Vienna just shakes her head and turns her back on me. Yeah, I’m not sure either of us are going to be able to move past what we’ve both had to do to protect ourselves.
We’re at an impasse, but I comply. It’s not like there aren’t little hidey-holes all over the house where I can access a weapon or two, and I don’t think they know about those. I haven’t told them, Penny didn’t know about them, and I doubt Gio would have said anything. He was a lot of things, but he wanted us to be safe in our own home.
After locking the cabinet, I follow the others out into the library. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the near darkness, but I quietly point out the book that opens the safe room to the others. Tristan smirks at the title but stays silent. We move quickly and quietly back to our rooms. Colton stops at our door and waits for us, whispering in our ears that he’s going to turn the cameras back on and to be mindful of our words before following the other two, who have already entered their room without a backward glance.
Even as Xavier inaudibly closes the door behind him, neither of us talk. We just climb into bed and roll over with our backs to one another. It’s even more awkward now, but I don’t have it in me to care. I’m fucking wiped. I just need to get a few hours of sleep before I have to deal with whatever hell is waiting for me tomorrow.
As I close my eyes and try to force everything out of my mind, I slide my foot over and rest it against his calf. I feel him flinch slightly, but he doesn’t move away. In fact, he moves his legs slightly closer to me, so I don’t have to stretch so far. I miss Sageso much, and I’m going to be selfish and take a small measure of comfort from the man in my bed, even if I don’t know if he is my ally or my enemy, and he’s going to let me.
Chapter Nine
My alarm goes off, and I reach over to turn it off, the feeling of warmth and being surrounded by comfort making it much harder to wake. I mumble and snuggle deeper into the heat but freeze when I realize a warm blooded man is wrapped around me like a koala. His thick forearm is banded around my waist, and my butt is pushed against his rapidly hardening crotch. I don’t think he’s any more awake than I was, because he presses a kiss to the back of my head and mutters, “Just five more minutes, my love.”
I freeze at those words. He must think I’m Vienna, and I feel a rush of envy. He sounds so gentle and loving, and I instantly feel jealous of what she has. Sure, I have Sage, but we didn’t wake like this often due to his immense love of star-fishing. This is nice, really nice, and I wouldn’t mind having more mornings like this.
Ugh, why can’t I just hate them? There should be no way for me to forgive them for anything that has happened, but how can I not when everything they did was under duress? Given a choice, I don’t think they would have betrayed us. There would have been no need for it if they had been adopted by a normal vanilla family. Their misfortune all started with Mario, and I’vedecided to focus all my anger, hate, and need for revenge on him. Oh, and Stacey. She still has a reckoning coming too. If it that inadvertently helps the other four out, then that’s only a bonus.
Instead of struggling, I melt into his arms for a moment, and only until he realizes I’m not Vienna, because I don’t want them to think I’m such a pushover. I’m pretty sure there needs to be some serious groveling involved before I allow them any kind of affection.
I feel the moment he fully wakes. His hands, which had been caressing my stomach, freeze, and he stops grinding his dick into my ass. “Tori?” he murmurs quietly like he’s trying to see if I am awake or not.
Clearing my throat, I pull away from his body and roll out of bed before heading straight to the bathroom, but then I stop. “Are there cameras in my bathroom?” I ask Xavier without turning around.
“No. Colton told Mario he wouldn’t be putting them in your bathroom so his men could leer at you naked and get distracted, and Mario agreed.”
“Thank you,” I reply before continuing now that I know I don’t have to worry that I’m being watched while I shower.
I take my time, enjoying the hot water cascading over my body. The shower is a great place to plot, and I have a fairly decent plan by the time I get out and dry off. As long as the others are truly on board, I’m pretty sure we can take out Mario’s whole network in one fell swoop, as long as Colton can figure out where my dad and Carla are. I’m sure Mario has men situated on site so that if anything does go wrong, he can order their torture or death. That’s what I would do in any case, so I have to be sure. We need to make a coordinated sweep that takes everyone out at once. I’ll tell them my plan tomorrow night once I have taken care of the Addison problem and they no longer have anything hanging over their heads.
Xavier is not in my room when I walk out to get dressed. I guess all his things must still be in the other room. I kind of appreciate the fact that he hasn’t completely invaded my space, and it feels kind of telling, like he’s trying to circumnavigate Mario’s decree so I’m not completely overwhelmed.
I get dressed, dry my hair, and put on some makeup before heading downstairs. It will be interesting to see what is happening for breakfast now that Ben and Suzy are gone. I hope Mario doesn’t have another tantrum before I’ve had my morning coffee.
I avoid the dining room, where I hear voices, and go straight to the kitchen. I’ll use the coffee machine in there to make myself a cup, but to my surprise, there is a woman in there preparing platters of food.
“Ah, hello? Who are you?” I ask, reaching behind my back for my gun before cursing. I don’t fucking have one and didn’t think to grab one out of a damn cache.
The woman, who is dressed in a chef jacket and pants, has her long, dark hair severely scraped back off her face in a bun at the back of her head. When she turns to look at me, she stares at me with narrow black eyes and practically looks down her hooked nose at me. “Out of my kitchen. Mr. Maricuso does not like to be kept waiting,” she sneers nasally, and I chuckle.
“Well, actually, it’s my fucking kitchen, and I will go where I want.” I head to the coffee machine and grab a mug, sticking it under it. I press a button, and it does its thing, grinding the beans before dispensing beautiful, life-giving caffeine into my mug.
“No, you are nothing but a whore now for Mr. Maricuso, and this is my domain, and I don’t want your kind of filth anywhere near my food, so get out before I make you.” She lifts a knife and brandishes it at me, and I chuckle.
“Whoa, no need for name calling, you might hurt my sensitive feelings. Oh wait, that’s right, I don’t have any,” I sneer at her, and I see the knife tremble in her hand, but she doesn’t back down. Damn, the woman has balls. I wonder if Mario is fucking this one as well. Paid staff isn’t usually so ballsy unless they have a personal stake. Oh well, another body to add to my list. At this rate, I’m not going to need to go back to the Black Rose for months. So much flesh, and so little time to carve into it. I take note of the knife. I’ll use that one on her. My fingers itch to disarm her, but I bow my head and move toward the dining room. I can be patient, and she will regret the day she spoke to me like that.
Once I enter the dining room and the door closes behind me, I turn to face the room and sigh. Great, everyone is already here. I was hoping most of them would sleep in, but Stacey is nattering away about what seems to be wedding plans, while Mario and Gregor listen. I wonder where Stacey’s mom is. I haven’t seen her since that unfortunate day just before my life detonated. I’m sure the witch will crawl out of the cracks eventually.
“I can’t believe the wedding is less than a week away,” she squeals, catching sight of me, and she puts her arm around Tristan, giving him a squeeze while smirking at me. “It’s going to be beautiful. Everyone is going to be there, and I am going to look amazing in my dress. We’re going to take the private jet to the Maldives for our honeymoon. We have one of those over the water bungalows and have nothing to do but enjoy sun, sea, and sex for a whole month.”
Tristan’s face is blank, but I see her dig her nails into his arm as I take a sip of my coffee. He grimaces but responds flatly, “Can’t wait.”
“Jet? What jet? I didn’t know you had a jet, Mario,” I say mildly as I take a seat next to Xavier and press a kiss to his cheek.
Stacey frowns for a moment before her expression returns to one of glee. “We didn’t until now. Helicopter too.” Oh, right, my jet and helicopter of course.
“Only the best for my favorite niece,” Mario mutters distractedly as he turns to glare at me. “What the fuck are you wearing?” he snarls, looking me over.
I look down at my outfit, wondering if maybe I buttoned my shirt wrong, but everything looks okay.
