“Yes. And I always get what I want. No matter what.”
The car stops in front of my apartment building.
“Why?” I whisper. “Why marry me? Why go to such lengths? You could have simply had me killed, and your witness problem would have disappeared.”
“Your friendship with our don’s wife makes that solution problematic. Marrying you is a much easier choice.”
“I see.” I grab the handle, but don’t attempt to open the car door. “There’s no way out of this for me, is there, Mr. Ruffo?”
“There are always options, Little Iris. The question usually is, are you prepared to face the consequences of your choice?” A bone-chilling smile unfurls on his lips. “Our bargain is simple—the heart for the marriage. If you don’t keep up your end of our deal, I’ll alter mine.”
“What do you mean?”
He leans forward until his face is only inches away. “I’ll use my bare hands to rip the still-beating heart from your mother’s chest, and squash it.”
Chapter 22
One month later
Club Annex, Location Unknown
The dark-brown door looms before me, its wood texture a jumbled mass of twisted lines folding upon themselves. Those lines remind me of endless pathways—some circular, others bending and splintering off in another direction. Kind of like the choices life gives you. Options. Possibilities. Alternatives that shape the future based on the decisions you make.
My future, though, is a straight line. Decided by someone else. And I have no idea where it will lead.
A month has passed since I was at the Annex last. A month since I stood before a similar door, faced with a monumental choice. A month since my future could have turned out very different (assuming I would have had a future at all) if my silent guest hadn’t rescued me. I shudder to think what destiny may have awaited me if he hadn’t come. I never got the chance to thank him. Never expected I’d see him again, not with everything that happened soon after. But here I am.
“Iris?” Maggie gently grips my arm. “Are you alright? We can call this off if you’d rather not—”
“No.” I shake my head. “I’m fine.”
Nearly five weeks. That’s how long it has been since I’ve shared a moment with my silent guest. I never could haveimagined that I’d miss someone I don’t really know, but life truly can be so strange.
I’ve missed our evenings filled with my nonsensical ramblings. Missed the comfort, the joy of simply being there, conversing with someone who I knew was listening to me. Someone who I believed cared. It was only after our meetups stopped that I realized how much they meant to me. More than I previously thought.
After my attempt at the red-dress night, Maggie reached out and apologized for the monumental mistake that occurred while she was away. She assured me that nothing like that would ever happen again. And she also let me know my regular guest was interested in seeing me on the following Saturday. But I had to decline. Mom still wasn’t out of the woods after her surgery, and I was spending most of my time with her at the private hospital.
The week after that, I needed to turn down another visit. And the week after that, as well. There was no way I could’ve slipped away without Adriano Ruffo’s stalker army noticing my absence.
The suffocating vigilance started shortly after Mom was moved out of the ICU.
Ruffo sent a car and his chauffeur to drive me wherever I needed to go. I refused the service. So then he sent his henchmen to follow me. Everywhere I went. To work. To the hospital. Even to the grocery store.
Men in black suits, just like those who showed up to take care of his murdered wife’s body.
Like those goons, each of my stalkers was always armed. A small detail they tried—not very successfully—to conceal beneath their loose black suits. Ruffo obviously believed me to be a flight risk.
Were his men instructed to make me disappear should I try anything stupid? Like go to the police? Or flee? As if I had anywhere to go.
Tonight, however, I managed to slip from his clutches. I didn’t dare do so before, too afraid Ruffo would discover with whom I’m meeting and where. And then would do something unspeakable to the one man who’s shown me kindness.
But I’ve run out of time.
Because Ruffo moved up the date of our wedding. And, as of tomorrow, I’ll be Adriano Ruffo’s wife.
This morning, I asked Maggie if she could contact my silent guest to see if he would like to meet with me tonight. Nothing like that has ever happened at the Annex before. Not with regard to guest and hostess interactions. Not with us. It has always been him seeking to book evenings with me. And we’ve never met on any other day but Saturday. But this Friday night is our last chance.
My final night of freedom.
