Page 47 of Her Ghostly Embrace
Aurora pulled away ever so slightly. “Is it safe to stay here? What the hell happened?Whowas that?”
Gia ducked around Aurora, avoiding her questioning gaze, and slid the backpack off her shoulders. The distance was jarring after being so close, but they couldn’t act like they’d hurried home for nothing but a good time, no matter how much they both wanted to.
“I don’t know if we’re safe here,” Gia admitted. “I…I’m going to go to the bathroom, and then we’ll talk.” She scurried away, disappearing into her room, the water in the bathroom running a moment later.
Fuck. Aurora was being a terrible lover. Especially if Giawas inexperienced. But this was an extenuating circumstance. Endless orgasms, pampering, and lazy pillow talk were not what you did after someone attempted to abduct you at gunpoint.
Really, Aurora shouldn’t have gotten so carried away. She never should have kissed Gia. But how could she not after experiencing Gia’s arousal, her longing, her desire? Especially after the perfect way it had echoed and encouraged her own.
Gia had looked at Aurora like she’d held all the answers in the universe. It was irresistible.
Gia returned from the bathroom and checked out the window rather than join Aurora.
She drifted over, needing some physical closeness even if Gia didn’t. “Who was that man?”
“Salvator. He works for my father.”
Aurora floated a few inches higher, relieved that Gia wasn’t playing coy. “And your father is…?”
Gia turned away from the window, her face blank and hopeless, devoid of all the beautiful life Aurora had seen moments ago. “Franco Balzano, head of the Ashton Lakes Italian mob.”
All righty then. That was… Huh. “I guess mob ties explain the cash.”
Gia’s expression darkened. “You’re right, I didn’t earn a dime of that money.”
“I didn’t mean?—”
“No, it’s fine. I won’t lie. I’m not…”
Aurora waited, but Gia didn’t seem capable of bringing herself to say what she wasn’t. Aurora tried again. “I’m guessing your father didn’t approve of you coming here to claim Susan’s inheritance?”
It was the wrong thing to say. Gia’s dark expression twisted with worry. “I didn’t tell him I was leaving. Susan’s Lawyer, Edward Ramirez, and his friend Sam helped me escape.”
“The Lockwoods know you’re from a, um, crime family?” Was that what you called it?
“I don’t know aboutthe Lockwoods.” Gia made air quotes with her fingers. “Ramirez seemed to know everything Susan knew about me.” She refocused her gaze out the window. “Susan was my biological father’s sister. Except I didn’t know Franco wasn’t my biological father until Ramirez called to tell me Susan had died.”
“Where’s your biological father?” Immediately, Aurora cursed herself for speaking without thinking. She’d never heard of Susan Lockwood having any family.
“Dead,” Gia said with even less emotion than before.
It was like she was shutting down, and Aurora wished she could rewind. Return to holding Gia close, and come up with a better way to figure out what happened next.
“My father, I mean Franco, killed Susan’s brother and my mother for having an affair. For trying to take me away. They tried to kidnap me. Or rescue me. I didn’t know any of it at the time. I was only five, and the day is a blur. But if I’d known, I wouldn’t have stayed. I shouldn’t have stayed.”
“Hey.” Aurora rested a hand on Gia’s shoulder, and she flinched. Aurora pretended that didn’t cut deep. “Slow down. You escaped, and that’s good.”
“When it was easy. Even before I found out the truth, I shouldn’t have sat around living off his money. I knew he killed people. Killing my mother and biological father shouldn’t have been different than anyone else.”
“Yes, it should. Of course hearing he killed yourmotherand a father you never knew would be different than knowing he was a killer in general.”
Gia shrugged, like she disagreed but couldn’t be bothered arguing. “I still stayed too long. And now they’ve found me.”
“I’m not letting them take you, Gia. Fuck. I’d like to seethem try.” Aurora might not have her body or her magic. She might be up shit creek with her own problems, but no one was laying a hand on Gia, least of all the man who’d killed her family.
Gia’s hopeless expression didn’t change. “They will try, Aurora. I might be useless to Franco, but he won’t let me go. Not when my disappearance could make him look weak.”
Aurora fumed, ice surging through her soul.Unless?She’d teach Franco a lesson straight from Hell for making Gia believe crap like that. “He’s just a goon with a gun.”
