Page 73 of When She Unravels
“Where are we going?” I ask.
He halts in front of a door on the second floor of the house and nudges it open with his foot. Once we’re inside, he deposits me on a bed.
I sit up and look around. It seems to be a guest bedroom that hasn’t been used in a while. Besides the bed, there are two nightstands, a console table, and a chair. It’s bare of any personal belongings. The most exciting thing about all of this is the large window, until I realize there’s a metal grate on the outside of it.
Damiano moves back toward the door. “The alarm will go off if you so much as touch that window. Don’t make me take you back below.”
“Fine. How long are you going to keep me here?”
He leaves without giving me an answer and locks the door behind him.
I pull my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them. The air in the room is perfectly still. There isn’t a single sound coming through the walls, and I’m left with just my thoughts to keep me company.
It seems the old saying is true. You can never outrun the mafia.
CHAPTER21
DAMIANO
I leaveValentina and decide I’m not going to think about her for at least the next few days. There’s a plan forming inside my head, and I’ll have to stay focused to make sure it succeeds. Every single one of my brain circuits needs to be firing at one hundred percent, which means I can’t let that woman take an ounce of my attention.
Ras is looking out to the pool when I enter my office.
“Leave your phone here. Let’s go for a walk,” I tell him. Some conversations are better had outside and without any technology, so there’s no chance of anyone listening in.
He does as he’s told, and we leave the office, passing by the pool before following the stone path to the garden. It’s my favorite part of the massive property I bought a few years back to be a proper home for Martina and I. She fell in love with the light-filled living room as soon as she stepped through the front doors, and I rarely resist opportunities to make her happy.
“What did Valentina tell you?” Ras asks once we reach the olive trees. The gravel crunches softly beneath our feet.
“We have the confirmation we need. Sal was behind it.”
Ras’s steps slow for a moment. “You sure?”
“Conte told her it was a favor for someone. The reason for it? Martina has the wrong last name.”
“That’s not definitive—”
“Conte called her a little Casalese mouse. Where do you think he got that from?”
It’s Sal’s nickname for Martina. As soon as Valentina said it, I knew.
Ras swears. “He’s gone out of his mind. Abducting her to keep a leash on you? He must have known the risk he was taking if it ever came to light.”
“It was only a matter of time before he did something like this,” I say. I should have known that the man who murdered my father to take over the clan would never stop worrying that one day I’d rise up against him.
There’s a bench on the edge of the garden that overlooks the calm ocean beyond. We sit down.
“He’s taken everything from us once already,” I say. “I won’t let him do it again.”
I remember my mother standing in the kitchen as flames engulf her dress. My sister’s frantic bleats. The men yelling in shock. My father’s dead body still warm on the floor. It is that moment, so clear in my memory that it feels like it’s been set in resin, that’s driven most of the decisions I’ve ever made. Without it, I’d be a completely different man.
A better man.
A weaker man.
I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath. “Martina cries in her room every night since New York. Every time I hear it, I remember how badly I’ve failed her. She can’t go to college like she wanted anymore. She can’t even leave this island. We are both prisoners here.”
Ras’s hand falls on my shoulder. “You know you can count on me.”
