Page 61 of Labria

Chapter Twenty

LABRIA

Nicco, I couldn’t believe he took care of everything. There were no remnants a crime had been committed in my bedroom. I didn’t know what he did with Gianni’s car or his body. I was grateful, but I hoped there were no strings attached. The last thing I wanted was to share a murder with Nicco. But when he told me he was taking my secret to the grave. I believed him.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Some days I could go for hours without thinking about what I had done. I wasn’t even having nightmares anymore. I killed a man and literally everything had gone back to normal. I didn’t miss one day at work. I’d even had lunch meetings with Maurizio a few times.

I didn’t feel good about it, but it was my reality. Word on the curb was Gianni had gone missing or just ran off because of some turmoil with him and other people within the organization.

Women’s intuition, never doubt it. That was something my mother used to say. She was a wise woman. I needed her guidance now more than ever. But I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to tell her what was going on with me. I knew I would never tell my sister. I didn’t want people to look at me differently or worse, treat me differently.

I was changed. This altered me on the insides. My outward appearance was pristine. My clothes, hair and face displayed a well part together woman. Inside, I was a bit paranoid, not neurotic, but something in between.

I had secrets and Lord did too. I had been dealing with my own things, but I noticed a change in his behavior. It led me to a place I thought I would never go, and that was through a man’s cell phone.

He kept it close to him. Something he’d never done before. It had been when I discovered the risqué pictures on his cell. There were also missing text messages because had deleted some things.

I didn’t have concrete proof. I only had my intuition and circumstantial evidence he was corresponding with a woman. She was an Italian woman. Her name was in his phone as L. LaGrassa. She was probably straight off the boat from Sicily with a thick accent. There weren’t any voice memos on his phone. So I didn’t have the pleasure of hearing this sidechick’s voice.

Fuck! Was I the sidechick? No, no, no, I couldn’t be. I mean, Lord couldn’t marry me. It was one of the stupid rules, and he was deep in this mob shit. It didn’t look like he was leaving this retched life anytime soon. He was enjoying himself.

I didn’t have enough information on this home-wrecker to confront Lord. A few missing text messages that he forgot to delete and about three pictures he didn’t hide in his phone very well. I learned her name was Lolita LaGrassa.

I had coaxed tons of information from Zio. I pretended to know a few things, and because he was smitten with me, he shared information willingly. He even told me a few things about his cousin Victoria. She was Valentina Bregoli’s twin sister. I had no idea the Cavallari family killed her by mistake. I don’t think I’d even heard of the Cavallari family. Zio even told me the story of how his uncle Dominicco Bregoli senior vowed to kill every single living person in the Cavallari family.

I learned the LaGrassa family lived in New York. It bothered me that I could look Zio in his eyes, knowing I took his father’s life. I wondered if this was just a part of being attached to this family, secrets, lies, and murder.

Nightfall was falling on a warm Friday evening. I was going to have to spend my weekend alone. When Lord started packing for NYC, I remained calm, but I wasn’t sure if his trip was business or pleasure. I wanted to trust him, but I was a changed woman. I knew too much and had seen too much. I was starting to believe Nicco was more trustworthy than Lord. I hoped I was just being paranoid.

After what I’d been through, I had gained ten pounds and lost some hair from shedding. I was grinding my teeth in my sleep. I don’t think Lord noticed or maybe he did and just didn’t say anything about it.

I walked into the bedroom when he was zipping up his suitcase.

“Do you know how long you’re going to be gone?”

“Just the weekend. I will call you if something comes up.”

“Okay.” I crossed my arms under my chest. “Are you going to New York by yourself?”

“Me and my security team.”

“Why are you going there again?” I asked.

“Last time I was there was probably two months ago.”

That was true. “Be careful.”

“Always.” He turned away from the bed to go to the dresser to grab his wristwatch, that Italian one.Side eye!

“Will you call me when you get to your hotel?”

“It will probably be late. I don’t want to wake you.”

“You won’t wake me.”

“Okay. I’m leaving. Come to me.” Lord raised his arms up toward me.

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