Page 133 of Wounded King
"Oh, I've never seen a plane land on the water," Cat gushes.
"Me neither," I commiserate. Excitedly, she takes my hand as we watch the little twin-engine plane slow and skid over the water, coming to a halt by the pier not much later.
Several people disembark, five women, giggling and laughing and obviously tipsy, and two men in deep thought, one of whom I think I recognize from the wake, who keeps looking at one of the women in the same possessive way Marcello does at me.
"That's Toni," Cat exclaims, pointing. "And that's Scarlet, his bride." Her finger moves to a beautiful woman who throws a smile at Toni that would melt ice.
All the women in her group are beautiful. It doesn't take long before they reach us, and introductions are made. One woman is Guiliana—Gigi, Toni's sister. The others are Sari, Elli, and Jo, Scarlet's best friends.
An older man, whom I recognize as Judge Lambert—the judge in Marcello's father's trial—is introduced as Bruce, Scarlet's father. He looks so out of place that I start to wonder if I look like that, too, to the others. I hope not.
Later that night, we hold a bonfire on the beach. It doesn't take long, and not that much alcohol, until we all feel like a happy family. I've always been aloof with other people; the only friend I ever made is Pippa, and I guess Luciano, in his own way, but this group of people makes me feel like I've finally found a community I fit with, despite Marcello's warning that any of the men could become enemies at any time. For now, we are all allies in taking Edoardo down, and I have a feeling that the othergirlsand I will have a vote in who becomes enemies and who doesn't. A smile teases my lips when I realize that part of mynew jobas Mrs. Orsi will be to ensure that we stay one big happy family.
Three days later…
We leave the morning after the wedding to give the newlyweds time by themselves. I offer to take Scarlet's friends and Gigi back to NYC with us, which results in an impromptu twelve-hour-long party on my jet as Scarlet's friends shamelessly flirt with my guards. I don't begrudge any of them their amusement, but I don't like that Violet and I never get a chance to return to the bedroom. After several hours, the first party goers start to fall into an exhausted sleep, while Stacy mixes drinks for the holdouts.
Violet ends up with Gigi on a couch, talking and laughing, and I enjoy watching her too much to try to lure her away into the bedroom. I notice Vito, Toni's second in command, staring at Gigi the same way I'm staring at Violet. I wonder if Toni knows that the man has a thing for his sister. An inner voice tells me to stay out of it, but another insists I mention it to Toni the next time I see him.
Not much later, Violet is fast asleep, leaning on Gigi, who is just as out. I grab two blankets and arrange them over the two and find myself an empty seat, wondering when I last fell asleep on a seat.
Seeing Gigi makes my heart ache for my sister. I haven't heard from Sophia since that last call, and no amount of searching has yielded any results. Raffael knows how to hide his tracks well, but sooner or later, everyone makes mistakes, and when that happens, I'll be waiting for him and feed him to the sharks.
I try to cling to Sophia's words that she's safe and taken care of, but until I see her, it's a hard sell.
Once again, Violet sleeps through the refueling process in Dubai, and I only watch the city come into view haphazardly, closing my eyes and drifting off into an uncomfortable sleep. The first I've had in a long time without Violet in my arms, but I don't have the heart to disturb her or Gigi. I'm glad she's making friends with the other sisters and wives; having them bond with each other is as important as us men forming alliances. Once Edoardo is gone, I will work with our new Capo dei Capi to ensure we go back to the old ways, where the families mingle, where our sons and daughters grow up together like cousins, liking and loving each other, so that when the time comes for them to take over their father's businesses, they will already have their own alliances based on their childhood friends.
We are about to land when I reluctantly wake Violet and the other women. I figure they'll need their turns in the bathrooms and all the shit that women do in the morning. Several SUVs will be waiting for us to take them wherever they need to go.
"All set, boss?" Marco looks as alert as ever. The other guards didn't drink much, being on duty and under my watchful eye, but Marco never touched anything harder than water. He is turning into a good man.
"Yeah, contact the men on the ground and make sure all is clear for us to get off this damn plane. I'm tired of being in here."
"Yes, boss." He pulls out his phone and advances to the front to call Luciano, who will be waiting for me, ready to brief me on whatever happened during my absence. Since he never called me during myvacation, I assume nothing earth-shattering took place besides Enzo lighting his phone on fire, demanding to see his family.
"Oh, my whole body hurts." Violet comes to my side, snuggles in, and kisses me. She looks somewhat refreshed, but dark circles under her eyes bear witness to a little bit too much drink and not enough sleep. No matter what, this woman still looks fucking perfect to me.
"That's your just punishment," I tell her, kissing the top of her head.
"Punishment? For what?" She looks at me, confused.
"For making me sleep by myself," I fill her in.
She slaps my arm. "You could have come and gotten me anytime."
The plane comes to a stop on the tarmac, sparing me from having to come up with an answer, and we gather at the entrance.
"Tomorrow we'll do some more shopping," I promise, looking proudly at the aquamarines surrounded by diamonds that I bought for her in Malé, which adorn her ears. I want this woman dressed head to toe in things I provide for her. I want the world to see her and know she's mine!
The guards disembark first, joining the ones already on the ground. I see Luciano, his head moving left and right to make sure no danger approaches from any side. Next to him, dressed in black, her red hair in a smart bun, I recognize Violet’s friend, Pippa. Luciano asked me if I minded if he added her to our security detail. I've never hired a woman before, but if he trusts her, that might not be a bad idea for Violet. A woman would be able to go with her into the bathroom and other places where Violet would object to the presence of another man. I'll have to test her skills myself, because I'm not letting just anyone guard Violet; that person needs to be the best. I'll also need to make sure that their friendship wouldn't distract her from her duties.
Having that on my mind and being at an airport, I don't give much thought to the sound of an approaching helicopter as our party walks down the gangway to the tarmac. Luciano's tense expression when he looks up is the first indication that something is amiss. The thought that the chopper is way too low, even for an airport, flits across my mind, but that gets drowned out by a hail of bullets flying toward us.
As one of the guards on the ground opens fire at the helicopter, the guards on the gangway usher the women back into the plane. A bullet grazes my shoulder, but I don't even feel it. I pull Violet against me, trying to shield her while simultaneously dragging her back up.
Violet's head jerks back, and blood sprays over me. Her blood.
"Violet!" A raw, pained cry escapes me, so loud, it even drowns out the hail of bullets and the thud-thud-thud of the helicopter's rotors. She falls heavily against me, too heavy. Dead weight, and my heart feels like it's shattering.
