He releases me with a resigned sigh a minute later. “I wish we didn’t have to go, but I’m under pressure.”
“It’s cool. I know we’ll be forced to separate until this is all done. I’m prepared for it.” I’ll hate it because Joshua is like oxygen to me now, but he’s going to be in the city working with The Commission to take our enemies down and reclaim order while I’ll be hiding in Greenwich until Liam’s no longer a threat.
“I’ll fly back as often as I can to see you. Ben will be traveling back and forth, so I’ll probably travel with him.”
“I’d like that. Is it strange to say I’m already missing you?”
“Not at all. I feel the same.” He brushes his lips against mine and takes my hand. “Let’s go.”
We are waiting for the elevator in the private lobby when the door to Caleb’s penthouse opens and someone I loathe appears.
The door snicks shut behind her as she walks toward us. Anais’s dark-blonde hair tumbles down her back as she sashays her hips and cocks her head to one side. She’s a stunning woman, always dressed immaculately and expensively, but it’s all fake. The resemblance to her half-sister is strong, but where Catarina Greco is a natural beauty, her younger sister is like the cheap knockoff version. She’s caked in makeup with thick dark brows and bright red lips. Her lips and boobs are surgically enhanced, and her frozen forehead speaks to a Botox obsession.
Her eyes roam over Joshua and I, lingering on his arms around my waist as I lean back against him. Her lips kick up at the corners. “Slumming it again, Joshua?”
“Shut your hideous mouth, Anais, or I’ll shut it for you.” Joshua isn’t holding back but he rarely does when it comes to Mrs. DiPietro. She is not well liked, and that’s a universal truth.
“Trying something new?” she asks, fingering my red hair.
“Don’t touch me.” I snag her wrist and thrust her arm away. “And it’s none of your business.”
“Red is so tacky, and it really doesn’t suit you,” she adds as the elevator pings and the doors slide open.
Joshua opens his mouth to retaliate, and I shake my head. “I don’t care what she thinks,” I say, not lowering my voice, as we walk into the elevator. “Her opinions are as inconsequential as her existence.” I turn to face her scowling features as the door shuts and we start moving. “In case that got lost in translation, it means you don’t matter.”
“How’s your little virgin friend? Still pining after something that’s mine?” Her haughty laugh grates on my ears, and I have to bite my tongue not to snap at her. There is no point entering into a war of words with her, and I won’t lower myself or Elisa to respond to her ridiculous claims.
“Caleb will never be yours,” Joshua says, holding me flush against his body as we ride the elevator with the bitch. “Tell yourself whatever delusional bullshit you like, but the cold, hard truth is you’re a convenient hole to fuck. That’s all.”
The doors ping open, and she sidles up to us, pressing her hand on Joshua’s chest. I shove her away, baring my teeth and snarling. “I don’t think I’m the delusional one, Josh. You might want to look in the mirror.” Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she saunters off looking like the cat that got the cream.
“I do not know how Caleb tolerates her. He might deserve a medal,” I mumble as we exit the elevator and head toward Joshua’s Land Rover.
“She’s completely toxic, and I wish he could cut her loose.”
“I really fucking hate her. She’s been such a bitch to Elisa over the years.”
Joshua holds my hand as we walk toward his car. “Probably because she realizes Caleb genuinely cares for Elisa, and she’s jealous because he really doesn’t give a fuck about her.”
“I used to feel a little sorry for her about that until I remembered she’s cheating on her husband and she’s a completecunt to my best friend. All my sympathy evaporated then. It’s hard to believe she and Catarina are sisters. Cat is so compassionate, caring, and smart, yet Anais is the complete opposite.”
Catarina is married to Don Greco, and Massimo and Fiero are best friends, so they are often at Maltese events, and I’ve gotten to know her over time. She’s my hero and one of the few inspirational women within themafioso. It’s hard to fathom she and Anais share some of the same DNA.
“Wait up!”
Joshua and I turn around as Caleb comes running toward us.
“What’s up?”
“Anais had very interesting intel.” He falls into step beside us as we resume walking. “Apparently, Cruz has struck up a friendship with the new Don D’Onofrio in Florida. Been taking weekly trips there for months, and she overheard him arranging flight schedules in and out of Florida.”
“Massimo and Fiero felt he was shady when they paid him a visit recently,” Joshua says. “You think Cruz and Vitto are in on this?”
“It’s beginning to sound like it.” Caleb rubs his hands together, and he can barely contain the glee on his face. “We’re starting to connect all the puzzle pieces, and when we do, they’re all going down.”
Joshua drops me off around the block from my Brooklyn apartment, shortly before four p.m. Liam is in Ireland, but after claiming ownership of me, it’s not inconceivable he’d leave some goons to watch over me. We don’t want him finding out I’m partof themafioso. It’s better he thinks I’ve just run in fear. He can’t discover who I am because it will risk the entire operation.
“I’m sorry I can’t help you to pack,” he says as he kills the engine at the curb.
