“Oh, poor Gia,” Katie said, in her mocking tone. If I could see her face, the ‘really, Gia’ expression would be all over it. “Kidnapped by a rich hot guy who only wants you to love him. He wouldn’t have had to kidnap me. I saw him in the bar first, you know.”
“It’s more complicated than that.” I frowned and dropped back onto the small bunk in the cabin. “He kidnapped me.”
“For a luxurious meal on his fancy yacht then a quick cruise?” she scoffed.
“Look, I’ll tell you everything, but I need to call my father,” I said. “I wanted to make sure you knew I was okay first.”
“Oh, you better tell me the whole story soon, Gia,” she added and we said our goodbyes. Just before I hung up she yelled, “And if you fall in love with him, I get to be maid of honor!”
I stared at the phone for a good thirty seconds before picking it up again. Instead of a calming familiar voice, Katie had sent my thoughts past the walls I’d quickly assembled after my escape. She might have been able to look past the whole kidnapping, but not me, not with someone as dangerous as Alexei.
A deep breath calmed me and I dialed the number to my father’s unlisted sat phone, encrypted of course. Though that meant nothing unless both sides of the conversation were scrambled.
“This is Marciano,” he answered, voice flat as ever.
“Father,” I replied.
“Gianna, your friend is very concerned for you. You aren’t answering my calls. Your phone won’t even show its location. Where are you?” he asked, devoid of emotion.
“I was kidnapped, but I got away. I’m on a cruise ship heading to Malta right now,” I said, keeping to the basic facts for the moment.
“Good, I have people on Malta. I’ll have the jet divert,” he said. “Who would dare kidnap you?”
“Alexei Lebedev,” I answered and swallowed the bile that threatened to rush up. I didn’t owe my captor anything. I had no reason to feel guilty. “He’s a Russian, and connected, I assume. He truly hates you. Any idea why?”
“No.” He answered with a single syllable, nowhere near enough for me to tell if it was the truth or a lie.
“He took me to Sicily. We ran into some people who wanted to take me with them. They called me Miss La Rosa.” I paused but he kept silent. “Why did you want me to stay away from Sicily? Why did they call me by mother’s maiden name?”
“I’ll be landing in a few hours.” He didn’t answer, wouldn’t answer even if I pressed him. “We’ll talk about it then. Stay safe.”
We wouldn’t. He’d ignore the question then too. The line clicked and I set the phone down. The TV turned on and I tried to relax on Nicola’s bed, to quiet the questions raging in my mind and keep my thoughts from straying toward a certain Russian sailing after me.
12
Alexei
Istared at the cruise ship sailing in front of us. My eyes hadn’t left the damn thing in an hour. My fingers drummed a chaotic beat against the console. Besides me, Pavel stood in front of the ship’s wheel, keeping the course. If my tapping bothered him, he hadn’t said. Would he if it did?
The Bastard’s men would never speak up to him. His capricious nature saw to that. I’d learned enough about underlings he’d disposed of for the most minimal of slights. Pavel didn’t have to worry about catching my ire but he knew how annoyed I got when someone interrupted me. That went double when I was lost in thought. Always best to have a sensible captain at the helm of your ship.
Right now, I had a lot to think about. My mistakes and how to rectify them should have been first and foremost. If you didn’t dissect your losses, own up to your missteps, you’d only repeat them. Other tangents tugged me away from that. Only one, really but she’d become damn distracting.
We’d shared a perfect moment, one that replayed in my head over and over again. I couldn’t have planned the confrontation better. We’d stood side by side facing off against two of Franco’s men. She’d surprised me when her knees bent into a fighting stance. I’d underestimated her again, expected a damsel in distress, and got a partner in the fight instead. It worked either way but I preferred a true partner.
We’d taken down our first attackers. My mental replay edited my sloppy performance, that he’d taken me down with him. She’d distracted me. Franco had sent reinforcements. Gianna flashed me a look before we faced off against the next wave. Nothing brought people closer than a common enemy. I gave her my best offer, but it would never be enough unless she saw me in action, us in action together.
In my mind, after we’d won the day, returned to the ship and gotten to sea, I’d have shared all I knew about her mother. Then we’d have another common enemy to defeat in the Bastard. But she had one more surprise in her. Hell, that was an understatement too.
I watched her run from me down that narrow lane. A fist swung in front of my view of her escape. My head slammed to the side just in time to dodge it. A knee to the gut of the overextended man sent him to the ground.
Franco’s men wouldn’t have hurt her. She was family. Even so, the thought of him taking her turned my pounding steps frantic as I ran a search pattern through the Old City’s labyrinthine streets and crooked alleys. I should have realized it then, identified my weakness.
Gianna in Franco’s hands gave me the same win against the Bastard as taking her away from him myself. He’d lose her either way. My goals had evolved past revenge. I didn’t just want the Bastard to suffer. I wanted her.
She’d more than proven her worth. To get all the way back to the pier without Franco’s men or me finding her? That took skill. When she stood on the cruise ship’s deck wrapped in the colorful shawl she hadn’t worn that morning as we disembarked, I could only offer a salute. Worthy opponent indeed.
“Sir, I found the cruise ship’s itinerary.” Pavel interrupted my silent contemplation. “They are docking in Valletta the day after tomorrow. They are going to Malta.”
