me to do what he says. “For once in your life, trouble, just do as you’re told.”
The weight of their expectations bears down on me. I don’t know how to be the girl they want me to be. Agreeable isn’t in my nature. “Okay,” I sigh, my voice a whisper under all their scrutiny. “But I don’t even have a passport, how can I even leave the country?”
“Treasure.” Orlando looks me over, like of course I do. From his suit pocket he produces a passport and hands it to me.
I flip it open. “Ava Moretti.” The name gets caught in my throat. Oh, dear god. I’m a fucking Moretti!
I hear Onyx’s growl from the front of the car, and I second it. This is fucked up.
“From now on that’s who you are,” Orlando snips back, as much for Onyx as for me, I’m sure.
My entire body stiffens. “I will never be this person,” I gasp.
Orlando takes my face in his hands, gripping my cheeks so tightly it hurts, his eyes meeting mine in a desperate plea for my cooperation. “You will be whoever I tell you to be.”
I stare back at him, my breathing getting more ragged by the second. I feel like a rabid dog about to snap and rip out his throat with my sharp teeth.
Romeo squeezes my knee. “If you want all of us to return to American soil alive, you will do as you’re told, it’s as simple as that.”
“He’s right, trouble. This isn’t about proving how tough you are. We all know. This is about surviving a world we don’t know a lot about. Once we get on that jet and we’re in Emilio’s territory, you have to trust all of us to be your eyes and ears, and you have to follow our instructions, no arguments.” Onyx is deadly serious, I can hear it in his controlling tone.
“But…” I start, with more questions for them.
Orlando cuts me off. “But nothing. Onyx and Reef are in charge of your safety, and I’m your husband. Your name is Ava Moretti, whether you like it or not, so get used to the idea. And for fuck’s sake, don’t question anything our papa says to you. Do as you’re told. If he hurts you, I’m going to have to burn down all of fucking Rome, and we both know that’s not going to work.” I hear the anguish in his words. He’s caught between the man he knows he’s expected to be and the man I fell for. And I can see already before we get on that plane, it’s tearing him up inside.
He will burn down all of Rome if his papa hurts me! “Okay. Just get me home safe as soon as you fucking can.”
He offers me a half smile for my compliance, but it’s forced through clenched teeth. “Good girl.”
Onyx gives me a serious nod, a warning in his eyes. Then he gets out of the driver’s seat, he and Reef coming to the back to open our doors for us, and Romeo and Orlando get out first. Orlando holds out a hand for me, and I take it reluctantly, knowing I have no other choices. I’m officially out of options. He helps me out to stand at his side like a good little wifey.
A luggage handler comes around the back of the car, taking all of our suitcases, loading them up, and transporting them toward the waiting jet.
Orlando gives my hand a reassuring squeeze as we stride toward the jet where his papa is already boarding. He turns and gives me an evil grin before he makes his way up the stairs. Most people he meets probably think it’s charming, it’s the same smile Orlando and Romeo have when they are trying to manipulate me, but I know better. This man doesn’t have a charming bone in his body; he’s pure evil.
A pretty, young flight attendant takes our names and checks some sort of a digital list that has our photos on it. Then we’re allowed to board. The whole process takes less than five minutes and fills me with even more unease. It’s scary how easy it is to get me out of the country against my will, and I can’t help but wonder how much they paid to have this type of control.
“Don’t expect this kind of treatment on a normal plane, wildcat.” Reef smiles as he offers me a hand and helps me up the stairs. I think it’s the first smile I have seen out of him since the boat arrived and we were informed our lives as we know it are over. But I can see it’s not his normal happy demeanor. He’s on edge.
I offer a forced smile back, trying for him. My beautiful, sweet Reef who’s just lost it all because of me. His life will never be the same again. All the years of hard work, for nothing. He should hate me, but for some reason, he doesn’t. He still smiles and tries to do what he can to get me to do the same.
Orlando guides me down the surprisingly spacious aisle to my seat beside Romeo on the plush cream leather sofa by the window and takes the seat beside me. Across from us, Reef and Onyx make themselves comfortable on another sofa. This jet isn’t like anything I have seen in the movies; it’s insane, all leather and mahogany and wouldn’t sit any more than twelve people, all comfortable in the lap of luxury. I hate to think of how much it costs to run.
Down at the back of the plane, Emilio and his two guards sit, quietly sipping amber liquid from cut crystal. He holds up his glass to me as if to toast. I fake a smile and quickly look away from him. The man makes my skin crawl, and if I look at him too long, I won’t be able to go along with the boys’ request that I behave. I will have to slap that look right off his face.
“Can I have a drink to take off the edge?” I ask, my voice low, despising that I now have to ask for permission.
