I squeeze her chin harder, purposely digging my nails into her flesh. “What did you say to Elisa, and don’t lie because I will ask her.”
“I told her you weren’t here and to fuck off.”
“Anais,” I hiss, moving my hand to her throat and squeezing. “What. Else?”
A defiant look crosses her face, and I squeeze her throat tighter. Panic flares in her eyes as I push my face all up in hers and tighten my grip again. She bucks against me, trying to bringher leg up to knee me in the balls, but I flatten her legs against the wall with my free arm, restraining her.
“Caleb,” she croaks, grabbing my wrist. “Stop.”
I loosen my grip, only so she can speak.
“I’ll tell you,” she rasps, struggling to breathe.
I release her and step back before I accidentally kill her. She bends over, gasping while sucking air into her lungs. When she straightens up, she glares at me like she might hate me. Good. That I can work with.
“You have three seconds before I riddle your lying cunt with bullets,” I say, removing my gun and prodding her brow with it. “What did you say to Elisa?”
“I gave it to her straight,” she snaps, rubbing her neck and shooting daggers at me. “She’s such a pathetic little bitch, pining over you with her schoolgirl crush. I did her a favor. You too. I told her we were together and I was living with you now.” A smirk ghosts over her surgically enhanced lips. “She won’t bother you again.” Her grin expands. “You’re welcome.”
I curl my finger around the trigger, so fucking tempted to pull it.
“You won’t shoot me.” Her cool tone and demeanor aggravate me to no end.
“Don’t be too confident, Anais.” I drag the gun down her face, over her chin and her collarbone, poking the muzzle into the silicone encased behind her skin. “Elisa is off-limits to you. Pull a stunt like that again, and I’ll fill your body so full of bullets there will be nothing but a bloody mess left.”
Shock mixed with disbelief and anger fills her eyes. “You don’t mean that.”
“I suggest you don’t test me.” With one final glare, I walk out the door, slamming it behind me before I prove it right then and there.
I call the building manager from the elevator. “I need that apartment ready ASAP.”
“We’re working as fast as we can, Don Accardi, but?—”
“I don’t want excuses. Just get it done. Mrs. DiPietro will be moving her stuff in tomorrow.” I hang up before he can protest further. I need to get Anais into her own space where I can keep tabs on her without having to fuck her for intel.
I place a call to Elisa as I step out of the elevator on the lower-level parking lot and head toward my Lamborghini. Predictably, she doesn’t answer, and I throw my cell on the passenger seat as I climb behind the wheel, grinding my teeth.
Why did she come here? She has never visited my place before, and she’s been avoiding me for months. Is she finally ready to talk to me? Or did something happen to her? Panic swells in my chest as I start the engine and reverse out of my spot. Whatever the reason, I’m guessing she’s hurting right now, and pain stabs me through the heart knowing I am inadvertently the cause.
When I’m out on the street, I make a left and head in the direction of Lili’s apartment near NYU.
She might not want to ever speak to me again, but I’m not taking no for an answer.
We are thrashing this out tonight, and I’m going to do everything in my power to set things right.
Chapter Nine
Caleb
Ihammer on Elisa’s front door, impatient to speak with her. The door swings open a few seconds later. “Where’s the fucking fi—” Beatrice’s face pales as she cuts off mid-sentence when she sees me.
“Where is Elisa?” I ask, barging my way into the modern apartment the two girls share. Beatrice is from a goodfamiglia, and Alesso deemed her suitable to room with his daughter even if the girls aren’t overly friendly. They seem to cohabit easily, so it works. I know Serena didn’t want Elisa living alone in the city.
“She’s not here, Don Accardi,” she calls after me as I leave the open-plan living space for the hallway that leads to the bedrooms.
“I can fucking see that,” I holler after checking both rooms and the adjoining bathrooms and finding them empty. I storm back out to where she is still standing by the open doorway. “I need to find her. Immediately.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.” She waves her hands around. “She wasn’t here when I got home from classes. She left a note saying she’d be back Sunday night.”
