Right. The kidnapping.
“So do you know who it was?” I ask quietly.
“A man who made enemies of some of my family and thought that I would stand next to him while he did it.”
“You mean Atlantic City.”
Mario lifts his brows. “You see? You know more than you think.” He sits back down in the chair. “Yes, Atlantic City. That is a very complicated story and one I will tell you one day. But this man, Emilio Bellandi, made enemies with my estranged family and had hoped to ally with me.”
“So he was using me as leverage?”
“Possibly, but I suspect it was more of a petty revenge.”
I close my fingers tighter on the blanket. “What do you mean?” I ask, but I choke on the words a little because I think I know exactly what he means.
“This is not the first time he has attempted something like this. Not with me, but with our cousins.” His explanation is far too calm for my liking, but I want to hear it all, so I stay silent. “To put it simply, they attempted to move into the territory of my very powerful relatives and, when their plan didn't work out, they attempted something just like this.”
“They tried to abduct another pregnant woman.”
He sighs, and I realize it's far worse than that.
“No, they didn't try to abduct her.”
They tried to kill her. That's what he's not saying.
They weren't trying to abduct me yesterday. Because why would they? Why would they try to abduct someone in an attempt to get Mario to ally with them? You don't ally with someone who kidnapped your lover and unborn child and threatened to kill them.
They were trying to kill me.
“Oh God,” I say, horrified.
“Victoria,” he says gently, but I will not be reassured.
“You said they won't be a threat for long,” I say, panicked. “But what about the next guy? What about another enemy?”
“Victoria,” he repeats. “You are safe. You will never be without protection. More than that, even in my world, there are lines.”
“What do you mean?” I say, still not mollified.
“Attempting to kill a pregnant woman, just because?” He shakes his head. “Even in my world we have, we have a code. What he did is unforgivable.”
“So why didn't your Atlantic City cousins, or whatever, do anything after he tried this with them?”
“They ruined him, personally and professionally. Humiliated him. No one will touch him now. That is likely why he's so desperate for an ally.”
“I see,” I say and look down at the blanket. I pick at it for a moment. “So they planted that article by Cindy Sullivan.”
The more I think about it, however, the less sense it makes. I furrow my brows and look up at him.
“But how…”
He sits back.
“They did a lot more than plant an article, Victoria.”
“You got my laptop,” I say. “What did you find?”
His expression is still so damn calm.
